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Blog and Media Roundup - Monday, March 3, 2014; News Roundup
Topic Started: Mar 3 2014, 04:30 AM (249 Views)
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http://www.heraldsun.com/news/x112098442/Durham-Committee-Friends-pick-new-leaders

Durham Committee, Friends pick new leaders
Mar. 02, 2014 @ 04:08 PM

Ray Gronberg

Two of the county’s big-three political groups have changed leaders, with the biggest moves coming in the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.

Committee members recently voted in an all-new slate of officers, beginning by electing former state Sen. Ralph Hunt, D-Durham, as the group’s chairman.
Hunt, who served in the Senate from 1985 to 1993 and again in 2004, said the election should have “a major impact” and boost the influence of the Durham Committee.

“There is going to be more attention paid by a broad section of the community on what the efforts of the Durham Committee are,” he said. “That’s going to result a great deal from our efforts as an elected body that moves for broader membership and broader participation by the community in fulfilling our goals.”

Among the other new officers, former County Commissioners and City Council candidate Omar Beasley is the group’s new first vice chairman and former County Commissioner Deborah Gilles is its second vice chairwoman.

Acting District Attorney Leon Stanback will lead its legal-redress committee. And Walter Jackson, a consultant, is in charge of its high-profile political-action arm.

Jackson is replacing former school board member Jackie Wagstaff, who during the run-up to last year’s City Council election wound up quarreling with former Chairman Randal Rogers and other Durham Committee leaders. The fight yielded an on-again, off-again suspension of Wagstaff.

The 2013 city election cycle saw the Durham Committee raise just $8,631, with $8,000 of that coming from Cree Inc. co-founder and 751 South figure Neal Hunter and his wife.

Jackson acknowledged the group needs to broaden its donor base and mend relations with prospective benefactors.

“I would not like to see us at all be dependent on one or two or three large contributors to reach the goals of our organization,” Jackson said, adding “there are people who had somewhat lessened their [financial] support of the committee in recent years for various reasons.”

The changes at the Durham Committee happened as another big-three group, the Friends of Durham, was installing Alice Sharpe as the replacement for longtime leader David Smith.

Smith stepped down by choice. A property appraiser, he recently received a gubernatorial appointment to the N.C. Property Tax Commission.
Sharpe is a Durham business leader who once worked in the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. On the political front, she helped run former City Councilman Thomas Stith’s 2007 unsuccessful election challenge to Mayor Bill Bell.

She couldn’t be interviewed for this article, in part because she suffered a muscle injury while leading an exercise class.
The Friends are the most conservative and Republican-leaning of Durham’s big-three political groups, and these days have direct ties to Gov. Pat McCrory via Stith, a member who’s now the governor’s chief of staff.

The Durham Committee has had direct and indirect ties to the Democratic Party, but that hasn’t stopped it from entering a de-facto alliance with the Friends in recent local elections.

It and Durham’s other big-three group, the People’s Alliance, have disagreed about the handling of 751 South and other development applications.
Committee activists have long favored a loose rein on permits in hopes of expanding job opportunities for Durham’s black residents. The PA prefers that city and county leaders pick and choose the applications to support.

That difference has endured even though activists like Victoria Peterson who support the loose-reins approach have also questioned whether blacks received a fair share of the jobs created by prior approvals.

The Durham Committee/Friends coalition held for the 2013 City Council elections, the groups endorsing identical slates that included Beasley and former County Commissioner Pam Karriker.

They lost to the PA’s favored candidates, Eddie Davis and Don Moffitt.

The PA raised more money for the 2013 than the other two groups combined, a spokesman for it afterwards crediting it for having a better grassroots organization than the Friends.

Hunt and Jackson are holding their cards close when it comes to political strategy going forward. Hunt noted that he and Sharpe were childhood friends. But social ties are the rule rather than exception for activists in all three groups; PA spokesman Milo Pyne described Sharpe as “a good friend.”

“I don’t know we set out with any particular bias in mind about alliances,” Jackson said. “There’s a saying that it’s all about interests. Our interest is in securing candidates who will perform their duties well and represent our interests. If it turns out other groups think those are the best candidates, we’d love in that sense to ally with them.”

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UNC learning specialist defends university

By Dan Kane
dkane@newsobserver.comMarch 2, 2014

CHAPEL HILL — Learning specialist Bradley Bethel wasn’t at UNC-Chapel Hill when counselors at the tutoring program for athletes were steering them to classes that never met. He was hired to help athletes in September 2011, just as the university was coming to grips with the long-running scandal.

