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Duke U. Is Sued Over Cancer Trials

September 10, 2011, 1:46 pm

A dozen plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit in North Carolina’s Durham County Superior Court accusing Duke University, its health system, and five doctors of knowingly enrolling them in a flawed system for using genetic tests to predict which lung-cancer patients would benefit from chemotherapy. The lawsuit, filed last week by survivors and by representatives of the estates of the deceased, is the latest development stemming from Duke’s announcement in July 2010 that it was investigating the reliability of oncology work done by an associate professor, Anil Potti, who was suspended for falsifying his academic credentials.

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  • katisumas

    That is so gross and tragic…. Shouldn’t these people go to prison?

  • http://twitter.com/dawn_armfield dawn m. armfield

    One of the very first things I say to classes at the beginning of the semester is that learning can be fun, and that I hope they find that the class is fun. That’s not to say we’re not serious about writing. We are. But we find ways to break it up and make it more interesting. That includes anything from spending 5 minutes at the end of every class watching some silly video that the students found and want to share to engaging in lively debates about essays we are reading to talking about how even the most boring writing can be a creative endeavor. Using tools like Inspiration or other mind-mapping applications can make a analytical report “fun,” but also teach about the connections between ideas. 

  • billiehara

    Thanks, Dawn.  This hold true for us, as well.    Many times we (professors and administrators) find writing a chore.  *We* need to find the fun in writing so that we become more engaged with the process (and the product).  I wonder:  how do *we* make writing fun for ourselves?

  • http://twitter.com/dawn_armfield dawn m. armfield

    Mind-mapping tools are good for us, too. Not only do they break down the task into smaller, more manageable pieces, but they make it visual. Often that not only shows me where I have holes in my writing, but where the most important links are and how they can be managed in the most productive way. It is fun for me because it is a visual task that allows me to think spatially as well as critically.

  • Musebrarian

    Perhaps this is a little off-topic, but the title of this post caught my eye.   Has anyone ever seen/heard of good academic writing retreats?   There are lots of places to go for fiction writers – secluded resorts in the mountains, a week filled with morning yoga, intense writing and collaborative critique,  afternoon hikes, etc.   Sure, there’s my on-campus writing center, but it’s often closed in the summer when my time is most flexible.  In either case,  it sounds like it could be hard – but fun.  

  • drnels

    Great idea! Whenever I go to a conference, I always build in a little time to write.  One, I’m a huge introvert.  Two, the ideas I get from speakers always get my head going.  Put the two together, and you can see why I often skip an afternoon or morning to go somewhere and write.  I have a conference next month, and I’m saving one particular project to take with me to work on.

  • droslovinia

    I love this topic! Thank you for posting it.

    As for suggestions, I have an established tradition of putting goofy inside jokes in things that I write for publication – just to keep the editors on their toes. It not only helps me learn some things about the people who are editing me, but coming up with some sneaky joke (like a chapter where the first word of each paragraph tells a story) keeps me engaged and entertained.

    I also encourage students to entertain me while writing and to avoid formulaic writing at all costs. Yes, they do need to turn in serious work, but I don’t need to hear platitudes about an assigned text, nor do I need to be told in excessive detail what it says. I want to know how people REALLY feel about the things they encounter. That added incentive to “vent” seems to turn up many interesting papers, and I’ve frequently had to put upper page limits on assignments. Valuing creativity in addition to substance (not in place of it) and being very clear in advance that you are looking for it often helps turn dull papers into fun exchanges of ideas.

  • professor_g

    I teach remedial English, as well as ENG Comp., Research and Applied Writing, and World Literature.  My students in remedial English and Comp. have to write journals each week, so I always make an effort to keep the topics fun, amusing, or even flat-out ridiculous.  For example, my remedial English classes are currently writing a fairytale.  Although this falls more in the creative writing realm than academic, they are forced to use Chronological Order, dialogue (quotations), colorful language and correct grammar.  They are also peer-editing and revising multiple drafts.

    Anytime I have the freedom to select my students’ essay topics, I try not only to make the prompt interesting, but I also try to allow wiggle room for each student’s individual voice and ideas.  I also constantly remind my students that at the end of the day, I have to read all of their papers.  If they were bored while they wrote them, I’ll be just as bored while I’m reading them.  That seems to sink in pretty well!

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