PROTECTING THE PAGES 8
HABITS FOR A GREAT TOMORROW 10
GREEN THUMBS AT DUKE 12
NE W S YOU CA N USE • A P R I L / M AY 2019
Women STEM in
Editor’s Note
CONTENTS
LEANORA MINAI
A Morning Habit At the end of last year, I was considering my goals for 2019 when my wife invited me to join her for “Mindset Reset,” a free program led by bestselling author and TEDx speaker Mel Robbins. I accepted the challenge, and at the start of the New Year and over the next 35 days, I got an email link to a video broadcast with Mel discussing a range of work and life topics. Mel offered tools and tips, including strategies for tackling anxiety and not pressing snooze when it’s time for the gym. My favorite advice came when Mel shared her morning routine and provided a free journaling template from her popular daily planner, “The 5 Second Journal,” which relates to our story on page 10, “Habits for a Great Tomorrow.” For our story, we heard from Duke colleagues about their routines. Jen Ganley makes her bed in the morning. Brandi Tuttle sets her programmable coffee maker for 7 a.m. And Jill Adelson sets out gym clothes for the next day. “I'm not a morning person, but it's made it possible to take care of myself, be fully present at the job I love, and spend quality time with my family,” Jill replied on our Facebook query about daily habits. One of my new morning habits is filling out the page Mel shared from her 5 Second Journal, which is available on Amazon. Dubbed “How to Have the Best Day Ever,” her free template is here: bit.ly/ DailyJournalTemplate. I journal around 5:15 a.m., after my alarm sounds for the gym. As I sip coffee, I scribble for 10 minutes, completing prompts such as “Today, My Top Project Is,” “Today, I’m Grateful For,” and “Today, I Will Stop Working At …” Mel’s journal allows me to set priorities and focus on what matters for that day. Plus, one side of the page offers space for a “brain dump,” where I jot a To-Do list. If you like Mel’s template, download the PDF so you can make copies any time. I’d love to hear from you. Please send a note with your habits to Leanora.Minai@duke.edu.
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4 Women in STEM Women who work, teach and study in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics – referred to as STEM fields – are often underrepresented. Learn what Duke is doing to create more inclusive environments in STEM disciplines.
8 Protecting the Pages
The Library Service Center, a warehouse in a non-descript Durham industrial park, holds around 5.6 million items. And with a sophisticated inventory and retrieval system, you can likely get any item within a day of requesting it.
10 Habits for a Great Tomorrow
Duke colleagues share how they reduce stress by getting ready for the next day. Check out these helpful tips for a great tomorrow.
11 How to save up for your dreams 12 Meet some Blue Devils who are green thumbs 14 Picture these discounts on photography services 15 Understanding solar power at Duke Contact us Editor/Executive Director of Communications: Leanora Minai (919) 681-4533 leanora.minai@duke.edu Assistant Vice President: Paul S. Grantham (919) 681-4534 paul.grantham@duke.edu
Graphic Design & Layout: Paul Figuerado (919) 684-2107 paul.figuerado@duke.edu
Jonathan Black Writer (919) 681-9965 jonathan.c.black@duke.edu
Stephen Schramm Senior Writer (919) 684-4639 stephen.schramm@duke.edu
Working@Duke is published every other month by Duke’s Office of Communication Services. We invite your feedback and story ideas. Send email to working@duke.edu or call (919) 681-4533.
Visit Working@Duke daily on Duke Today: working.duke.edu
Cover photo: James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering Ingrid Daubechies is one of Duke University’s most accomplished faculty members. Photo by Justin Cook.
2017, 2014 Gold, 2015, 2013, Silver, 2016, 2009, 2007 Bronze, Print Internal Audience Publications and 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing WORKING@DUKE WORKING@DUKE
BRIEFLY Duke Farmers Market season opens April 26 Tiffany Atkinson has spent many Friday lunch breaks over spring and summer at the Duke Farmers Market. Atkinson, a recreation therapist for the Duke Cancer Institute, buys basil and feta stuffed bread, multi-colored bell peppers and sweet honeydew melon. She also picks up a few gardening tips from market vendors. “I’ve tried to start my own garden, so I love getting advice from the farmers on growing vegetables,” she said. “The market is a really nice way to end the week.” The Duke Farmers Market runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Friday from April 26 to Sept. 27 on the Duke Medicine Pavilion Greenway. On opening day, April 26, get a free health assessment, shop for produce and buy lunch from NOSH or Makus Empanadas. Learn more about the market at hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket.
