Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

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4 7 CONSIDER REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNTS An employee can save $20 to $40 on taxes for every $100 deposited in a health care reimbursement account. 3 This paper consists of 30% recycled post-consumer fiber. Please recycle after reading. 2009, 2008, 2007 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing 2009, 2007 Bronze Medal, Print Internal Audience Tabloids/Newsletters RISING HEALTH CARE COSTS Duke’s vice president for Human Resources discusses what’s driving rising health care costs and how Duke is addressing them. W hen IT analyst Lenore Ramm was considering applying for other jobs within Duke, she started by consulting a map. “I needed to know: Is there an accessible route, so I can get there in a wheelchair? And where can I get to from that location?” asked Ramm, who has a congenital disorder characterized by extremely fragile bones. Ramm, who transferred last year from Duke Libraries to the Office of Information Technology, found the information she needed in new Web- based maps. These maps allow Ramm and other users to view and interact with a vast amount of data about Duke, including the whereabouts of 558 buildings, 264 disabled-accessible entrances and 42 miles of campus sidewalks. More and more, Duke staff, faculty and students are putting online technologies to use in mapping the campus and Duke’s role in Durham and around the world. From virtual 3D buildings in Google Earth and a project to map Durham civil rights history to representing Duke’s presence in other countries, multimedia-infused maps help share information in new ways and give employees a state-of-the-art view. “Any map is a geographical information system – a way to visualize and understand a potentially overwhelming volume of data,” said Greg Anspach, GIS manager with Facilities Management. “Mapping has come a long way since the paper maps of the 1930s. Everything is really starting to mash together, and different map layers can include everything you can possibly think of.” For example, with a few clicks, users can explore detailed views of campus including topological features, help phones, and physical accessibility information about classrooms and buildings according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As these maps add more layers of information, they become an increasingly valuable tool and resource, whether helping engineering students study local stormwater for pollution or aiding engineers in analyzing utility usage on campus. “It’s one thing to look at information in a chart. It’s another to see the map, and to quickly be able to make more informed decisions,” said Adem Gusa, Facilities Management’s assistant director of planning and design. CONNECTING BEYOND CAMPUS Duke mapping projects extend well beyond campus boundaries, to connect the university with the local community and dozens of international sites. Last spring, students in a Duke Center for Documentary Studies course built an interactive Google map of historic civil and human rights sites around Durham as part of the Pauli Murray Project, which honors the late interracial lawyer, activist, poet and Episcopal priest from Durham. NEWS YOU CAN USE :: Volume 5, Issue 7 :: September 2010 >> See CONNECTING WITH MAPS, PAGE 4 and 5 Connecting With Maps Maps help create this culture of collaboration, where everyone can contribute their expertise to the larger whole. That’s how new knowledge gets created.” — Victoria Szabo, Director of Duke’s ISIS program LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: DUKE MAPPING TECHNOLOGIES CREATE NEW KNOWLEDGE Lenore Ramm, an IT analyst in Duke’s Office of Information Technology, uses an interactive online map to find accessibility routes, building entrances and parking information. New online maps bring together a range of data from Facilities Management and other departments to provide detailed, customized views of the campus and beyond. SUSTAINABLE DUKE The Bull City Connector, the new fare-free bus service, includes stops at and near Duke, connecting Duke with downtown Durham.

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Transcript of Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

Page 1: Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

4 7CONSIDERREIMBURSEMENTACCOUNTS An employee can save$20 to $40 on taxes for every $100 depositedin a health carereimbursement account.

3

This paper consists of 30% recycled

post-consumer fiber. Please recycle after reading.

2009, 2008, 2007 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing

2009, 2007 Bronze Medal, Print Internal Audience Tabloids/Newsletters

RISING HEALTH CARE COSTS Duke’s vice presidentfor Human Resourcesdiscusses what’s drivingrising health care costsand how Duke isaddressing them.

When IT analyst Lenore Rammwas considering applying forother jobs within Duke, she

started by consulting a map. “I needed to know: Is there an

accessible route, so I can get there in awheelchair? And where can I get to fromthat location?” asked Ramm, who has a congenital disorder characterized byextremely fragile bones.

Ramm, who transferred last yearfrom Duke Libraries to the Office ofInformation Technology, found theinformation she needed in new Web-based maps. These maps allow Rammand other users to view and interact witha vast amount of data about Duke, including the whereabouts of 558 buildings, 264 disabled-accessible entrances and 42 miles of campus sidewalks.

More and more, Duke staff, faculty and students are putting onlinetechnologies to use in mapping the campus and Duke’s role in Durhamand around the world. From virtual 3D buildings in Google Earth and aproject to map Durham civil rights history to representing Duke’s presencein other countries, multimedia-infused maps help share information in newways and give employees a state-of-the-art view.

“Any map is a geographical information system – a way to visualize and understand a potentially overwhelming volume of data,” said GregAnspach, GIS manager with Facilities Management. “Mapping has come a long way since the paper maps of the 1930s. Everything is really startingto mash together, and different map layers can include everything you canpossibly think of.”

