GoDuke Weekly l www.GoDuke.com/gdw

Contraband Could Hide in Plain Sight

When airport security employees scan luggage for a large variety

of banned items, they may miss a deadly box cutter if they find a water bottle first. According to new research at Duke, identifying an easy-to-spot

prohibited item such as a water bottle may hinder the discovery of other, harder-to-spot items in the same scan. “When you have the impending time pressure of going quickly, you

are more likely to miss a second target,” says Stephen Mitroff, an as- sistant professor of psychology & neuroscience at Duke. Missing items in a complex visual search is not a new idea: in the

medical field, it has been known since the 1960s that radiologists tend to miss a second abnormality on an X-ray if they’ve found one already. The concept -- dubbed “satisfaction of search” -- is that radiologists would find the first target, think they were finished, and move on to the next patient’s X-ray. Does the principle apply to non-medical areas? That’s what Mitroff

and his colleagues set out to examine shortly after 2006, when the U.S. Transportation Security Administration banned liquids and gels from all flights, drastically changing airport luggage screens. he new study was published online in the Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Applied.

Reaching Out to New Moms and Dads

Becoming a parent means suddenly being responsible for the care of another human being 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So it may come as a surprise to new moms and dads when the

addition of a family member leaves them feeling lonely and isolated. A program called Durham Connects works to relieve this sense of isolation by having a nurse visit parents and babies in their homes and connect them with community supports. Durham Connects is a collaborative effort, funded by The Duke Endowment, whose purpose is to improve child well-being in Durham County. Though the program is optional, about 80 percent of parents have elected to have a nurse come to their home. The nurses make their home visits when the baby is about three weeks old.

Campus Corner

McLendon Named Provost of Rice University

George McLendon, dean of Trinity College and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Duke, has accepted the job of provost of Rice University. The Texas native will take over as the school’s top academic official on July 1, Rice announced last week. Alvin Crumbliss, a professor of chemistry at Duke since 1970 who is

completing a term as dean of natural sciences, will serve as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Trinity College for a one-year period effective May 24. During that time, President Richard H. Brodhead and Provost Peter Lange will lead a national search for Duke’s next dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. McLendon, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has served

as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as well as dean of Trinity College since 2008. Trinity is Duke’s liberal arts college and has 635 faculty members in 36 departments and programs. McLendon was first named dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 2004.

Five Freshmen Join Robertson Scholars Program at Duke and UNC

For the first time, the Robertson Scholars Program at Duke and the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has admitted students who are already enrolled at the two universities. Five first-year students have been invited to join the program, a

comprehensive leadership initiative that grants students a full merit scholarship and the opportunity to study at both UNC and Duke. Students enroll at one campus or the other but take classes at both. They also spend one semester in residence at the sister university. Currently 134 Robertson Scholars study at the two universities. Until this year, only high school seniors have been eligible for the

program. About 36 seniors are selected each spring to become Robert- son Scholars at UNC or Duke. While the program had planned to award up to four scholarships to first-year students in this pilot initiative, the selection committee was so impressed by all five finalists that each was invited to become a Robertson Scholar.

Courtesy of Steve Hartsoe, Duke News & Communications,

http://news.duke.edu

They Said It

“We are really happy being seeded No. 1 in the East Region. It is a matter of conserving energy. Regionals is right on top of finals weeks, so this should allow us time to take some tests before we hop in the van and drive to Greenville. It’s much bet- ter than flying all the way to Stanford or Indiana. It should be a positive for our team.”

-- Dan Brooks, Duke women’s golf head coach

“When you have guys in the top 10 at least you have a chance. We had three of them that really put together a strong tourna- ment and we are certainly thankful and proud of their efforts.”

-- Jamie Green, Duke men’s golf head coach

“We fought really hard today. Virginia won the title and we didn’t give it to them. I was happy with how we bounced back after losing the doubles point and gave ourselves some chances. We played hard and left it on the court.”

-- Ramsey Smith, Duke men’s tennis head coach

“I’m really pleased that we came out and played well right out of the gate,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “Boston College is a great team. I don’t think we handled their game very well the first time we played them, but we executed our game very, very well today.”

-- Kerstin Kimel, Duke women’s lacrosse head coach

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