Submit reimbursement account receipts by April 15 You have until April 15 to file Health Care and Dependent Care reimbursement account receipts for expenses incurred Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2018. All expenses are reimbursed based on service date, not when the employee was billed or paid for the service. Upload receipts by logging into your personal online account with WageWorks, which administers Duke’s reimbursement accounts. You can also use the free EZ Receipts mobile app to take pictures of receipts and submit reimbursement claims to WageWorks. After April 15, any unused funds up to $500 from your 2018 Health Care Reimbursement Account will carry over into your 2019 Health Care Reimbursement Account. You will see these carryover funds in your 2019 transaction account detail on or around May 1. Visit hr.duke.edu/reimbursement for more information.
Financial Fitness Week returns May 20-23 Financial Fitness Week returns in May to provide staff and faculty a chance to evaluate their savings. Timed with the release of Duke’s Personal Benefits Statements, Financial Fitness Week offers in-person and online workshops about taking care of your money. “We target workshops for all the different segments of our population, people just starting their careers, the people in the middle, as well as people near retirement,” said Sylvester Hackney, associate director of benefits for Duke Human Resources. Among 21 free workshops scheduled for May 20-23, many sessions are presented by Fidelity, including ditching debt, navigating Social Security and saving for retirement.
“It was really nice to have the opportunity to learn how Duke does things and see the opportunities that were available for staff,” said Bill Gregory, coordinator for arts programming with Duke Arts & Health, who attended workshops last year. Visit hr.duke.edu/financialfitness in late April or early May for the full schedule.
Lisa Borders to deliver Duke commencement address Lisa Borders, former WNBA president and former president and CEO of the women’s advocacy group TIME’S UP, will deliver the commencement address on Sunday, May 12. Borders, a Duke graduate who currently serves on the university’s Board of Trustees, has roughly 30 years of experience in public, private and nonprofit sectors. As president of the Women's National Lisa Borders Basketball Association (WNBA) from 2016-18, she was responsible for developing the vision and overseeing the league’s day-to-day operations. Borders was the first president and CEO of the women’s advocacy group TIME’S UP, which works to create “safe, fair and dignified workplaces for women of all kinds,” according to the group’s website. Launched by a group of women in the entertainment industry on January 1, 2018, TIME’S UP has since grown to other industries and geographies, representing women of all kinds across race, religion and economic backgrounds. “I will forever be grateful to the university for the experiences and exposures I had there which helped me become who I am today,” Borders said. “Duke continues to play a tremendous role in my life, and I am so honored to be returning to my alma mater to deliver this commencement address.” Duke community members are invited to volunteer at commencement, which is open to the public, in Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. For information, visit bit.ly/ VolunteerForCommencement2019. Learn more about the ceremony at commencement.duke.edu.
Lactation pods coming soon There will soon be a new resource for breastfeeding mothers. Duke is purchasing several freestanding lactation pods for use in its three hospitals, supplementing the 24 lactation spaces Duke Human Resources oversees in University and Health System buildings. “Breastfeeding is a lot of work, and it’s important for the baby, so any little thing that makes it easier is very helpful,” said Rebecca Ewing, lecturing fellow in Duke’s Spanish Language Program, who has a sevenmonth old daughter. The private, locking lactation pods by Mamava will be available for use by Duke students, staff, faculty and visitors and can be accessed for free through a mobile app. “We’re really trying to make things easier for new moms,” said Antwan Lofton, assistant vice president for Staff and Labor Relations, a unit in Duke Human Resources. Visit hr.duke.edu/benefits/family for more support services.
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Jennifer West, third from left, stands with students in her lab.
Bolstering research and education in STEM fields is a top priority at Duke
school and as a faculty member ennifer West’s lab elsewhere when she was her takes up an entire department’s only woman. corner of Gross I would like “There was a palpable sense Hall’s third floor. women that we were the minority,” Among the students to said West, the Fitzpatrick things West and Family University Professor of her team are see many Engineering at Duke. investigating in the lab is the successful use of nanoparticles that, when For women who work, teach and study in science, technology, introduced into the body and women role engineering and mathematics exposed to infrared light, can models so – often referred to as STEM heat up and destroy tumors. fields – this is a familiar Duke has been West’s home they can picture themselves scenario. In both education since 2012. With its enthusiastic being successful scientists and employment, women are support of her research, it will one day.” often underrepresented in these likely remain so for a long time. disciplines. But, at other points in her career, Sally Kornbluth A report on the issue, West hasn’t felt as comfortable. Duke University Provost “Solving the Equation,” by At her first-year student the American Association orientation at the Massachusetts of University Women, states that “diversity in the workforce Institute of Technology, she was one of few women in an contributes to creativity, productivity and innovation. The auditorium filled with men. There were times in graduate
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United States can’t afford to ignore the perspectives of half the population in future engineering and technical designs.” At Duke, leaders, students, faculty and staff recognize the need to create inclusive environments in STEM fields. In its current academic strategic plan, Duke makes bolstering research and education in STEM fields a top priority and calls for more women to be involved in leading that charge. “We’re trying to shine a light on science and technology in general,” said Duke Provost Sally Kornbluth, a cell biologist. “But within that effort is a focus on diversifying our workforce and faculty cohort.”