But in recent days, Bethel, 33, who came to the university from a similar job at Ohio State, has become a leading critic of whistle-blower Mary Willingham, who has said her research revealed that some UNC athletes could not read at high school levels. He said in a lengthy blog post that she presented “virtually meaningless” research based on “profoundly incorrect” data.

The blog post was quickly cited by UNC fans and tweeted by UNC-CH’s Office of Faculty Governance. A closer reading of the post and other correspondence Bethel has written shows he is not rebutting a key concern posed by the scandal: The university admitted athletes who could not succeed academically, and the tutoring program used the no-show classes to help keep them eligible.

“From what I can discern,” Bethel wrote in an email to The News & Observer, “when the academic counselors at times recommended the easy, no-show classes to underprepared students, the counselors did so because they were already working long hours to help those students develop the skills they needed to succeed in their other classes.”

Bethel has jumped into a controversy that has roiled the university and brought significant national media attention this year. A university-backed investigation found more than 200 suspected or confirmed no-show classes dating back to the mid-1990s, with athletes making up 45 percent of the enrollments. The N&O has reported through records and interviews that the tutoring program counselors were steering academically-challenged athletes to the classes, which typically provided high grades for an end-of-term paper.

Bethel said in an email to The N&O that the former and current colleagues in the tutoring program who recommended the no-show classes were educators and not “eligibility brokers.” Part of the counselors’ struggle, he said, came from the high academic standards within one of the nation’s top public universities. He also contended the no-show classes represented a small percentage of the classes athletes took, suggesting they did not play a big role in keeping them eligible.

In at least two cases, football players who did not graduate had taken four or more suspected or confirmed no-show classes during their UNC careers, records and interviews show.

As a learning specialist, Bethel is a member of one of the fastest-growing professions at big-time college sports programs. His research found that from 2010 to 2011, the number of positions in such programs grew by 18 percent to an estimated 150 such jobs. He has worked to set standards for the profession.

“All these student-athletes are coming to campus who are really underprepared, which is why the need for learning specialists has arisen,” Bethel told The Chronicle of Higher Education, which wrote about his research in 2012.

Lower requirements, higher standards

The growth in learning specialists comes as changes in NCAA policies lowered minimum academic requirements for freshmen, while requiring athletic programs to pay a price if those athletes do not show progress toward a degree. The University of Connecticut, for example, was barred from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament last year for having a low academic progress rate.

That dynamic has also led to concerns that more schools are cheating to keep athletes eligible. Inside Higher Ed found that over the last decade the number of cases of major NCAA violations involving academic misconduct at universities nearly doubled to 15 cases from eight in the 1990s. It’s a problem critics say is inherent in a system that requires football and men’s basketball players to attend college to be eligible for a draft into the NFL or NBA.

UNC-CH has not faced NCAA violations over the no-show classes. University officials have acknowledged the “disproportionate” numbers of athletes in the classes, which typically awarded high grades for an end-of-term paper, but have often denied the scandal had an athletic motive. Last month, the university and the UNC system announced a prominent former U.S. Justice Department official, Kenneth Wainstein, will investigate the academic fraud.

Bethel has not shown whistle-blower Willingham’s pessimism about the ability of academically-challenged athletes to navigate college classes. Bethel grew up outside Toledo, Ohio, with a father who taught high school English before becoming a human resources consultant. His mother recently became a preschool teacher.

Bethel: Athletes’ learning disabilities hurt reading

Bethel would not consent to an interview, but in email correspondence and in his blog, he says that in many cases, learning disabilities such as attention deficit disorder hinder athletes’ reading ability. Those disabilities sometimes don’t become apparent until the athletes enter college.

He contends once the disabilities are addressed, athletes can catch up.

“What is important to understand about reading disabilities is that they do not indicate overall impaired cognitive functioning,” Bethel wrote in his blog, “Coaching The Mind.” “Reading disabilities are disorders that often involve difficulty decoding certain letters or performing other fluency-related tasks, but those with a reading disability can nonetheless engage in other complex cognitive tasks. Undoubtedly, the majority of people with reading disabilities are as intellectually capable as anyone reading this essay.”

In his three years working as a reading and writing specialist for Ohio State and for UNC-CH, Bethel said he has had three such athletes who succeeded academically once their learning disabilities were diagnosed and overcome through tools such as video lessons or audio books.

Officials said UNC would accept fewer ill-prepared athletes

When he told Chancellor Carol Folt in an email last summer – one Bethel hadn’t expected to become public – that there have been “many student-athletes who were specially admitted whose academic preparedness is so low they cannot succeed here,” he said university officials met with him and assured him they were reducing the number of athlete admissions that did not meet minimum academic standards set by the UNC system.

