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, november 23, 2010
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 62
www.dukechronicle.com
DukeEngage builds on external partnerships Four seniors
awarded top scholarships by Anna Koelsch THE CHRONICLE
Chronicle graphic by melissa yeo
DukeEngage expanded its offerings this year to include nine new programs—five domestic and four international—for summer 2011. The expansion reflects new and growing partnerships with the Foundation for Sustainable Development and the Social Entrepreneur Corps. by Anna Koelsch THE CHRONICLE
Applicants to DukeEngage this year may have noticed the list of international programs followed by three letters: FSD and SEC. DukeEngage has added nine new programs for summer 2011—five domestic and four international.
Most of the international programs are affiliated with outside “volunteer-sending organizations”—two of the four are run through the Foundation for Sustainable Development, and a third program is run through the Social Entrepreneur Corps. In the past, DukeEngage has offered an FSD-sponsored program in Kenya and an SEC-sponsored program in Gua-
temala, but this year DukeEngage expanded its partnerships. The two new FSD programs in La Plata, Argentina and Jodhpur, India and the new SEC program in Nicaragua are part of a larger effort by DukeEngage to partner with external foundations. See dukeEngage on page 5
Four Duke seniors were recently awarded prestigious scholarships that will allow them to conduct graduate work in the United Kingdom. Jared Dunnmon, a mechanical engineering and economics double major from Cincinnati, Ohio, was named a Rhodes Scholar Nov. 20. Rhodes Scholarships award students with two to three years of graduate study at the University of Oxford. Dunnmon is Duke’s 43rd Rhodes Scholar. Seniors Nick Altemose, Katherine Buse and Allie Speidel are three of this year’s Marshall scholarship recipients, which were announced Tuesday. As many as 40 Marshall scholarships are awarded each year. Barbara Wise, assistant director of the Office of Undergraduate Scholars and Fellows, said Duke should be proud of the recent recipients. “This is the largest number of Marshall Scholarships [Duke] has ever had, to my knowledge,” Wise said. Since the founding of the scholarship in 1953, Duke students have won 22 Marshall Scholarships. Marshall Scholars pursue two See scholars on page 8
Putnam seizes new opportunities after return to Duke by Nicole Kyle THE CHRONICLE
Sophomore Brandon Putnam does not squander second chances. Putnam returned to Duke this semester after voluntarily withdrawing last Spring while he faced gun charges. He and two fellow football players were dismissed from the team after an incident in which a gun was fired on campus. Putnam pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges related to possessing a concealed firearm on educational property. But while away from campus, he submitted an application for re-enrollment. “I’ve learned that you can’t let moments define you— you have to define yourself daily,” he said. “As [Head Football Coach David] Cutcliffe would say, ‘You either get better or you get worse everyday.’ I’m still adhering to those goals and striving to get better everyday.” By returning to Duke, Putnam turned down multiple offers for full athletic scholarships from various Division-1 football programs, and his playing days are now over. He’s a serious student, though, boasting a 3.8 GPA while pursuing a public policy studies major and markets and management certificate. He expects to graduate on time, as he took classes online through a local college in Atlanta while away from Duke so that he would not fall behind.
Travelers are subject to full-body scanning, Page 3
Someday, he hopes to become an athletic director at a premier Division-1 university like Duke, Stanford University or Vanderbilt University. The only one of the three former football players to return to Duke, Putnam said even when his status at the University was threatened, his desire to return was never up for negotiation. He said his feelings for Duke never changed, and that when he committed as an athlete he made “a lifelong decision” that Duke would be the school where he earned his degree. “I decided to come back to my home, Duke, to be a part of something bigger than myself,” he said. “The people here are good company—everybody here has a goal to aspire to be something bigger than what the eye can see. I wanted to be a part of something great and continue to have a great Duke experience.” “Leadership amongst peers” Since returning to the University, Putnam has wasted no time getting involved. He’s a manager for the men’s golf team and a member of Duke Student Broadcasting, the Duke Investment Club and the Duke Marketing Club. See putnam on page 5
special to The Chronicle
Brandon Putnam returned to Duke this year as a sophomore. He voluntarily withdrew from the University last semester while facing gun charges.
ONTHERECORD
“I hope we’re entering a new chapter where people are more willing to identify as Republican.”
—DCR Chair Stephen Bergin on Ellmers’ election. See story page 4
Plumlee explodes for 25 pts in Duke win, Page 9