2008. Here, Newton completed professional development programs, such as the Duke Leadership Academy, and became an in-demand speaker on diversity in tech, all while earning a doctorate in higher education administration. Now, she’s creating the community she lacked earlier in her career with an informal group called “Techs and Collaborators.” The diverse collection of Duke IT professionals meets monthly, discussing upcoming projects and other topics. The group’s guiding principle is inclusiveness. “I don’t care what color you are, what gender you are, come to the table and bring what you can,” Newton said.
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Working for Change Rochelle Newton was a teenager in the 1970s when she began working with computers, feeding trays of punch cards into hulking contraptions that produced a fraction of the computing power of today’s smartphones. During her time in information technology, Newton, now senior systems and user services manager for the Duke University School of Law, has seen a head-spinning amount of technological change. The rate of change for women in the field, however, has been slower. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, while women make up 46.9 percent of the nation’s labor force, they hold 25.5 percent of jobs in computer and mathematical occupations, up slightly from 24.8 percent a decade ago. At Duke, women hold 32.5 percent of positions in information technology, down from 33.5 percent a decade ago. Duke’s Office of Information Technology is trying to expand the range of voices in technology with intern programs that draw students from underrepresented populations, and through “Diversify IT,” a program providing networking and educational opportunities for IT professionals from all backgrounds. “If women represent half the population, they’re also half of the people using technology,” said Tracy Futhey, Duke’s vice president and chief information officer. “If the technologies they’re using are overwhelmingly designed by men, without involvement from women, they’re likely not going to be as welcoming, usable or interesting as technologies designed with a broader set of perspectives at the table.” Stories like Newton’s illustrate gradual progress in the field. Newton was the only woman or person of color at her first job decades ago in Virginia, where she said co-workers played mean-spirited pranks. “It was really hard, but I was stubborn,” Newton said. “I was going to persevere no matter what.” As technology advanced, so did Newton’s career. After earning multiple degrees, Newton joined Duke’s staff in
Rochelle Newton has four decades of experience working in information technology. Photo by Justin Cook.
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Early in her career in mathematics, Ingrid Daubechies drew inspiration from the women who charted the same path before her. Photo by Justin Cook.
Showing the Way Ingrid Daubechies grew up in Belgium where public education was segregated by gender. It wasn’t until she studied physics in college that she ran into anyone questioning a woman’s place in science. “I knew I was good at it,” said Daubechies, the James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. “I didn’t see it as an indictment of me, but of them.” Still, as she began a career in academia, even she experienced self-doubt. Daubechies worried her outgoing demeanor might be out of place among faculty. But once she met Irina Veretennicoff, a successful Belgian quantum mechanics professor who had a warm, gregarious personality, Daubechies’ concerns were silenced. Likewise, when Daubechies wondered if motherhood would conflict with her career, her fears were eased when she met acclaimed mathematician and mother of four Cathleen Morawetz. “As soon as I met one example, it was enough to show me it’s possible,” Daubechies said. Women who have successfully navigated STEM careers often carry the aspirations of those who hope to follow. That’s why developing strong female role models among the STEM faculty is a Duke priority. In “Together Duke,” the Academic Strategic Plan released in 2017, the university said it would “aggressively recruit and support women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields.” Provost Sally Kornbluth said a key part of the initiative is bringing in elite female faculty members – like Daubechies, who came to Duke from Princeton in 2011 – to inspire students. Research has shown that women with female professors perform better in introductory STEM classes and are more likely to earn STEM degrees than those with male professors. 6
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So the presence of accomplished scientists such as Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Dean Valerie Ashby, a chemist, and department chairs such as chemistry’s Katherine Franz, evolutionary anthropology’s Susan Alberts and statistical science’s Merlise Clyde, looms large. “I would like women students to see many successful women role models so they can picture themselves being successful scientists one day,” Kornbluth said.
Middle school students conduct science experiments with Duke students from FEMMES (Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering and Science). Photo by Justin Cook.