Stephen Farmer, the vice provost in charge of admissions, told Bethel those admissions had been cut in half for the current academic year and would be cut even further next year.

UNC system records show the number of those students had been cut from roughly five to seven athletes a year to two in 2011 and three last year. Those reductions coincide with the loss of the no-show classes.

Bethel wrote in his blog post that Farmer also told him the university is no longer admitting athletes who are predicted to have a first-year GPA below 2.0, and the number of athletes who scored a GPA below a 2.3 was cut by roughly half, 14, for the 2012-13 academic year.

“Next year the number is expected to be reduced even further,” Bethel wrote “In the wake of the scandals threatening UNC’s integrity, UNC’s recently improved admissions process demonstrates a remarkable commitment to establishing an appropriate balance between academics and athletics.”

A question of intent

Bethel acknowledged he has not seen Willingham’s research data, or the underlying tests that were given to the 183 athletes over an eight-year period. However, he says, her methodology is so flawed that the results could not be valid.

NCAA President Mark Emmert has said the UNC case turns on the question of whether there was an intent to help athletes stay eligible to play. UNC officials have argued that intent did not exist among the two people at the center of the scandal – former African studies chairman Julius Nyang’oro and his longtime assistant, Deborah Crowder, who retired in 2009. Neither has publicly explained their actions. Nyang’oro has been charged with fraud for accepting $12,000 for one of the classes; his attorney said he is innocent and will fight the charge in court.

But if academic counselors knew or suspected the classes were fraudulent and steered athletes to them anyway, some experts have said that should be grounds for a major violation.

The N&O asked Bethel if he had been at the university during the scandal, would he have recognized the classes were bogus?

“That is a good question,” he said. “However, because I was not here when the no-show classes were offered, I cannot say how I would have handled the situation.”

Kane: 919-829-4861; Twitter: @dankanenando


Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/03/02/3668170/unc-learning-specialist-defends.html#storylink=cpy
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/03/03/scoreless-drought-dooms-duke-lacrosse-first-loss-season

Scoreless drought dooms Duke lacrosse in first loss of the season

By Madeline Carrington | March 3, 2014

After a perfect February, Duke started March off on the wrong foot.

In front of a season-high crowd of more than 5,000 fans, the No. 1 Blue Devils suffered their first setback of the season Saturday when they fell 10-6 to No. 2 Maryland at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md. After trading goals with the Blue Devils for much of the first half, the Terrapins changed the narrative by scoring seven unanswered goals and holding Duke without a goal for a streak of 26:26.

“They played a great 60 minutes. I thought their goalie was terrific," Duke head coach John Danowski said. "Defensively, I thought they had a really good gameplan and understood how they play. I’m very proud of our guys’ first-half effort. Certainly we were disappointed in our second-half effort, but the calendar says it’s March 1 and the plan is we’re going to learn from this film and move forward.”

Maryland (4-0, 2-0 in the ACC) leaned on its vaunted defense to seize control of Saturday’s matchup. Goaltender Niko Amato, who had allowed just 14 goals in Maryland’s previous three games, made 17 saves, including six in the second quarter alone. Maryland’s defense, anchored by Jesse Bernhardt, forced 17 Duke turnovers.

“I thought he did terrific,” Danowski said of Amato’s performance. “Their defense does a really good job in front of him and he can see shots coming at him. It’s also the way they’re coached; they do a great job defensively.”

For the Blue Devils, goaltender Luke Aaron put on a one-man defensive show, making a career-high 15 saves. The matchup marked his third straight outing in which he registered double-digit saves.

“It was a good game,” Aaron said. “The defense was letting me see the shots and the credit goes to them. It started with [Maryland’s] goalie play to [Maryland’s] defense and their offense played really well.”

Senior attack Jordan Wolff, the reigning ACC Player of the Week, extended his scoring streak to 46 games with two goals Saturday. Senior attack Josh Dionne added another two, and sophomores Case Matheis and Myles Jones each added one. Maryland was led by midfielder Mike Chanenchuk’s five goals.

"Mike [Chanenchuk] has been there for a while and he shoots the ball really well, so it’s tough," Aaron said. "They executed their game plan.”

Duke (4-1, 0-1) began to falter in the third quarter and couldn’t rally a comeback in the fourth. The Blue Devils still managed to trail by just a goal, but three Terrapin goals in the final three minutes of the third period put Maryland in the driver’s seat with a 9-5 advantage. Despite the efforts of ACC ground ball leader Brendan Fowler, the Blue Devils lost the ground ball battle 8-5 in the third and were failed to find the back of the net after posting only five shots on goal to Maryland’s 14 in the period.

