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, MAY 19, 2011
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, SUMMER ISSUE 1
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
Wagoner to chair Board of Trustees by Sanette Tanaka THE CHRONICLE
The new chair of the Board of Trustees is no stranger to Duke. Richard Wagoner, former chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation and Trinity ’75, was elected chairman of the Board Saturday. Wagoner will succeed Democratic N.C. state Sen. Dan Blue, Law ’73. The Board also approved a $2.1 billion budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, which begins July 1. Richard Wagoner Wagoner has strong family ties to the University—his wife Kathy graduated from Duke in 1977, and their sons Trip and Scott are Duke graduates, Trinity ’06 and Pratt ’08, respectively. Their son Matt is a rising senior at Duke. Wagoner has served as vice chair of the Board since 2007 and has been a member since 2001. Blue said he is confident in Wagoner’s ability to continue carrying out Duke’s mission—including Blue’s major goals of increasing the internationalization of the University and maintaining an interdisciplinary nature in academics. “[Wagoner] is very conscientious, and SEE BOT ON PAGE 7
NATHAN GLENCER/THE CHRONICLE
Students celebrate during the commencement ceremony Sunday in Wallace Wade Stadium. Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers delivered the commencement address.
Graduates urged to ‘take risks’ by Michael Shammas THE CHRONICLE
More than 3,500 caps graced the Durham sky as undergraduate, graduate and professional students received degrees Sunday morning in Wallace Wade Stadium. President Richard Brodhead, along with commencement speaker John Chambers and student speaker Mike Lefevre, urged graduates to engage life with enthusiasm and courage. “In a few moments, you will gain a distinguished title that will stay with you your whole life,” Brodhead said at the beginning of the commencement ceremonies. “You will
be a graduate of Duke University.” Chambers, the CEO of Cisco Systems, encouraged students to use their degrees to accomplish their dreams, stressing that courage will be one of their most important tools in the future. “Do not be afraid to fail,” he told the graduates. “Have the courage to take risks.” Chambers, who attended the Pratt School of Engineering from 1967-1968, received an honorary degree from The University earlier in the ceremony. During his speech, Chambers also stressed his belief that there are three “equalizers” in life—education, the Internet and social
media. After discussing these equalizers, he gave four pieces of advice to graduates based on his experiences, urging graduates to listen carefully, to learn constantly, to embrace change and to help others. Chambers called change “the only constant in life” and added that though students often fear change, graduates can use their experiences to handle even the most unexpected circumstances. He referred to his experiences with Cisco during the company’s financial troubles as an example. “The only constant [in life] is change,” SEE COMMENCEMENT ON PAGE 12
University repurchases Case will be dismissed if Irons $500M recession debt fulfills probation requirements by Taylor Doherty THE CHRONICLE
Earlier this month, the University repurchased all of the $500 million of debt it issued during the financial crisis, a tangible display of Duke’s increased confidence in its finances. The May 5 move demonstrates that liquidity, or the ability to turn investments into cash quickly, is no longer as pressing a concern for Duke as it was at the height of the economic downturn in 2008. The University issued the bonds in January 2009 to ensure that it would not have to sell damaged, hard-to-move assets to cover its operating expenses like the payroll, said Executive Vice President Tallman Trask. The University used $90 million of the funds raised from issuing the bonds
Duke Cancer Insititute picks new executive amid expansion, Page 3
to cover its operating expenses for the first quarter of 2010, Trask said. Typically, Duke uses a payout from its endowment to cover part of those expenses, but the economic climate made it difficult to sell investments to raise the money. “This had served its purpose—I was no longer worried about the liquidity issue,” Trask said. “I’m confident now that if we had to go to the market now to get money, we could do that.” Borrowing the $500 million did not cost the University anything because Duke invested the remaining $410 million it did not use for operating expenses in low-risk corporate securities, which earned more than enough to cover the 4.7 percent annual interest on the bonds, Trask said. SEE BONDS ON PAGE 6
by Lindsey Rupp THE CHRONICLE
Former Trinity sophomore Eric Irons has been placed on probation after accepting a structured sentencing agreement for a misdemeanor sexual battery charge in Durham County district court. Under the May 16 agreement, called deferred prosecution, Irons received a $500 fine and has been placed on 24 months of unsupervised probation, according to court documents that define the terms of the sentence. If Irons complies with the special conditions of his probation—including writing a letter of apology to the victim, performing 100 hours of community service and submitting to both specific sexual abuser treatment and a mental health evaluation—
ONTHERECORD
“...the second reason these speeches should go is that they place an impossible burden on the person giving them.” —Jeremy Ruch in “Cut the speeches.” See column page 19
the case would be dismissed. “It’s not technically a guilty plea.... It’s an admission of responsibility,” Kelley Gauger, a Durham County assistant district attorney, said in an interview Wednesday. Gauger began working on the Irons case in early 2011. “So it’s a deferred prosecution in Eric Irons that it is not a conviction. He’s placed on unsupervised probation... with specific terms that he’ll follow through with, and if he does follow through with them, he can have his case dismissed.... If he doesn’t, we can SEE IRONS ON PAGE 8
Duke scientists plan for future research, Page 3