Paying it Forward On a recent Saturday, laughter spilled from some classrooms in the otherwise empty Physics Building on campus. Middleschool-aged girls and Duke undergraduates clustered around tables, creating exothermic and endothermic reactions with water, baking soda and calcium chloride. For Duke sophomore Megan Phibbons, part of FEMMES – Females Excelling More in Math Engineering and Science, the student-run organization that hosted the event – hearing the girls’ happy voices was a thrill. “It’s really easy to get talked over when you’re a young girl,” said Phibbons, a FEMMES executive board member. “Here, nobody gets talked over. It’s a supportive environment.” While Duke staff and faculty are tackling the issue of female underrepresentation in STEM fields, Duke’s students are, too. FEMMES is one of several student groups aimed at broadening the network of science-minded women both at Duke and beyond. That’s important because, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, women received 57.2 percent of all bachelor’s degrees during the 2016-17 academic year but 35.7 percent of those degrees are in STEM fields. Founded at Duke in 2006, FEMMES engages girls with STEM fields through fun and functional activities led by college students. The program has expanded to other universities and now organizes after school, weekend and summer programs. “It sets an example of ‘I can do this, too,’” Duke senior and FEMMES Co-President Carolyn Im said. “It shows that there are women pursuing these things, and if you want to do it, you can.”
By Stephen Schramm
Duke students from FEMMES (Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering and Science) help middle school students with science experiments. Photo by Justin Cook.
Radiation oncologists from Duke pose for the #WomenWhoCurie social media campaign organized by the Society for Women in Radiation Oncology.
Bringing about Change On November 7 of last year, eight women, all radiation oncologists from Duke, gathered in front of a linear accelerator and snapped a photo destined for Twitter. Three of the women held up signs that read #WomenWhoCurie. The photo was one of around 700 posted as part of a social media campaign by the Society for Women in Radiation Oncology. The purpose of the #WomenWhoCurie campaign was twofold. First, it celebrated the birthday of Marie Curie, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who did pioneering research about radiation. It also served as a fun way to create awareness of women in a discipline where they would like to attract more female colleagues. “We wanted to highlight the fact that this a great field,” said Bridget Koontz, director for Radiation Oncology at Duke Regional Hospital. As leaders grapple with a remedy for gender imbalance in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics worlds, similar conversations are being held in medical fields, such as Radiation Oncology, where women remain underrepresented. According the American Society for Radiation Oncology, among the 20 most-popular training specialties in 2017, Radiation Oncology ranked 17th in the percentage of female applicants, with just 28.2 percent. This is something that Fumiko Chino, chief resident in Radiation Oncology at Duke, finds puzzling. She was attracted to the field, which treats cancer with high doses of radiation, for its mix of science and personal patient care. She said its set schedule is also attractive to anyone looking to balance a career and family. These are points Chino addresses with Duke University School of Medicine students whenever she gets the opportunity to speak with them about her discipline. “Ultimately, for anyone finding their field, it has to resonate with you,” Chino said. “I think the important thing is that people are aware of ours and see it as an option.”
Read Duke’s academic strategic plan at provost.duke.edu/academic-strategic-plan
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Shelves tower 30 feet above the Library Service Center’s aisles.
Protecting the Pages
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How Duke keeps millions of books safe and available for use
a rvin Tillman, manager of the Library Service Center, said it’s not uncommon for patrons in urgent need of a book to swing by the off-site storage facility for Duke University Libraries to pick it up. Tillman mentioned a recent instance when a scholar dropped by and brought his son. “He wanted his son to see this place,” Tillman said. “People don’t realize that we store these many books and the way we do it. It just blows them away.” From the outside, the Library Service Center Marvin Tillman looks like a simple, boxy warehouse in a nondescript Durham industrial park. But inside, the 52,000-square foot building is something to behold. Shelves filled with boxes of books, film reels and newspapers soar 30-feet in the air, creating long aisles as deep as canyons. Around 5.6 million items reside in the warehouse, allowing the Duke Libraries collection to grow beyond the constraints of on-campus facilities. And with a sophisticated inventory and retrieval system, a library customer can likely get any item in their hands within a day of requesting it.
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“People are amazed that they can request something first thing in the morning and have it in the afternoon,” said Naomi Nelson, associate university librarian and director of the Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. “It’s really an amazing service for the university. People expect it to feel like things at the Library Service Center are far away, but it really feels like they’re in the next room.” The cavernous facility is one of Duke’s off-the-beaten-path wonders.