For example, with a few clicks, users can explore detailed views ofcampus including topological features, help phones, and physicalaccessibility information about classrooms and buildings according to theAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

As these maps add more layers of information, they become anincreasingly valuable tool and resource, whether helping engineering

students study local stormwater for pollution or aiding engineers inanalyzing utility usage on campus.

“It’s one thing to look at information in a chart. It’s another to see themap, and to quickly be able to make more informed decisions,” said AdemGusa, Facilities Management’s assistant director of planning and design.

CONNECTING BEYOND CAMPUSDuke mapping projects extend well beyond campus boundaries,

to connect the university with the local community and dozens ofinternational sites.

Last spring, students in a Duke Center for Documentary Studiescourse built an interactive Google map of historic civil and human rightssites around Durham as part of the Pauli Murray Project, which honors the late interracial lawyer, activist, poet and Episcopal priest from Durham.

NEWS YOU CAN USE : : Vo l ume 5 , I s s u e 7 : : S e p t embe r 20 1 0

>> See CONNECTING WITH MAPS, PAGE 4 and 5

Connecting With MapsMaps help createthis culture of

collaboration, whereeveryone can contributetheir expertise to thelarger whole. That’s hownew knowledge getscreated.”

— Victoria Szabo, Director of Duke’s ISIS program

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: DUKE MAPPING TECHNOLOGIES CREATE NEW KNOWLEDGE

Lenore Ramm, an IT analyst in Duke’s Office of Information Technology, uses an interactive online

map to find accessibility routes, building entrances and parking information. New online maps bring

together a range of data from Facilities Management and other departments to provide detailed,

customized views of the campus and beyond.

SUSTAINABLE DUKE The Bull City Connector,the new fare-free busservice, includes stopsat and near Duke,connecting Duke withdowntown Durham.

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Learn IT @ Lunch seminars beginThe Office of Information Technology’s Learn IT @ Lunch series kicksoff this fall with new seminars on web publishing, IT security, searchengine optimization and new lecture and event capture options.

The seminars, designed to showcase the many technologiesavailable at Duke, are open to all Duke staff, faculty and students.Registration is not required, but seating is on a first-come, first-servedbasis. Participants may bring their own lunch.

Upcoming seminars include: “Flexible web publishing in theclassroom and beyond” on Sept. 15; “IT Security Weather in theCloud: What Is the Forecast?” on Oct. 20; “Snagging the Top Spots:An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization” on Nov. 17; and“Lectopia to Panopto: The DukeCapture Transition” on Dec 8.

Sessions are noon to 1 p.m. in the RENCI Conference Room. Visit oit.duke.edu and select the Computing & Printing tab, then scrolldown for “IT Training.”

Duke among 2010 ‘Great Colleges to Work For’For the third consecutive year, Duke was named as one of the bestcolleges in the country to work for by The Chronicle of HigherEducation. After an independent survey of employees for the 2010“Great Colleges to Work For” program, Duke earned high marks for its commitment to workplace safety and facilities. More than 275 colleges participated in the program, and Duke was one of 97 institutions that received recognition in various categories.

“Duke continues to strive to provide a healthy and productivework environment,” said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for DukeHuman Resources. “Being recognized as one of the best workplacesin higher education in the nation for the third year in a row is veryencouraging and speaks well of what we’re accomplishing here.”

Mobile market continues in fall and winter Get a share of fresh fall and winter produce from local farmersthrough LIVE FOR LIFE’s Mobile Farmers Market.

Register and pre-pay by Sept. 17 to get a weekly box of producefrom October through March. Participants can pick up the harvestevery Tuesday afternoon at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

Faculty and staff can also visit the Mobile Market throughout theseason, even if they haven’t registered. “The vendors always bring extraproduce and meat to sell, and it’s a great opportunity to learn moreabout our local farmers,” said Diana Monroe, coordinator of the market.

For more information, visit hr.duke.edu/mobilemarket.

NewsbriefsLEANORA [email protected]

Pixels or print?

Thank you, Bull City Connector.I took the inaugural ride of the

new fare-free bus service, whichintroduced me to Golden Belt, one ofDurham's last textile mills to beredeveloped. The seven-acre historicsite has been restored into an urbanarts hub, complete with 35 artiststudios, 37 lofts, a central gallery,outdoor plazas and lots of availableretail space.

Golden Belt is among the bus stopson a route that connects Duke to keydestinations in Durham, including thecity’s historic downtown and Ninth Street.As part of the inaugural ride, we got alook at Golden Belt. I strolled by artiststudios and fell in love with the creativeenergy and sustainable design, includingexposed brick, tall ceilings, original heart-pine beams and oversized windows.

Phail Wynn, Jr., vice president ofDurham and Regional Affairs at Duke, ison target when he says the bus serviceis a valuable benefit for Durham andDuke. “The Bull City Connector is animportant component of our economicdevelopment and downtownrevitalization partnership with the Cityof Durham,” he said.

