what you missed over break

Queen of England honors Duke prof

Queen Elizabeth II distinguished Arlie Petters, professor of mathematics and physics, as a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Dec. 29.

"It's very humbling to be recognized in this unexpected way," Petters said in a statement.

A total of 971 British Commonwealth citizens were honored along with the native of Belize.

The award cited Petters' "services to science and education."

In Belize, the Duke professor leads the Petters Research Institute where students are trained in technology, mathematics and the sciences.

Outside of his research, Petters runs University programs to encourage minorities to pursue careers in mathematics and science.

Petters received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1991. He first joined the Department of Mathematics at Duke in 1998 and has held various positions within the department.

Yale University announced Monday that it will spend more money on financial aid from its endowment for the next academic year. A 37-percent increase is expected, bringing total endowment spending on financial aid to $1.15 billion. Yale President Richard Levin told The Washington Post Tuesday that the institution will be announcing dramatic changes to its financial aid policies in February.

Yale officials said one reason for the increase in spending was pressure form Congress calling on elite universities to spend more of their endowments.

City to draw more water from Cary

City Council members agreed Monday to allocate up to $3 million to build an emergency connection between Durham and Cary to help the city cope with the current drought conditions.

The connection will allow Durham to receive up to 11 million gallons of water daily from Jordan Lake, located about 10 miles away.

"I want to congratulate the administration for expediting this item," Mayor Bill Bell told The Herald-Sun Tuesday. "It's very timely."

City Manager Patrick Baker was also authorized by the council to sign a contract that may be worth up to $550,000 with Hazen and Sawyer, an environmental consulting firm officials want to design the connection.

Currently, an existing connection between Durham and Cary provides approximately 2 million gallons of water for Durham daily. After the installation of a new pump in a few weeks, the existing connection is expected to supply 4 million gallons of water per day.

Baker told The Herald-Sun Tuesday that the city will not lighten up on its water usage restrictions.

"We're still very far behind where we need to be," he said. "We need to have [Durham's two] reservoirs full when we turn toward the end of spring, and they're not."

Taxi driver named "hero"

Moezeldin Elmostafa, the taxi driver who drove exonerated former lacrosse player Reade Seligmann the night of the alleged lacrosse case assault, was nominated by Reader's Digest as one of its "Heroes of the Year" for his involvement in the lacrosse case.

The Sudan native gave an affidavit for the case providing a key alibi for Seligmann and maintained what he said even after he was arrested by the Durham Police Department-an act intended to scare him, Elmostafa said.

He came to America to escape violence and corruption at home.

"[Elmostafa] told the truth. He put it under oath, exactly the way we expect a citizen of this country to do," Jim Cooney, who represented Seligmann, said at the press conference after the former players were exonerated. "I don't know if he's listening to this. But he's one of the great heroes of this case."

State denies hospital expansion

North Carolina health regulators denied an application Dec. 17 for a proposed $20-million renovation to Duke University Hospital.

The expansion would have added a 13-bed pediatric cardiac intensive care unit and two electrophysiology labs to improve cardiac care.

Before beginning new construction, hospitals must file a certificate of need with the state, which looks at how health care costs will change with the hospital expansion. State health regulators cited a lack of significant need for the new facilities.

Representatives from the Duke University Health System said DUHS will appeal the decision.

Trustee named CEO of Bear Stearns

Alan Schwartz, Trinity '72 and a member of the Board of Trustees, was named as the chief executive of Bear, Stearns and Co., succeeding James Cayne, who announced his retirement Tuesday.

Schwartz joined the company in 1976 as an institutional sales manager in a Dallas office and served as the president and chief operating officer of the company prior to the announcement.

"The company's talent pool is particularly deep and the board is fortunate to have someone of Alan's caliber and experience ready to step in to lead the company," Vincent Tese, Bear Stearns lead independent director, said in a statement. "Alan has spent more than 30 years at Bear Stearns; he deeply understands our business and culture, and he is a strong leader and manager who is admired and respected throughout the organization."

Schwartz played baseball during his time at Duke and was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds, but an injury caused him to change his career path.

He has served as chair of the Board of Visitors at the Fuqua School of Business since 2001 and has been on the Board since 1986.