Among the Aisles The Library Service Center’s front entrance leads to a small workroom where carts filled with thick tomes, slender periodicals and books with Chinese characters running down their spines wait to be sorted. Nearby, staff members study computer screens and printouts telling them what items are coming in and which ones need to be gathered and sent to campus. On the other side of a thick, sliding metal door is the warehouse space that awes visitors.
Visit Duke Libraries at library.duke.edu
In here, the air is perpetually 50 degrees with 30 percent humidity, perfect for books but slightly less so for staff members who make fleeces and knits caps part of the year-round work attire. “It feels good in the summer,” Tillman said. Tillman has been at Library Service Center since it opened in 2000. Coming to Duke from Yale University, where he helped launch its off-site library storage facility, Tillman trained the first Duke staff members, helped organize the shelving system and has seen the center more than double in size after renovations in 2009 and 2012. The boxes on shelves that tower above him hold a vast array of materials – from prints of rare movies to century-old newspapers – but to Tillman and his staff, they’re only known by the details that spit out when a box barcode is scanned. “Truthfully, I couldn’t tell you,” Tillman said when asked what was in a set of nearby boxes. “All we go by is the barcode.” At the root of operations is a software system that keeps close watch on each item. Using hand-held scanners to note barcodes on every book, box and shelf, staff members can record an item’s exact location – it’s as precise as aisle, shelf, box and location in the box – at every moment. This allows staff members to quickly retrieve an item requested online by a
with the view of the machine’s highresolution camera. This task is a quick one. Alston only has to scan two pages of an essay from a collection of early 20th-century religious writings. But bigger jobs aren’t too time consuming. Alston estimates he can knock out a 150-page scan in less than 20 minutes. “The more you do it, the faster you become,” Alston said. With a barcode system at the heart of the Library Service Center operations, the regular pinging sound of hand-held scanners is the center’s soundtrack of life.
library patron and have it to them usually within 24 hours. “We can probably pull 20 items in this facility in the same amount of time it would take someone to pull five items in a regular library,” Tillman said.
Other Ways to Deliver Not every book has to leave the facility to be used. Researchers can request segments of books – up to 150 pages – to be scanned and emailed to them as PDF files. The service is popular with users, who get to read materials in a quick and easy-to-use format, and it’s easier on the books, which don’t have to travel or be touched by untrained hands. On this day, Earl Alston hovers over a scanner, lining up a large, open book
Library for All Twice a day, Senior Mail Clerk Joe Rhodes backs his 24-foot truck up to the Library Service Center’s loading dock. “It’s real light today,” Rhodes said before he empties his truck of returned books to make room for the ones bound for campus. Once books leave the facility, they can end up in the hands of customers at any of Duke’s on-campus libraries or libraries of fellow Triangle Research Libraries Network members North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina. Books can also head to any one of 12 other Ivy Plus institutions through the BorrowDirect library sharing program. While Duke benefits from the Library Service Center, it’s not the only institution that does so. Materials from the Durham Public Library, North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina are all stored on the center’s shelves. The items bound for Chapel Hill are transported on a fleet of powder blue carts. As Rhodes begins to load his truck with items requested since his last visit, he rattles off his remaining itinerary. Lilly Library, Perkins Library, the Goodson Law School Library and the Divinity School Library are his next stops. At each one, he’ll drop off items for customers who likely have no idea of the massive, state-of-the-art facility behind the book in their hands. By Stephen Schramm Photography by Alex Boerner
Senior Mail Clerk Joe Rhodes checks on a shipment of books bound for campus.
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Habits R for a Great Tomorrow Tips from colleagues on planning your next day
egina McCallum plans her 4:30 a.m. gym appointment the night before. A bodybuilder, she packs a bag with a sweatshirt, weightlifting gloves and shoes for running and resistance training. She also places leggings and a tank top on a chair next to her bed. When the alarm rings at 4 a.m., she doesn’t put any thought into getting out the door. “It’s hard being awake at 4 a.m. no matter how often you do it,” said McCallum, a talent acquisition analyst for Duke Nurse Recruitment. “Preparing the night before is key to me getting a productive start to the day.” Getting ready for the next day reduces stress, said Aline Holzwarth, Principal at Duke’s Center for Advanced Hindsight. “Yesterday affects today, which affects tomorrow,” she said. “You have to think about how forming small habits can have a big and positive impact on your time.” Pack away these helpful tips for a great tomorrow:
Wake up with coffee Every night before bed, Brandi Tuttle grinds six tablespoons of blonde and hazelnut coffee beans and sets the time on her programmable coffee maker. When she hears a loud chime at 7:12 a.m., she climbs out of bed. “I’m like Pavlov’s dog when it sweetly beeps to tell me its magic is done and my work juice is ready. Vroom vroom!” said Tuttle, a research and education librarian for the Duke University Medical Center Library.