With a bus arriving every 15 to 20 minutes, the Connector featuresstops at or near Duke. Whether you’re at American Tobacco Campus, SmithWarehouse, West or East campus or theMedical Center, the Connector providesan easy way to get to work, travel tomeetings or to visit downtown.

In fact, take the bus to Golden Beltfor “Third Friday” at 6 p.m. Sept. 17, andsoak in the arts.

Visit bullcityconnector.org for an interactive route map and serviceoperating hours. And see our story onpage 7 in this issue.

Editor’sNote

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Lesley Looper has always preferred the feel of paper-and-ink books,but she couldn’t resist the urge to try reading’s newest fad byborrowing an Amazon Kindle from Perkins Library. The Kindle is an e-reader, an electronic device the size of a magazine

with text that looks like a newspaper. It’s one of the latest additions toDuke Libraries’ growing collection of borrowable items and also one ofthe most popular. There’s a waiting list of about 100 students, faculty andstaff members anxious to test the technology.

“You wouldn’t think it, but it really looks a lot like an actual bookpage rather than reading on a computer,” said Looper, the head of theReceipts Management Section for Duke Libraries. “I’ve always enjoyedusing new gadgets, so it was pretty exciting to try out something new to read with.”

Duke Libraries, among the first in the country to circulate e-readers,recently purchased six more Kindles and 15 Nooks (an e-reader sold throughBarnes & Noble), bringing to 32 the total e-readers available through DukeLibraries. They’re split evenly between Perkins and Lilly libraries.

Faculty and staff can reserve an e-reader by finding a title they wantto read at guides.library.duke.edu/kindles. They can borrow an e-readerfor two weeks, not the four weeks typically allowed for a printed book.Borrowers are required to sign an agreement to pay for any damages, thesame agreement the libraries has for borrowing laptops.

“Libraries have always been associated with circulating books, but ourprimary goal has always been to give people information they need in asmany different forms as possible,” said Aisha Harvey, head of collectiondevelopment for Duke’s libraries. “E-readers are an example of the bookevolving – people say they love the fact they can carry dozens of books in their hand.”

Providing a new way to read also saves Duke money. Instead ofbuying dozens of book copies, Duke Libraries can purchase one title touse for every six Kindles and one title to use for all the Nooks. There arecurrently more than 100 books in each e-reader.

Looper, the head of the Receipts Management section, said the broadrange of titles is ideal for her reading habits because she likes to readseveral books at a time.

“It’s just great fun to have something new like that available toeveryone at Duke,” she said. “I might even buy one in the future becausemy first experience was so great.”

— By Bryan RothWriter, Office of Communication Services

Letters to the Editor must include name and contact information. E-mail letters to [email protected] or mail them to Working@DukeEditor, Box 90496, Durham, NC 27708. Fax letters to (919) 681-7926. Please keep length to no more than 200 words.

If you’re missing the conversation on Facebook, we’llpost a few snippets here each month – but please joinand jump in at facebook.com/workingatduke.

E-READERS OFFER DUKE COMMUNITY NEW WAY TO READ

Lesley Looper, head of theReceipts Management Sectionfor Duke Libraries, reads froman Amazon Kindle sheborrowed from Lilly Library.More than 30 e-readers areavailable for faculty and staffto borrow.

Learn more at guides.library.duke.edu/kindles

Duke is committed to ensuring equal access to programs, activities and opportunities for employees and studentswith disabilities. Contact the Disability Management System, (919) 668-1499, for more information.

Page 3: Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

Watch the live webcast at hr.duke.edu/primetime

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Kyle Cavanaugh, Duke’s vice president for HumanResources, keeps close watch on the cost of health careprovided to faculty and staff and their dependents throughDuke’s insurance plans. Currently, more than 27,000employees are enrolled in Duke’s health plans. Includingdependents, the plans cover more than 57,000 individuals –a benefit that cost Duke approximately $145 million in 2009.

Working@Duke sat down with Cavanaugh recently todiscuss the road ahead for health care costs and benefits at Duke.

How is national health reform affecting Duke’s health plans?

There are many pieces still in motion, but we know wewill see changes every year between 2011 and 2018, whenthe legislation should be fully enacted.

For 2011, there will be two big changes for employees.The first is that Duke will offer coverage for children up toage 26, whether or not they are full-time students. Thesecond is that in January 2011, under the new legislation, the government will no longer allow over-the-countermedications without a prescription as an eligible expense for a reimbursement account. That means, for example, that youwon’t be able to use your WageWorks card to pay for aspirinor cough syrup unless you have a physician prescription for it.

In addition, national health care reform legislation (thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act) requiressignificant increases in reporting requirements by employersto the federal government, including the reporting of employee and dependent social security numbers.

What is happening to Duke’s health insurance costs?

The good news is that Duke’s health care plan costs are lower thanwhat we see in virtually any other group we measure against – peerinstitutions, academic medical centers and local employers. We are self-insured, which means we fund the plan based on how much it costs us to pay for the care our employees and their dependents use.