“They scored once off a pick. They scored once off a faceoff. They scored in a bunch of different little ways and they played great,” Danowski said of Maryland’s second-half performance. “During the coaches' committee, I voted them number one last week and I think they’re a dynamite team. They’re just kind of relaxed, playing at home in front of a big crowd, I thought they were very calm and confident defensively.”

Both perennial lacrosse powerhouses, Duke and Maryland have a competitive history. Duke has beaten Maryland just twice in eight matchups since the 2011 season, and the Terrapins knocked the Blue Devils out of the NCAA semifinals in 2012. Saturday's contest marked the last regular-season ACC matchup between the two teams before Maryland departs for the Big Ten next year.

Whether or not the Blue Devils and Terrapins meet again in the postseason, Duke is taking Saturday's loss as a learning experience before they return to the state of Maryland next weekend for a matchup against No. 8 Loyola.

“Hard work,” Wolf said on how Duke will respond to the loss. “I’m excited for practice Monday and get back to it. We’re going to watch this film and get better from it.”
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http://www.heraldsun.com/news/showcase/x1001072997/Duke-researcher-appointed-as-new-provost

Duke researcher appointed as new provost

Ray Gronberg

DURHAM —
One of Duke University’s most prominent medical researchers will become its new provost this summer, taking over from political scientist Peter Lange.

The university’s Board of Trustees approved the appointment of Duke School of Medicine cell biologist Sally Kornbluth over the weekend. She will replace Lange on July 1.

The assignment will put Kornbluth in charge of the academic-affairs side of Duke, including admissions and financial aid.

A Duke statement announcing the decision quoted President Richard Brodhead as saying he thinks Kornbluth “will supply outstanding academic leadership” because she combines “a deep love of Duke with keen intelligence about the challenges facing higher education.”

The same statement quoted Kornbluth as saying it’ll be “a tremendous honor and a significant challenge” to lead Duke, which benefits from a “collaborative, interdisciplinary culture [that] creates opportunities for faculty and students to make a difference in the world.”

She was not available for an interview on Monday, saying via email that she was tied up all day chairing a National Institutes of Health grant-review committee.

Lange is stepping down as provost after holding the job since 1999, a 15-year tenure that made him Duke’s longest-serving academic-affairs chief.

He plans on taking a year’s sabbatical before returning to the political-science faculty, and will remain as board chairman of Duke Kunshan University, a branch of the school that’s set to open in China near Shanghai, Duke Vice President Michael Schoenfeld said.

Kornbluth’s hiring means the provost’s job will stay in the hands of a longtime Duke faculty member.

Lange came to Duke in 1981 from Harvard University; Kornbluth arrived in 1994 following post-doctoral work at the University of California at San Diego.

As it happens, Kornbluth, like Lange, has a degree in political science. She earned it as an undergraduate at Williams College before she switched to genetics and molecular oncology.

She now runs a lab that looks for clues to why cancer sometimes emerges from the process of cellular division. Its staff includes seven graduate students, two post-docs, a lab technician and four other Ph.D-level researchers.

Schoenfeld said that while the provost’s position “is generally a full-time job,” Kornbluth “is planning to continue her research.” He referred questions about that to Kornbluth.

The incoming provost is now vice dean for basic science in the School of Medicine. She was set in 2011 to become one of Lange’s top lieutenants, the vice provost for academic affairs, but after accepting opted instead to stay in the medical school.

She at the time said her “true interest in academic administration is inextricably linked to my passion and love for biomedical research.”

Her tenure as a medical-school administrator hasn’t been without controversy, as it made her one of the point persons at Duke in responding to questions about the work of a since-disgraced researcher, Anil Potti.

That controversy developed after analysts at the University of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center found they couldn’t replicate findings from a Potti-led project that pointed to a way to tailor cancer treatments to a tumor’s genetic makeup.

Once they started raising question, Duke suspended clinical trials of the new treatments on Duke patients while a review panel examined Potti’s work. The trials resumed after the panel found it could replicate Potti’s statistical work.

Trouble was, the Texas analysts by then had developed doubts not just about the statistics, but the underlying data.

They found it didn’t match what was in the public database Potti and his colleagues had drawn it from, and reported that to Kornbulth and another senior Duke administrator, neither of whom forwarded the second complaint to the review panel.

Kornbluth later told the British science journal Nature the second report didn’t go to the review panel to ensure Potti “complete fairness.”

Duke pulled the plug on the trials for good after another trade publication alleged that Potti had lied about his resume in grant applications. The head of Duke’s genomics institute later acknowledged there’d been “a lack of verification” of Potti’s work before launching the trials.
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