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Opinion
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Chris Scoville on the novelty of the Ivies
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m DUKE UNIVERSITY Ninety-Ninth Year, issue 137
DURHAM, N.C.
THURSDAY, APRIL 15,2004
WWW. CHRONICLE.DUKE. EDU
Triangle air quality fails EPA standards
Sexualities certificate
suspended Sophia Peters THE CHRONICLE
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Money can’t buy you love, but it could have saved Duke some serious sex talk. The Curriculum Committee has officially suspended the Certificate Program in the Studies of Sexualities, first established in 1992, for the coming school year. The committee cited insufficient funding to find a professor who would teach the introductory and capstone courses that are required for every certificate program, but noted that the program will return as soon as an appropriate faculty member can be found. The sexualities studies program passed the Curriculum Committee’s annual review of certificate programs last fall and was approved for the coming school year, but its organizers were unable to hire a professor within the given budget of $20,000. Although a visiting professor was in line to teach the two courses, he declined the position due to the given salary. Alex Roland, chair of the Curriculum Committee, emphasized that the restoration of the sexualities certificate was contingent upon the hiring of an appropriate professor and not upon the program’s curriculum. ‘Their plan was still acceptable to the committee, but they were not able to staff it,” he said, “so we mutually agreed that they would suspend the program with the expectation that they will resume the next year, if these problems are not repeated.” SEE SEXUALITIES ON PAGE 8
Research
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search,” McKinney said. McDonnell, however, is among the researchers at Duke who are fluent in both aspects of science research. He considers all the projects in his laboratory to be translational research because he can link the studies to future improvements in human health. As an example, McDonnell pointed to one of his studies that investigates steroid hormone receptors that could lead to the development of new drugs for contraception, hormone replacement therapy, breast and prostate cancer, osteoporosis and endometriosis. Past research projects
It may be the commercial, political and cultural Mecca of the state, but the Triangle region of North Carolina will officially join the ranks of America’s “dirtiest” areas today because of its poor air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency will announce today that it has designated all or portions of eight counties in the Triangle as a “non-attainment” zone for failing to meet the 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground level ozone. The counties include Durham, Orange, Wake, Chatham, Johnston, Person, Franklin and Granville Counties. Other parts of the state, including the Triad and Charlotte regions, will receive similar labels. The Triangle’s designation is based on recommendations sent to the EPA in July 2003 by North Carolina’s Division of Air Quality, a branch of the Department of Natural Resources. ‘This is not any surprise that the EPA non-attainment designation is coming out Thursday,” said Tom Mather, a spokesperson for DAQ. “We knew that it was coming based on our monitoring.” The DAQ monitors ozone levels between April 1 and Oct. 31 of each year the months when ozone production in the state is the highest. Between 2000 and 2003, nine of 10 ozone detectors in the Triangle showed violations of the NAAQS. In 2003 alone, therewere eight “ozone action” days, meaning at least one monitor recorded levels exceeding the federal standard. Mather said this and other data were incorporated into the recommendations sent to the EPA last year. With the new federal designation in place, the state must create and implement an air quality improvement plan for the “non-attainment” zone by 2007. The plan must include measures to ensure that transportation and industrial projects do not hinder progress toward the area’s air quality goals. Mather listed transportation planning, industry controls and better inspection and maintenance of vehicles as a few of the measures the state could implement in order to decrease the discharge of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds that react in the air to produce ozone. Mather also said existing state legislation, such as the Clean Smokestacks Act
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SEE EPA ON PAGE 6
JOHN MILLER/THE CHRONICLE
Vice Presidentfor Student Affairs Larry Moneta explains the student programming fee increase to DSG.
DSG approves cabinet,
hears fee explanation Emily Almas THE CHRONICLE
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For some student legislators, like Duke Student Government President Matthew Slovik, the nearly ,three-and-ahalf hour meeting Wednesday night was a tearful conclusion to a four-year experience. Before the senior sermons and giggly jokes that concluded the 10th DSG Senate, however, the body faced a full docket—including a presentation by Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, several pieces of legislation and nominations and selections of several officials for the next year. Moneta presented information to
moves
‘bench
it’s completely changed. Translational research is about getting medicine into people quickly. This is a relatively new focus for This is the second in a series of articles exacademic research.” amining current research trends, nationMcKinney, Ross wide and at Duke. vice dean of research The face of science research is in the School ofMediquickly evolving beyond the laboratory cine, said this “bench bench, as researchers increasingly apto bedside” approach proach basic science questions in to science research has terms of clinical applicability. At Duke existed as a concept University Medical Center, researchers for many years, but have embraced this controversial there are still few scitrend toward translational research, enlists who grasp both the recently coined term to describe th e basic science and studies. such application-based clinical aspects of resolewere the academicians “In past, search. As a result, ly interested in pure, exploratory sci- Ross McKinney ence,” said Donald McDonnell, professor translational research as a term has only reof pharmacology and cancer biology. “Now cently entered the scientific jargon. Liana Wyler THE CHRONICLE
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Seyward Darby THE CHRONICLE
the Senate to explain his recent decision to increase mandatory student programming fees by $lOO. “Instead of taking money from the Arts & Sciences or the faculty, so it wouldn’t compete for tuition [money], we reduced our tuition allocation for a money allocation from the fees,” he said. The additional dollars will go toward solidifying the “soft funding” currendy used to pay for many cultural events out of the budget of the Office of Student Activities and Facilities. Moneta said his office was working on making the fee increase a SEE DSG ON PAGE 7
to
bedside’
“We don’t have many people who are bilingual in basic science and clinical re-
SEE RESEARCH ON PAGE
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