The bad news is that our costs are still going up. In 2009, we spent$145 million on health care. That was $9.5 million more than we spent in 2008. Although changes put in place for 2010 have helped mitigateincreases, we continue to see increases in utilization.

We have arguably some of the most competitive health insurance plans out there for faculty and staff, but we will be challenged inmaintaining that status over the next few years.

What is driving the costs?

The primary drivers are the steady increase in the number of people in the plans, medical inflation and our increased use of health care services,facilities and medications. Take the simple decision of whether you use aprimary care physician, an urgent care facility or an emergency room forcare. Each has different costs and levels of care. Sometimes people accessmore costly options such as the emergency room for less severe issues. That decision, amplified over 57,000 people we cover, has tremendous cost implications. Similarly, each person’s choice to ask for generic ratherthan brand medications when appropriate, amplified by thousands ofprescriptions, has a huge impact on our costs.

How is Duke containing costs?

Last year we saw a significant jump – 18 percent – in the overall cost of medications. This compelled us to address the issue immediately.We created incentives to use generic medicines, which are less costly. In the first half of 2010, we moved from 69 percent use of generics to 75 percent.That’s important because for every 1 percent we move the needle, we save about a half-million dollars over the course of the year.

We also focused on increasing the use of mail order for maintenancemedications. We negotiated excellent mail-order pricing, and now offer thatsame pricing through Duke Pharmacies. Last year, only 24 percent of thepopulation requiring regular medications used mail order. In the first halfof this year, that rose to 48 percent.

Because of these steps, we paid $2.7 million less for prescriptions in the first six months of 2010 compared to the first six months of 2009. Thatsavings directly impacts the overall cost for health care at Duke for next year.

Are there other ways to generate savings to counteract rising costs?

The key is for people to understand how individual decisions aroundhealthy lifestyles and consuming health care affect Duke’s health carecosts. These two related factors are critical for everyone to understand.

But we are also looking at other strategies for managing our costs.The physician network for Duke Select and Duke Basic, which mostDuke employees use, will be refined for 2011. One benefit of this will bethat most of the physicians will access the same electronic records system,allowing them to better track a patient’s overall care and use aggregatedata to spot trends and improve treatments.

Will health insurance costs impact other benefits at Duke?

We will continue to be as cost effective and cost efficient as we can,but ultimately there are going to have to be tradeoffs. Do we give a salaryincrease, or do we invest to maintain our health care benefits? In someyears, we may not be able to do both. This is the new world order, and as an employer, we’re going to have to look vigilantly each year at thecosts and tradeoffs.

However, we are incredibly fortunate because Duke University Health System provides the majority of the care our employees use. We know a lot about our population, and we have very collaborativerelationships with all the groups involved. If anyone has a shot atcontaining health care costs in a healthy, prospective way, Duke does.

— By Marsha A. GreenSenior Writer, Office of Communication Services

AQ&Addressing Rising Health Care

Costs at Duke with Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for Duke Human Resources

Kyle Cavanaugh, Duke’s vice president for Human Resources

Join the conversation Sept. 9 during PrimetimeWhat: How is health care changing?

Who: Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for HumanResources, and Mike Cuffe, vice president forMedical Affairs

When: Sept. 9, noon to 1 p.m.

Where: Bryan Center, Griffith Theater (seating limited to 100), or watch the live webcast and submitquestions at hr.duke.edu/primetime

Page 4: Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

The award-winning project aims to “activate history for social change”by engaging the community, acknowledging the past and working togetherfor positive change. The online map pinpoints about a dozen locations,including the Allen Building, the site of a 1969 student protest, with linksto brief written or audio histories.

Exploring the historic significance of everyday locations helps the campuscommunity connect with history in more meaningful ways, said Barbara Lau,the project director and an instructor at the Duke Human Rights Center.

“Adding map markers is one way to spotlight lesser-known stories,”Lau said. She hopes future classes and community members will contributeto the map.

“This technology enables us to share cultural information and really get to know the places we live and work,” Lau said. “And it helps usconnect history to contemporary issues. Why do we care what happened at the Allen Building? It helps us understand why things are the way theyare today and pushes us to think about how they could be in the future.”

Maps have an intuitive appeal, said Trudi Abel, a history professor whocreated a website of data, images and maps about Durham history calledDigital Durham.

“Maps have a way of transporting people and giving them a way ofanchoring their knowledge,” said Abel, who worked this summer with agroup of middle school students from Carter Community School on theWalltown Neighborhood History Project.

Students in the Duke-sponsored camp learned how to use tools such as census data, property records and GPS technology to create a digitalrepresentation of Walltown as it was 80 years ago. Walltown, a historicallyblack neighborhood near East Campus, was established in the late 1800s by George Wall, an African-American staff member of Trinity College (nowDuke University) who relocated to Durham after the college’s move from Randolph County.

Maps provide a unique way to connect the Duke community acrossresearch disciplines – from sociology and environmental science todocumentary studies and public health, Abel said. For instance, both sheand Lau study the African-American experience in Durham, but onlinemaps enable them to juxtapose and present their research in new ways.

