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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
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2020 DUKECHRONICLE.COM
Divinity School faculty disagree on potential UMC split
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 34
JUUL-funded researcher pushes pro-vaping stance By Isabella Caracta Contributing Reporter
By Anna Zolotor Staff Reporter
Divinity School faculty are conflicted about the planned split of the United Methodist Church. In early January, reports suggested that the United Methodist Church will likely separate into two or more factions because of disagreements over LGBTQ+ rights. Divinity School administrators and faculty have conflicting opinions about whether the likelihood of the split has been exaggerated. One faculty member suggested that the schism could harm the school’s funding, but several others added that reports of a split were overstated. Will Willimon, professor of the practice of Christian ministry, speculated that the Divinity School could lose $3 million per year—the money it receives from the Ministerial Education Fund which is nearly 10% of the Divinity School’s budget—as a result of the division. At the UMC General Conference in February 2019, worldwide delegates from the UMC voted to uphold and strengthen its ban on the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ+ people. In response to the turmoil caused by this vote, 16 bishops and other church leaders created a committee to research and consider the best path forward for the church. This group of leaders determined that the Church should be split into at least two factions: one “traditionalist” body that excludes LGBTQ+ members, and one that is openly inclusive and affirming. Under this proposed plan, individual churches would decide with the help of their congregations and leadership See DIVINITY on Page 5
Jake Satisky | Editor-in-Chief The Methodist Church is bracing for a split.
As Duke officials consider adding vaping to its smoking ban, one prominent smoking researcher has been a proponent of allowing vaping on campus. His industry relationships, however, have raised some doubts. Jed Rose, director of the Duke Center for Smoking Cessation and professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is pushing a pro-vaping point of view. He accepts research funding from the tobacco and e-cigarette industries, which has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Rose, a longtime smoking-cessation researcher, says the benefits of vaping outweigh the risks. “There’s virtually no plausible scenario where e-cigarettes can have a negative public health impact,” Rose said in an October 2019 Law School event titled “Vaping: Crisis or Lost Opportunity.” As of now, Duke’s Smoke-Free Campus initiative that takes effect July 1, 2020, remains consistent with Rose’s stance that e-cigarettes are a healthier alternative to smoking combustible cigarettes and should be allowed on campus. Yet, his views are at odds with some faculty, public health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Who is Jed Rose?
In the early 1980s, Rose co-invented the nicotine patch, and his research on treatments for smoking helped with the development of the smoking-cessation drug varenicline, or Chantix. Rose said he has accepted research grants from the tobacco industry since around 2000, when he first collaborated with Vector Tobacco Company. In 2011, Rose sold a patent for a device he developed in the 2000s at Duke that eliminates combustion of tobacco while still delivering nicotine. He sold this patent to Philip Morris International, the leading tobacco company worldwide in 2018, for an amount he said he is contractually obliged not to disclose. In addition to his role as director of the Duke Center for Smoking Cessation and president and CEO of the Rose Research Center, he works as a consultant for the same company that bought his patent, Philip Morris. Rose also has outside financial interests with companies such as JUUL Labs Inc., the leader in e-cigarettes, and Altria Group Inc., which owns Philip Morris USA.
Special to The Chronicle As Duke’s smoking ban is slated to go into effect July 1, Jed Rose is working to make sure that rule will not curtail e-cigarettes.
As Duke prepares for the upcoming Not all faculty agree with Rose on smoking ban, Rose has been highly vocal on vaping the issue, pushing back against the faculty who Eight Duke professors urged the are urging the University University to impose a to include e-cigarettes in ban in a letter There’s virtually no plausible vaping the ban. to The Chronicle, “What we do scenario where e-cigarettes published in October know is that in the can have a negative public 2019. Almost 2,000 United States alone, U.S. campuses have there are 540,000 health impact. already done the same, premature deaths from they said. jed rose combustible cigarette “Our university and DIRECTOR OF THE DUKE CENTER FOR smoking and the its host city Durham SMOKING CESSATION related diseases every have navigated a single year,” Rose told long and fraught The Chronicle. “There is no solid evidence relationship with tobacco, and we now that nicotine acting on an adolescent brain face a new opportunity to impact the causes any significant impairment.” tobacco industry’s threats to local and However, his stance is not in line with world public health,” the letter read. “Vape CDC recommendations, which say that manufacturers and marketers have made e-cigarettes are unsafe for kids, teens and excessive claims of benefit in smoking young adults. Exposure to nicotine can harm cessation while targeting youth, who are brain development by changing the ways especially vulnerable to addiction.” synapses linked to memory form, a CDC Associate Professor in Anesthesiology Svenwarning states. Eric Jordt was one of the eight signatories. The warning also notes that young Jordt said by allowing vaping on campus, e-cigarette users may also be more likely to See JUUL on Page 16 smoke cigarettes in the future.
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Lyles is not only a restauranteur, but he’s also a triplemajoring Duke alum and an inventor. PAGE 2
The normally stout men’s basketball defense did not fare well against Clemson’s big men in Tuesday’s loss. PAGE 6
What does the Community aim to do better in 2020?
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