Prepare your meals Tuttle and Regina McCallum each spend part of Sunday at their homes, preparing lunches and dinners for the week. They fix a range of items from spinach, cabbage and carrots for salads to sweet potatoes and baked chicken. The food is neatly packed away in containers for grab-and-go meals. “It’s so easy to just open up the fridge, grab my lunch and head out,” Tuttle said. Esther Granville, manager of health coaching and nutrition programs for LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, said packing lunch is a healthier habit and saves money. “You have control over portion size and ingredients,” Granville said. “If you go out, you can’t control how much sodium or saturated fats are in the meal.”
Unwind at home Jennifer Ganley loves to end a day with laughs and close friends. She takes time every night to curl up with reruns of “Friends” and “The Big Bang Theory.” She also enjoys getting lost in a good book. “It’s important I unwind each night so I feel recharged the next day,” said Ganley, director of undergraduate student affairs for the Pratt School of Engineering. “Reading and watching TV allows me to escape the stressors of the day.”
By Jonathan Black Photography by Les Todd
Regina McCallum packs lunch and her gym bag the night before a work day. Photos by Les Todd.
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Join the conversation on Working@Duke’s Facebook page: bit.ly/ShareYourHabit
How to Save Up for Your
Dreams
From vacation to retirement, keys to reaching financial goals
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or Desirée Daniels and her husband Deryle, seeing the world has always been a big a part of their relationship. After stoking their wanderlust on trips to Mexico, Ecuador and Europe, their most ambitious adventure came last summer. They explored street markets in Turkey and beaches and jungles in Thailand. They later found inviting back-alley restaurants in Japan before walking the Great Wall in China. “Our two month trip abroad seemed like one of the rare opportunities you get in life to turn a dream into reality,” said Daniels, a program specialist in Duke’s Office for Institutional Equity. “If you can do it, then why not?” How they did it was a feat in itself. They scored cheap airfare and affordable lodging, but saving up for the journey required more than a year of drastic lifestyle changes and fiscal discipline. Whether saving for a trip of a lifetime or retirement, there are time-tested strategies to keep in mind.
Build a Budget Daniels has always been a good saver, but when her husband convinced her to sit down and craft a budget, she saw how much more she could do. “We needed to categorize all of our spending and figure out reasonable amounts for each area,” Daniels said. As they studied expenses, the couple saw how money flowed through their household, and they made informed decisions about changes. Daniels curtailed a few behaviors – like impulse online purchases, which made a measurable difference.
Stay in Balance Fidelity Investments Financial Advisor Alan Collins recommends the 50-15-5 model while spending and saving. The idea is that 50 percent of your take-home pay should be allotted for essential expenses such as mortgage, utilities, child care, groceries and paying debt. Fifteen percent of pre-tax income
(including employer contributions) should go toward retirement savings and five percent for emergency or shortterm savings. The remaining 30 percent is where you can be flexible and set aside money for whatever you want, or wherever you’d like to go. Desirée Daniels, of Duke’s Office of Institutional Equity, stands in front of the Acropolis in Athens. “Different things work for different people, but this is a good framework,” Collins said. “If you can do this, you should be OK.”
Think Big Picture To make their trip happen, Daniels and her husband made painful cuts, trading their spacious apartment for a cramped singlebedroom place, eliminating nearly all restaurant meals and getting by with one car. To stay on target, they kept the trip front-and-center, discussing it often and spending time researching and making travel arrangements together. “We had to remind ourselves that in a few months, we’ll do something epic, so the sacrifices made now will only benefit us in the long-run,” Daniels said.
By Stephen Schramm
Financial Fitness Duke Human Resources hosts a series of financial workshops May 20-23. Visit hr.duke.edu/financialfitness in early May to learn more.
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Blue Devils, Green Thumbs Across Duke, office plants provide a living connection to workspaces
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n shelves, near windows and tucked into winding corridors of the Duke Graduate School’s rambling offices, there are many splashes of green. From small, spiked cactuses to lush, flowering lilies, the building’s offices and common areas are filled with plants. And many of them are cared for by staff assistant Lynette Roesch. She looks after the philodendron vine that climbs the bookcase in the office of Assistant Dean for Budgets and Finance Iryna Merenbloom and the ZZ plant that shoots skyward in the office of Alan Kendrick, assistant dean for graduate student development. And Roesch knows that, of all offices in the building, Staff Accountant Tammy Dickens has the space plants love most. “There are some good, green vibrations in this office,” Roesch said while standing in Dickens’ southern-facing workspace. “Any plant put in here, grows better than anywhere else.” For Roesch and many other Duke staff and faculty, caring for office plants does more than help make surroundings prettier. They offer a living connection with workspaces and provide moments of constructive relaxation. “I think it’s important to have a living thing in your working environment if you can,” Roesch said. We caught up with some of Duke’s greenest thumbs to get their thoughts on how to get the most out of your office plants.