“As 21st century citizens, we’re more exposed to visual images. A mapis really an old visual format, but it’s evolving as these new Webapplications help us visualize data and make it more accessible,” Abel said.“It’s an exciting time.”

Multimedia maps also are helping highlight and connect Duke’sgrowing international presence, beginning with the DukeEngage program,which places hundreds of undergraduates in civic engagement projectsaround the world every summer.

In collaboration with DukeEngage and the Duke Global HealthInstitute, Duke undergraduates this year constructed an online multimediamap to share narratives, photos, videos and research data depicting life inthe rural fishing village of Muhuru Bay, Kenya.

Students in Victoria Szabo’s Information Science + Information Studies(ISIS) class designed the map interface, focusing on key landmarks such asschools, churches and beaches.

Then, DukeEngage participants in Kenya – with help fromcommunity residents – collected video interviews, audio recordings andphotos to annotate specific locations. Different map “layers” focus onthemes such as daily life in Muhuru, health and disease and the Women’sInstitute for Secondary Education and Research (WISER) program, whichopened a new boarding school for girls earlier this year.

The project illustrates how multimedia and geospatial technologies canhelp connect faculty, staff and students across global locations, said Szabo,an assistant research professor of visual studies and new media and directorof Duke’s ISIS program.

“We’re all bonding around the possibilities of new media, and manytimes the undergraduates are leading the way,” Szabo said. “Maps helpcreate this culture of collaboration, where everyone can contribute theirexpertise to the larger whole. That’s how new knowledge gets created.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ConnectingWith Maps

pInteractive maps available through Facilities Management provide detailed geographic

information about the campus, from topological features to utility usage, that can help

employees make more informed decisions.

4

Page 5: Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

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As Duke extends its global efforts, maps also provide a point of connection in a complex, decentralized work environment, saidL. Gregory Jones, vice president and vice provost in the newOffice of Global Strategy and Programs at Duke.

His office developed a new global interactive map, whichlaunched this summer, to provide “an inventory of who’s doing whatwhere,” a resource that staff and faculty can use in planning, trackingand coordinating global initiatives. A staff assistant arranging travelitineraries for a research group, for instance, can search the map toidentify Duke travelers visiting a particular country, as well as alumni living there.

“It’s a high-definition version of the old globe you could spinaround as a kid,” Jones said. “In addition to offering a better way totrack, update and coordinate faculty, staff and student activities indifferent locations, it’s also celebratory: It shows how widespread Duke’spresence is around the world.”

MAPPING THE FUTURE – IN 3DAs new technology-enhanced maps bring data together in new

ways, those information “mashups” may yield new benefits not just inresearch but in day-to-day work, said Anspach, the GIS manager withFacilities Management.

In the future, for example, campus police could analyze particularstreets to see how many car accidents occur at a particular intersection– information that could be used to determine whether a stop sign is needed.

Facilities workers could look for new efficiencies in everything fromutility usage to snow removal and emergency planning. Campus officials are now in the process of redesigning Duke’s online maps to incorporate assembly points and evacuation zones, so building managers andemergency personnel can quickly and easily access the data.

GPS-enabled mobile devices make map data available for users on the go. The latest version of DukeMobile, for instance, allows iPhoneusers to call up a map and take a do-it-yourself tour of campus(complete with audio guides and videos of significant locations) andnavigate campus bus routes, in addition to locating nearby campuseateries and events.

“The popularity of GPS-enabled devices allows us to offer a customized,personalized tour to visitors, as well as other services that will be of great value tostudents, faculty and staff,” said Michael Schoenfeld, Duke vice president forpublic affairs and government relations.

And in the not-too-distant future, Duke maps will venture into an entirely new dimension. Last spring, students in another of Szabo’sclasses used Google software to create 3D models of campus buildings

as part of a“Virtual Duke” tour, nowavailable online through the popular Google Earth application.

The students wrote how-to documentation so other campus userscan submit their own 3D buildings and are now working to integratethe 3D buildings into Google Earth, which allows users to submitphotos and other multimedia content.

Geospatial technology tools – from GPS-enabled mobile devices to new location-based social networks like Foursquare – are making iteasier for individuals to “make their mark” in customized maps that cancreate an immersive virtual environment, Szabo said.

“You can envision massively multi-player maps, where the wholeworld becomes a place you can explore on multiple levels, from thecomfort of your own home or office,” she said.

