University Briefs

Simmons to head federal relations office

Christopher Simmons will join the University in February as the associate vice president for federal relations, officials announced Monday.

An advocate for the higher education community in the United States, Simmons is currently the associate director for government relations at the American Council on Education. At Duke, he will serve as the administration's point person on regulatory and legislative issues involving the federal government. He will address areas including financial aid, academic research, international education, tax policies and immigration.

Prior to joining ACE in 2002, Simmons worked as a the senior federal relations office for the Association of American Universities. He also served as a policy analyst for the National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education.

Filmmaker to participate in MLK weekend

As part of this year's Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration, Director Charles Stone will come to Duke Friday, Jan. 13 to show clips of his films and discuss King's legacy. The event will be held at 7 p.m. in Richard White Auditorium on East Campus. It is free and open to the public.

Stone's films include Mr. 3000 starring comedian Bernie Mac, Paid in Full and Drumline. He also directed Budweiser commercials in 2000 featuring the well-known "Whassup?!" greeting. Stone has also worked with hip hoppers A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy and The Roots on several music videos.

WHO official to give Siegel Lecture

Alexander Capron, director of ethics, trade, human rights and health law for the World Health Organization, will deliver the Law School's fifth annual Rabbi Seymour Siegel Lecture in Medical-Legal Ethics Thursday Jan. 19. The event will take place at 12 p.m. in room 3041 of the Law School.

Capron is the former chair of the Biomedical Ethics Committee of the United State Congress. He has written more than 10 books and several articles on issues ranging from medical and genetic privacy to stem cell research.

He served as the executive director of the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research from 1979 to 1983. He has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University and Georgetown University.

NCCU, Duke collaborate to sponsor speaker

Writer Maxine Hong Kingston, a National Book Award winner, will be speaking on peace and community building at North Carolina Central University Wednesday, Jan. 11. The event will take place at 7 p.m. in the B.N. Duke Auditorium. It is sponsored in part by Duke's Women's Studies Program.

Kingston's books include The Woman Warrior and Tripmaster Monkey. She has received the PEN West Award for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. Her speech at NCCU is a part of the school's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration.

Employees participate in exercise challenge

To support faculty and staff in their effort to lose weight and improve fitness habits, LIVE FOR LIFE is offering a new program "Duke On the Move-The Million Minute Challenge," that began January 9. With the "Million Minute Challenge," Duke is challenging employees to work together to accumulate one million minutes of exercise during the next 12 weeks.

In 2005, the United States Department of Agriculture came out with new guidelines for Americans on physical activity. The guidelines state that for weight loss and maintenance, adults should engage in 60 to 90 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity on most days of the week.

Every time participants accumulate 100 minutes, their names are entered into prize drawings.