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Top: Beth Hall Hoffman, the Paul J. Kramer Plant Collections Manager at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, works in a greenhouse. At left, Lynette Roesch, Duke Graduate School staff assistant, tends to plants.
Duke Facilities Management Project Manager Alphonso Alonzo, left, uses the water from his fish tank to keep his office plants fed. At right, Duke Health Technology Solutions IT Analyst Regina Leak lavishes care on happy plants in her workspace.
Put thought into watering Alphonso Alonzo shares his Smith Warehouse workspace with a few companions: his red-and-blue betta fish named Mick – after Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger – and a palm tree whose sweeping fronds shoot out of a large pot. “I don’t have a window, so this is the second-best thing,” said Alonzo, a project manager for Duke Facilities Management. “It’s just me, Mick and the plant.” Every two weeks, Alonzo changes the water in Mick’s tank. Instead of dumping the water – which contains nutrients from waste and uneaten food – he uses it to feed the palm. “I’m just trying to use the stuff in the water to take care of the plants,” Alonzo said. “It’s better than throwing it down the sink. And plants love it.” Watering is the most common chore associated with caring for plants. But as Beth Hall Hoffman, the Paul J. Kramer Plant Collections Manager at Sarah P. Duke Gardens points out, it’s not always simple. “When people have trouble with plants, it usually has to do with watering,” she said. “They’re either overwatering or underwatering.” How much water to give a plant depends on the plant and its pot. Wilting, yellowing leaves are a warning sign that plants are receiving too much, or too little, water. It’s worth noting that plants require less water in winter months when they naturally go dormant. Also, glazed ceramic pots hold moisture more than their clay counterparts, so plants in them will likely require less water.
Listen to your plants Duke Health Technology Solutions IT Analyst Regina Leak jokes that she’s so close with plants in her University Tower workspace that she talks to them. Clustered around her desk and rising on shelves near her window, Leak has a thriving peace lily that’s roughly 10 years old, an African violet that provides large, purple blooms each summer and a Christmas cactus that had small, pink blossoms emerging from its hard, gnarled leaves well into winter.
“When I come in here, they just give me life,” Leak said. “I just want to say ‘Good morning’ to them.” But it’s not the talking that Leak said has allowed her to be surrounded by so many happy plants, it’s the listening. “They will let you know if they’re not happy,” Leak said. Experienced gardeners can diagnose a plant’s issues by reading signs it sends. For instance, small leaves likely mean a plant isn’t getting enough water. Or if stems grow especially long, a plant may be searching for more light. Hoffman said to keep watch for signs of pests or disease – such as discolored or misshapen leaves – and, if spotted, separate those plants from others to keep the problem from spreading. While Leak’s office garden showcases her ability as a gardener, it also helps dispel a common misconception about where office plants can thrive. Her window faces north, meaning it doesn’t get any direct sunlight. But her plants are still green and lush, which shows that for many common indoor plants, any light source – even artificial ones – can work. “A lot of houseplants are tropical forest floor plants, so they’re used to not getting much light,” said Hoffman, who also coordinates Duke Gardens’ spring and fall plant sales. “So there are plenty of plants that will do well in an office.”
Don’t be afraid to experiment Lynette Roesch has always had a love of plants. She started tending to her own houseplants as a teen and one of her first jobs was at a greenhouse. “It’s something that’s always given me joy,” Roesch said. “I love to see things grow.” When she came to the Duke Graduate School in 2014, she seamlessly slid into the role of the building’s unofficial horticulturist. She’s constantly trying to connect office plants with ideal conditions, whether a perfect amount of light or pot that gives plants enough room to thrive. For many people, it’s that endless process of trial and error that makes caring for plants fulfilling. “It’s like a science experiment,” Roesch said. “It’s fun.”