— By Cara BonnettManaging editor, News & Information

Office of Information Technology

Explore Duke’s interactive mapsu Facilities Management: fmd.duke.edu/buildings_maps/index.php

u Pauli Murray Project: paulimurrayproject.org

u Mapping Muhuru Bay: research.duke.edu/stories/muhurubay

u Virtual campus tour: www.isismapping.org/duketour

u Campus map: maps.duke.edu

u Global: global.duke.edu/admin/map

u Digital Durham: digitaldurham.duke.edu

t A new global interactive map,

which launched this summer at

global.duke.edu/admin/map, provides a

resource for employees to use in

planning, tracking and coordinating

global initiatives.

uDuke students built an interactive

Google map of historic civil and

human rights sites around Durham

as part of the Pauli Murray Project

(paulimurrayproject.org), which

honors the late interracial lawyer

and activist from Durham.

tA redesigned version of

Duke’s interactive map site will

bring together Google Maps and

geographic data from Facilities

Management. The new site —

maps.duke.edu — is expected to go

live this fall.

pDuke students constructed

an online multimedia map to

share narratives, photos, videos

and research data depicting

life in Muhuru Bay, Kenya,

in collaboration with the

DukeEngage program. The

site is available at

research.duke.edu/stories/muhurubay.

Page 6: Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

Last year, Taylor Hemphill took aclose look at the increasing healthcare costs for himself, his wife

and their children. With his youngest child moving

out of free well-baby visits, and his twoolder children ready for regular dentalvisits, Hemphill was facing a heftyincrease in out-of-pocket expenses.And that didn’t include vaccinationsand medicines he and his wife neededfor a church mission trip to Kenya.

“We just knew it was going to bea more expensive year,” saidHemphill, a performance analyst forDUMAC, LLC, the investmentorganization that manages DukeUniversity’s endowment assets.

To help manage costs and savemoney, Hemphill enrolled in Duke’shealth care reimbursement accountduring the annual benefits openenrollment last October. The accountallows faculty and staff to deductmoney from each paycheck – beforestate and federal taxes are deducted –and put it in an account.

The account, administered byWageWorks, provides a Health CareCard that works like a debit card.When participants use it for eligibleexpenses like co-payments and

medical, dental and vision care, moneyis taken from the account. Faculty andstaff can enroll in the health carereimbursement account during thisyear’s open enrollment in October.

Under new federal health carereform, the requirement for requestingreimbursement on some eligibleexpenses will change. Effective Jan. 1,2011, participants cannot use theWageWorks account to purchase over-

the-counter medicine without aprescription. However, the card willstill cover thousands of other itemssuch as bandages, contact lenscleaning supplies and reading glasses.

“Even with the health care reformchanges, reimbursement accountscontinue to be an excellent way foremployees to save money," saidSylvester Hackney, associate directorof benefits at Duke.

Because the money is deductedbefore income tax is withheld, anaverage employee can save $20 to $40on taxes for every $100 deposited inthe reimbursement account.

Hemphill said he appreciates thereduction in taxes and the increasedflexibility over how and where hespends his health care money.

“Insurance only covers specificthings, like dental costs, or medicalcosts,” he said. “With thereimbursement account, I controlwhere and when I spend the money.It’s like having a good chunk ofchange set aside to pay down thoseco-pays and dental expenses wheneverand wherever they arise.”

— By Marsha A. GreenSenior Writer, Office of

Communication Services

Set aside pre-tax money for health care expenses

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Save on child andelder care, tooDuke’s Dependent CareReimbursement Accountallows faculty and staff toset aside up to $5,000 peryear to pay for dependentcare that is necessary to

work. Because Dukededucts contributions frompay before income taxesare calculated, employees

save on taxes. Go tohr.duke.edu/benefits/

medical/reimbursement/for eligibility requirements. Taylor Hemphill with wife, Ashley, and their

children, Leo (in his arms) and Max, left, andPhoebe, right, earlier this year.

In October, faculty and staff can changemedical, dental andvision insurance plans and enroll inreimbursementaccounts during theannual benefits openenrollment period.

VIDEO: Watch how you can save at YouTube.com/workingatduke

When the call came last year to help supportthe Durham community through Duke’semployee giving campaign, Kathy Wright

didn’t hesitate to contribute. It’s a way for her toconnect with the city she’s called home for morethan 20 years.

“When I was a Duke student in the 80s, Ivolunteered in the community, and I served as a CubScout leader for five years after college,” said Wright,special events coordinator for the Nasher Museum ofArt. “Now, even though I don’t have time tovolunteer, I still want to support these services.”

In the difficult economy of 2009, Wright andother Duke faculty and staff contributed a total of$543,319 to the “Doing Good in the Neighborhood”campaign, about 10 percent more than in 2008.

The 2010 campaign kicks off Sept. 2 and runsthrough November. Led by the Office of Durham andRegional Affairs, the campaign allows participants todonate to local organizations through the DukeCommunity Giving options or the United Way.

The Duke Community Giving options assistlocal agencies supported by the Duke-DurhamNeighborhood Partnership and Duke UniversityHealth System. Donors can direct their money toone of five general areas: Schools, Youth,Neighborhoods, Health, and the Community CareGrant Fund, which provides competitive, one-timegrants for non-profits throughout Durham.

No administrative fees arededucted from the Duke CommunityGiving options; all contributions godirectly to support local programssuch as affordable housing, afterschool programs and communityhealth clinics. The United Way hasan administrative fee.

