The Chronicle 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
Tuesday, october 5, 2010
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 29
www.dukechronicle.com
Weed alternative poses health threat Duke Med to implement five-year plan by Sonia Havele THE CHRONICLE
Although alcohol remains Duke students’ drug of choice, some undergraduates have recently experimented with a new, “legal weed.” K2—also known as spice, genie and zohal—is a leafy green, synthetic drug said to have effects similar to marijuana. Often marketed as incense, the drug began appearing in U.S. tobacco shops and convenience stores in late 2009. Serious concerns about the drug have emerged in the last year after more than 500 reports were made to poison control centers across the country, according to The (Raleigh) News & Observer. Side effects have allegedly included hallucinations, elevated heart rates, vomiting and seizures. Despite a warning label noting the product is not meant for human consumption, college students have reportedly been smoking K2 in dorm rooms across the country. “Something you’re not supposed to smoke” Students say that though some of their peers have experimented with the drug, few have become regular users—its reputation as an alternative to marijuana may not be deserved.
by Tullia Rushton THE CHRONICLE
Dr. Victor Dzau stressed a positive future for Duke Medicine with the start of a new five-year strategic plan at the yearly State of Duke Medicine address. Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and chief executive officer for the Duke University Health System, addressed a large audience of medical staff in Searle Center Lecture Hall Monday, outlining ambitious priorities despite uncertain times ahead for the medical community stemming from the changes to national health care policy and the remnants of one of the worst economic downturns yet. “Any strategic process is only as good as the people and the teams of people who execute it and implement it,” he said. The plan, Dzau said, will generally follow three key categories of “decisions” to drive organization and preparedness for the health system: must-do or must-complete decisions, regret-less decisions and unclear risk or reward decisions. The first set— falling under the category of must-do or must-complete decisions— concerned projects that have already been started prior to the new strategic plan.
See k2 on page 5 addison corriher/The Chronicle
See medicine on page 7
Gawker founder to teach MMS class by Nicole Kyle THE CHRONICLE
In the age of new media, the University will welcome a new face to its faculty this Spring. Elizabeth Spiers, founding editor of Gawker.com and Trinity ’99, will be teaching a class as part of a new entrepreneurship program within the Markets and Management Studies certificate curriculum. “This class is going to be half theory and half application,” Spiers said. “I want students to come out of the class with a fully-formed business plan for a new business.” The class will be called “The Start-Up Clinic” and will be one of four courses offered under the new program, said its direcElizabeth Spiers tor, Gary Hull, a lecturing fellow in sociology. Hull, who also serves as director for the Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace, brought Spiers to Duke. “This class is going to be much more valuable than a standard management class,” he said. “Its focus is going to go from conception to actual execution over a period of time.” The class will be capped at about 21 students who will be broken into teams of three to four to develop a business plan, Hull added.
Duke prof finds online essay mills deliver poor quality, Page 3
Spiers is a successful media consultant, entrepreneur and writer who has launched numerous start-ups and websites, including Crushable.com and TheGloss.com. She also founded Breaking Media, the company responsible for sites such as Dealbreaker. com, AboveTheLaw.com and Fashionista.com. This year, Spiers was named one of Fast Company’s “Most Influential Women in Technology.” Last Spring, Spiers gave a guest lecture to Hull’s class in the Entrepreneurial Challenges Focus cluster. “The students loved her,” Hull said. “So when I started putting together an entrepreneurship program through MMS, the question became what four courses should we offer—that’s when I thought about asking Elizabeth if she wanted to teach a course.” Hull declined to name the other three courses. Leading a classroom is not new to Spiers, though. Indeed, she teaches a course on new media for the School of Visual Arts in New York City as part of its Master of Fine Arts Program and also led a summer school for entrepreneurs at the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University this past summer. “I really do enjoy teaching, so I’m always happy to have the opportunity to do it again, particularly at Duke,” she said. “I did my undergraduate work there, so I’m always going to have a big soft spot for it.” See spiers on page 8
Count Me In A North Carolina program lets 16- and 17-year-olds pre-register to vote, PAGE 4
rahiel alemu/The Chronicle
Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of the Duke University Health System spoke on the state of Duke Medicine Monday.
ONTHERECORD
“We’re in the public eye a little bit. Sometimes it’s hard to be open because of past or current negative reactions.”
—Local teacher Tom Greene on LGBT teachers. See story page 3