Love plants? Visit Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Learn more at gardens.duke.edu
By Stephen Schramm Photography by Chris Hildreth
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elinda Strickland experienced typical stressors in the weeks leading up to her July wedding. How hot and muggy would it be? Would she remember the choreographed moves she practiced with her husband, Will Strickland, for the first dance? Would her 3-year-old nephew make it all the way down the aisle as ring bearer? But Strickland wasn’t worried about photography. She booked Red Bridge Photography [redbridgephoto.com] for wedding and engagement pictures. She received an engagement session at no charge because Duke staff and faculty who book a wedding with Red Bridge get an engagement session for free – a $400 value. “We weren’t even planning on getting engagement photos until we saw the employee discount,” said Melinda, associate director for the Fuqua School of Business Executive MBA Program. “We were thrilled with the photos. They really showed the joy we felt on our wedding day.” Melinda and Will have 20 pictures from their wedding day hanging in frames in the hallway of their Raleigh home. Pictures show Will kissing Melinda on the cheek as her veil blows in the wind; the two performing their first dance surrounded by loved ones; and the couple feeding each other the first bite of wedding cake. “It was hard to decide which photos to put up because they were all so fantastic,” Melinda said. Red Bridge is one of the photography outfitters that provide a deal through the Duke employee discount program. Here are some other options for your next photoshoot.
Morgan Henderson Photography Duke alumna Morgan Henderson earned her doctorate in Genetics and Genomics from Duke University in 2014. After graduating, she made photography her full-time career because capturing families and weddings ended up being her dream job. Henderson [morganhendersonphotography.com] offers a 10 percent discount on portrait sessions and a free hour of wedding photography.
Leah Marie Photography + Stationary Get your photography and wedding invitations done with Leah Marie Photography + Stationary [leahmarieimages.com] in Raleigh. Duke staff and faculty get a 10 percent discount on wedding photography, family sessions and wedding invitations. Melinda and Will Strickland received the Duke employee discount when they booked Red Bridge Photography for their wedding. Photos courtesy of Red Bridge Photography.
Joe Payne Photography Raleigh-based photographer Joe Payne [joepayneweddingphotography.com] offers Duke employees 10 percent off any portrait or wedding photography collection. By Jonathan Black
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Visit hr.duke.edu/discounts for a full list of savings. Your NetID and password may be needed to access deals. Your DukeCard ID is required for these photography discounts, too.
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Understanding Solar Power at Duke
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Logic and logistics cloud prospects of powering campus with the sun
ith “Our money is rainwater going further with collection LED retrofits than with tanks and renewable energy right an energy now,” Collins said. efficient heating system, While Duke produces the Duke Smart Home solar energy at three sites showcases plenty of on campus – the Research sustainable technologies. Drive Parking Garage, But when Duke senior Grainger Hall and the Emilia Chojkiewicz, Duke Smart Home – the co-president of Duke overall contribution to Smart Home Club, shows Duke’s energy portfolio is visitors around the student modest. The sites combine residence, the solar panels to produce a little more attract the most attention. than one megawatt. “When you walk up, State regulations you see the solar panels cap the amount of solar right there,” Chojkiewicz energy Duke can produce said. “For the general at five megawatts. If public, solar is an obvious The solar energy system atop the Research Drive Parking Garage is the largest such project Duke produced as much on Duke’s campus. sustainability choice.” as it could, it would still Using around 460 megawatt hours While they create lots of conversation, account for less than two percent of overall per year – roughly equivalent to 40,000 the panels only account for around 15 campus needs. typical homes – Duke’s energy needs are percent of the energy needed to power “On campus, you just can’t make enormous. And right now, finding other the home. Likewise, for Duke University, enough energy,” Collins said. ways to reduce that demand is a more which aims to be carbon neutral by 2024, Still, while solar energy is a minor effective and economical way to progress solar energy is a small piece to a much piece of Duke’s emission reduction plan toward Duke’s climate-neutrality goals larger emission-reduction equation. now, its importance will grow. Duke is than large, on-campus solar projects. “Duke’s strategy is that, if we can currently evaluating potential sites for Duke recently replaced lights in do it, we’re going to go after it,” said future solar projects and looking for ways 14 campus buildings with more efficient Casey Collins, energy manager for Duke to connect them to the existing energy grid LEDs, saving around 3 million kilowatt Facilities Management. “But we have to do on campus. hours per year. That project cost roughly it in a way that aligns with operational and “We hope to not just have a plan for the same as a solar system recently installed economic realities.” what we can do now,” Collins said. “We atop Research Drive Parking Garage but While renewable energy sources want it to be a living thing, so as situations produced more than twice the energy will be prominent in the future, there change, we can adjust.” savings. are reasons why home-grown solar energy By Stephen Schramm has yet to become a larger part of Duke’s approach. For more Duke sustainability news, visit sustainability.duke.edu
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