Phail Wynn Jr., Duke’s vicepresident of Durham and RegionalAffairs, said the giving campaignengages employees and provides aneasy way to make a difference inDurham through community-basedphilanthropy.

“We hope this community giving opportunitynot only strengthens the existing bonds betweenDuke and Durham, but creates new passion for andparticipation in the university’s communityengagement efforts,” Wynn said.

Last year, Wright participated in the DoingGood in the Neighborhood campaign by checkingboxes on both her United Way and DukeCommunity Giving pledge forms, for programs thatsupport youth. She intends to do the same this year.

“I’ve always been drawn to helping the childrenof the community,” she said. “With my previousemployers, I donated through United Way. Now I can easily give through both United Way andthrough Duke’s programs. It just feels like the right thing to do.”

— By Marsha A. GreenSenior Writer, Office of Communication Services

Employee giving campaign begins Sept. 2 Doing Good in the Neighborhood strengthens communities

HOW TO GIVE• Pledge packets are beingdistributed to employeesthrough campus mail theweek of Sept. 6. Reviewthe material and submit a pledge form.

• Faculty and staff can also visitdoinggood.duke.edu to make adonation, or visitcommunity.duke.edu to findvolunteer opportunities.

Pre-K students in the Stepping Stones program wearDuke caps, donated by Duke Stores. Stepping Stones is akindergarten readiness program funded in part by DoingGood in the Neighborhood.

VIDEO: See how your donations help at community.duke.edu

Page 7: Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

Y O U R S O U R C E F O R G R E E N N E W S A T D U K E

Sustainable uke

7

For more information, an interactive route map or to download a map, visit bullcityconnector.org

The Bull City Connector fare-free route features hybrid buses serving 32 stops linking Duke to areas throughout Durham, including

downtown, Ninth Street and Golden Belt.

Want to hop on the Connector? East Campus

Main Street at Swift Avenue (eastbound)

Main Street at Iredell Street (westbound)

Main Street at Campus Drive

Main Street at Buchanan Boulevard (eastbound)

Main Street at Watts Street (westbound)

Central Campus

Erwin Road at Alexander Avenue

West Campus

Erwin Road at Anderson Street (eastbound)

Erwin Road at 15th Street (westbound)

Duke Medical Center

Flowers Drive at Trent Drive (eastbound)

Erwin Road at Trent Drive

American Tobacco Campus

515 W. Pettigrew Street

Jessica Johnstone had neverridden a bus in Durham beforeshe and a co-worker tested out

the Bull City Connector three daysafter the fare-free bus servicelaunched in August.

She’s glad she did.“I’ll definitely be using it again,”

said Johnstone, a staff assistant in theDuke Clinical Research Institute.“The bus was nicely air conditioned,it looked shiny, bright and new, andit had a friendly and safe feeling,which was good.”

Johnstone rode the Connectorfrom outside her office at theDurham Centre on West MorganStreet to a stop near Erwin Road and15th Street, where she walked a fewminutes to the North Pavilion for ameeting. The door-to-door trip tookabout 25 minutes, which Johnstonesaid is about the same amount oftime it takes to drive her car and finda parking spot.

“Driving can be so stressful when you have to worry about traffic,stoplights and parking,” she said.“This way, you can just get on a busand enjoy the ride.”

Johnstone was among the morethan 1,400 passengers who used theBull City Connector in its first threedays of operation, according to theDurham Area Transit Authority. Thebus route features 32 stops that linkDuke, downtown, Ninth Street andGolden Belt.

The Connector provides servicewith hybrid buses every 15 minutesMonday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and every 20 minutes from 6 p.m. to midnight. On Saturday

and holidays, buses will arrive every 20 minutes from 7 a.m. to midnight.The service does not operate onSunday.

Phail Wynn, Jr., vice president ofDurham and Regional Affairs atDuke, said the service is a benefit forDuke students and employees.

“This fare-free, Duke-to-downtown Durham transit connectorwill be of tremendous benefit to notonly Duke students but also to thenearly 2,000 Duke University andDuke University Health Systememployees working in downtownDurham,” Wynn said.

Under an agreement with thecity, Duke provided $375,000 inmatching funds so the City couldreceive a $3 million federal grant anda $375,000 state grant to buy newhybrid-diesel-electric buses for theBull City Connector route. Duke will also contribute toward annualoperating costs of the service; theCity and Triangle Transit will managethe service.

Delivery of new hybrid buses is expected in early 2012. Until then,the service will use hybrid busesalready in the DATA bus fleet. TheBull City Connector holds about 60 passengers each. The buses featurewheelchair securement, an entranceramp and a kneeling feature inaddition to a video surveillancesystem, talking bus features for thevisually impaired and bike racks.

“Duke is always looking for newways for students and employees tocut back on the university’s carbonfootprint and this is just one ofthem,” said Casey Roe, outreach

coordinator forSustainable Duke. “Butit’s not just about savingmoney and making a sustainablechoice, these hybrid buses are a greatway to travel between Duke andDurham too.”

