alumni
sse of
Nearly 1,300 pages evidence turned over to defense, PAGE 3
rn
-
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2006
B
Recent grad rides unicycle across country, PAGE 4
ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND YEAR, ISSUE S2
KL
Class of ’lO Nickerson Field, Boston University MuS sets admit Friday, 6 p.m. CSTV With win, Duke heads to Final 4 rate record DUKE vs. NORTHWESTERN •
Players say they will wear sweatbands to support men’s team by
Incoming class strongest most diverse in history BY
IZA WOJCIECHOWSKA THE CHRONICLE
Gregory Beaton THE CHRONICLE
Duke’s women’s lacrosse team is making headlines—both for earning a trip to the national semifinalsand for a quiet show of solidarity that it is reportedly planning for this weekend’s Final Four in Boston. The top-seeded Blue Devils advanced to their second consecutive Final Four to face fourth-seeded Northwestern Friday at 6 p.m., after a 16-6 victory over James Madison last Saturday in the quarterfinals. During the season’s second matchup between the Blue Devils and Wildcats, members of the women’s team will sport sweatbands with the word “innocent” on their arms or legs during the game, in reference to the three indicted members of the men’s lacrosse team, the Durham Herald-Sun reported Wednesday. Head coach Kerstin Kimel and members of the team were unavailable for comment Wednesday. John Bumess, senior vice president for government and public relations, SEE W. LAX ON PAGE 12
,
JIANGHAI
HO/THE
CHRONICLE
The Blue Devils celebrated Saturdayafternoon after beating James Madison, 16-6,to reach theFinal Four.
Duke prof helps map Chromosome 1
After undergoing the most selective admissions process in University history, the Class of 2010 will top previous classes in diversity and overall strength, officials announced Wednesday. The University admitted 21 percent of nearly 19,400 applicants and anticipates an entering class of 1,665students. Though the largest component of the admissions process has been completed, enrollment numbers will not be finalized until all decisions are in from students admitted from the waiting list. The percentage of admitted students set a record low—down from last year’s 22 percent —due to an increase in the number of applications, itself a record high. “We have more applicants for two reasons,” Dean of Admissions Christoph Guttentag said. “One is the increasing visibility and reputation of the institution worldwide... and [another] part ofit is the admissions office keeps on recruiting.” The recent lacrosse controversy and its national media coverage had “some effect” on students’ decisions to accept admissions offers, with the admissions yield expected to drop from 43 percent to between 40 and 41 percent, Guttentag said. SEE ADMISSIONS ON PAGE 6
by
Carolina Astigarraga THE CHRONICLE
A number of researchers, including a Duke professor, mapped the final chromosome in the Human Genome Project last week, bringing scientists a giant step closer to curing thousands of diseases. Members of the United Kingdom’s Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, including Dr. Simon Gregory, assistant profes■ of physics at Duke, onstructed a detailed map of Chromosome 1. The largest chromosome the in human DNA, Chromosome 1 contains more than 3000 genes d is the site of more than 350 diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer’s. The research will allow scientists to fine-tune a diag-
nostic that can identify illnesses before symptoms appear and even detect potential diseases in a person—allowing, for example, individuals susceptible to heart disease to eliminate fatty foods from their diet before they even know they have a problem. Such exacting technology, however, will come at a price. Gregory estimated that the procedure will cost more than $l,OOO per gene. The indeterminate nature of the costly technology could lead to several ethical dilemmas, Gregory observed. For example, insurance companies could hike up rates or refuse to cover an individual at all if that person is likely to develop a certain disease. “There’s no normal human,” Gregory said, noting that a person’s DNA tests may not exacdy match a lab example of a cancer mutation on a chromosome. “The environment has a great deal to do with it—it may be someone who has the mutation doesn’t develop the disease while someone else gets the chicken pox or a
cold and does develop the disease.” In addition, the research is being used to study the genetic differences between racial populations and the concept of “genetic recombination”—the genetic equivalent of the shuffling of a deck ofcards and the reason why a person does not look exactly like their parents —Gregory said. Dr. Mark Walport, director of the Institute, called the project “a vital resource” in the study of health and disease. “The completion of the project, with the publication of the Chromosome 1 sequence, is a monumental achievement that will benefit the research community for years to come,” he said. The Human Genome Project has been in the news for several years now, most notably in 2003 when the members of the Project announced that they had completed mapping the human genome, Gregory said. He added that the 2003 project mapped about 90 percent of the genome and, unSEE CHROMOSOME ON PAGE
7
the numbers 2009 Acceptance
rate
21%
22%
40%
37%
19,353
18,089
Yield
Class size Internationa students
Students of color
Number of jpplications