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, DECEMBER 7, 2010
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 69
www.dukechronicle.com
Obama calls for education ‘wake-up call’ Duke repays
$437k of ACS research grant by Sonia Havele THE CHRONICLE
“We’re the nation that built the Transcontinental Railroad. We’re the nation that took the first airplane into flight. We constructed a massive Interstate Highway System. We introduced the world to the Internet. America has always been built to compete,” he said. “And if we want to attract the best jobs and businesses to our shores, we’ve got to be that nation again.” Forsyth recently implemented a new biotechnology program to expand its existing certificate and degree opportunities funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Obama said he chose to speak at the community college
Duke will comply with the American Cancer Society’s request for repayment of a grant that funded the work of former Duke cancer researcher Dr. Anil Potti. The University will repay approximately $437,400 of the $729,000 ACS grant awarded in 2007, Dr. Michael Cuffe, Duke University Health System vice president for medical affairs, confirmed in a statement Monday. The remainder of the grant award had not yet been spent and will be retained by the organization. Officials from ACS could not be reached for comment Monday. ACS suspended payments on the grant this summer after questions arose concerning Potti’s resume. Duke officials, led by Provost Peter Lange, conducted a review of Potti’s credentials and announced in August that they had identified “issues of substantial concern.” Cuffe’s statement noted that the termination of the grant was “a decision ACS made based on the issues with Dr. Potti’s curriculum vitae used in the award application.” “As I understand it, [the ACS’s] concern was that the original award of the grant was based on a false pretense—that is [that] he was a Rhodes Scholar—and they focused particularly on that issue,” said Huntington Willard, director of Duke’s Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy. Potti resigned from his positions at IGSP and the School of Medicine Nov. 19. That day, Willard noted in an e-mail to IGSP staff that Potti accepted full responsibility for
See OBAMA on page 7
See ACS on page 7
Courtney Douglas/The Chronicle
President Obama delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of education at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston Salem, N.C. Monday. by Chinmayi Sharma and Alejandro Bolívar THE CHRONICLE
Hours before he announced a compromise with GOP lawmakers on a package deal aimed at bolstering the economy, President Barack Obama emphasized America’s culture of innovation and stressed his commitment to continued investment in education. Speaking to students and state officials gathered Monday at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, the president conveyed a broad vision for economic recovery. America, Obama said, is at risk of falling behind other nations and must look within for its economic strength.
Econ still most popular major among undergrads by Amanda Young THE CHRONICLE
Economics remains the most popular major at Duke, but the number of majors has decreased significantly since 2001-2002. During the last academic year, 207 students graduated from the economics department, compared to 335 in 2001-2002, according to data compiled by David Jamieson-Drake, director of the Office of Institutional Research. In decreasing order, the eight departments with the most majors are economics, psychology, political science, biology, public policy studies, biomedical engineering, history and English. For the purposes of comparison, Jamieson-Drake adjusted the data to account for the fluctuating number of graduates each year. He added that the most recent figures are still preliminary. Over the past decade, the number of economics majors has fluctuated, but the major has remained the most popular. Connel Fullenkamp, director of undergraduate studies for economics, said he believes that
Alpine bagels to serve tenters next semester, Page 4
there are several reasons why economics has remained a desirable major over time. “Despite whatever the economy does, economics majors do well in the job market,” Fullenkamp said. “Even in a really down year like we had a couple of years ago, economics majors still found arguably really good jobs. Also, the popularity of economics is a phenomenon at every liberal arts school where there aren’t business majors.” Fullenkamp said he has noticed that the recent economic downturn has affected what students are interested in within the field. “More students are interested in analyzing how everything blew up in our faces a few years ago, and there’s more interest in some of the aspects of economics that were behind the scenes before,” he said. The large size of the economics department sometimes makes it difficult for students to enroll in their desired elective classes, but Fullenkamp said that in general the economics department works hard to See majors on page 6
Chronicle Graphic By Melissa Yeo
Economics is still the most popular major at Duke, despite a decline in the number of students pursuing the field. This past year, 207 students graduated from the economics department, down from 335 students in 2001-2002.
North Korea an option for study abroad, Page 3
ONTHERECORD
“Young Trustees are most certainly not supposed to represent a particular constituency.”
—Gregory Morrison, “End the election.” See column page 15