— By Bryan Roth Writer, Office

of Communication Services

Duke andDurhamlaunch

fare-free,sustainablebus service

Page 8: Working@Duke September, 2010 Issue

D U K E TODAY For daily news and information, visitduke.edu/today

I read “Too Big to Fail” by Andrew Ross Sorkin on my Kindle. I used to read regularbooks before the Kindle came out, but for me, it’s a convenience thing. I travel a lot and

the first book I downloaded was “Pillars of the Earth,” which was about 900 pages. It was easierjust to carry the Kindle. I also like it because I can download a book during a layover in a fewseconds and the books are cheaper. You’re not going to want to carry five or six books along witheverything else when you’re running around.”Karin SullivanRegional development director, Central Development1 year at Duke

“What’s the last book you read and would you haveread it on an e-reader?”

I recently finished “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” byStieg Larsson and I would not read it on an e-reader based on

how I like to read. I like to read at home, on my couch, curled up. Ilike the feeling of books in my hands – the crack of the spine whenyou open it for the first time or even the smell. I guess I’m oldschool. But I think if I had a Kindle, I’d use it.”Heather BennettDirector, Parents and Young Alumni Programs14 years at Duke

For the reading I’m doing now for class, I prefer to read aphysical book. Typically, I read journals or something for my

MBA program and the comfort and familiarity with a printed item isprobably what I’d prefer to keep using. For one of my programs, wedidn’t buy a hard-copy of text because it was all online. We did havethe option to download a PDF one chapter at a time, and I do thatbecause I can highlight and make notes in something I’m reading.”Scooter FreeneyHuman resources manager, Office of Information Technology4 years at Duke

dialogue@DukeHOW TO REACH US

Editor: Leanora Minai

(919) 681-4533

[email protected]

Assistant Vice President:

Paul S. Grantham

(919) 681-4534

[email protected]

Graphic Design & Layout:

Paul Figuerado

Photography: Bryan Roth, Marsha

Green and Leanora Minai, Office

of Communication Services, Duke

University Photography, and

Christa Twyford Gibson of Durham

& Regional Affairs.

Working@Duke is published monthly

by Duke’s Office of Communication

Services. We invite your

feedback and suggestions for

future story topics.

Please write us at

[email protected] or

Working@Duke, Box 90496,

705 Broad St., Durham, NC 27708

Call us at (919) 684-4345.

Send faxes to (919) 681-7926. “

WORKING@DUKE

— By Bryan RothWriter, Office of Communication Services

“Got astoryidea?

[email protected]

or Call681-4533

Join the Facebook fan page for Working@Duke at

facebook.com/workingatduke

DUKE GOLF COURSE AMONG BEST IN COUNTRY

Club is a ‘perfect’ place to play

For nearly 30 years, Tom Craig has spentweekends riding and walking the grassy, rollinghills and putting greens at the Duke University

Golf Club. After spending many days racking upcountless birdies and pars, it’s easy for him to namehis favorite hole.

All of them.“It’s impossible to pick just one,” said Craig,

merchandise manager for Duke Stores. “If I couldplay anywhere in the world for the rest of my life, it’dbe the Duke golf course.”

In March, the course was named as the best in theDurham-Chapel Hill-Raleigh area by readers of theTriangle Business Journal. It’s also been named by the Golf Channel as one of the top-10 college golf courses in the country and has been highlightedseveral times by Travel + Leisure Golf magazine as a top-10 college course.

Recognized for its beauty and challenging play, both the men’s andwomen’s golf teams at Duke benefit from the course. The women’s teampractices there while the men’s team practices and hosts an annualtournament. Since opening in 1957, the course has hosted NCAA andACC championships and numerous men’s and women’s intercollegiatetournaments, among others.

Dan Brooks, head coach for Duke’s women’s golf team, said the layoutof Duke’s course – surrounded by Duke Forest – is one of the best he’s everplayed because golfers can concentrate on their game instead of blockingout noise or other distractions.

“It’s like you’re in your own little world while you’re out there,” Brookssaid. “It’s got all the challenge you could hope for from a championshipcourse and you’ll need all the clubs in your bag to play all the shots youencounter over a round of golf.”

Duke faculty and staff receive discounts of up to $30 off each roundthrough PERQS, the employee discount program. With the discount, adaily fee for golf is $75, plus employees get a free golf cart.

The course was designed in the 1950s by Robert Trent Jones Sr., one of the world’s most famous golf course architects who designed more than500 courses around the world, including Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. and the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

“Duke’s golf course is simply a perfect and true golf course,” said Craig,who averages a 75 on the par 72 course. “Walking along the grass andgreens is great because there’s just so much beautiful terrain.”

— By Bryan RothWriter, Office of Communication Services

Former Duke golfers Yu Young Lee, left, and Amanda Blumenherst

walk the fairways at Duke University Golf Club, where the Duke

women’s golf team practices each season. The course was recently

named the best in the Triangle and is regularly cited as one of the

best in the country.

Learn more about the Duke University Golf Club and employee discounts atgolf.duke.edu