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March 2007
University News
 DRED SCOTT, 150 YEARS LATER: Washington University is hosting a national symposium, "The Dred Scott Case and Its Legacy: Race, Law and the Struggle for Equality," to commemorate the 150-year anniversary of the legal battle. The symposium will examine the impact and legacy of the case and bring to campus nationally renowned historians, legal scholars and judges, a Scott descendant, and rare documents.
FOUR STUDENTS RECOGNIZED ON 2007 ALL-USA COLLEGE ACADEMIC TEAMS: Four Washington University students were recognized on the 2007 All-USA College Academic Teams, USA Today's recognition program for outstanding undergraduates. Jeffrey J. Marlow, a senior Marshall Scholar from Englewood, Colorado, majoring in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, is one of 20 students nationwide named to the first team.  IS THE URGE TO SMOKE IN YOUR GENES?: In two studies in the January 2007 issue of Human Molecular Genetics, scientists in the School of Medicine show that certain genetic variations can influence smoking behaviors and contribute to a person's risk for nicotine dependence.
BIG AS THE ARCTIC OCEAN: A seismologist in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences has made the first 3-D model of seismic wave damping — diminishing — deep in the Earth's mantle and has revealed the existence of an underground water reservoir at least the volume of the Arctic Ocean.
HIV COULD BE THE NEXT WEAPON AGAINST CANCER: Cancer cells are sick, but they keep growing because they do not react to internal signals urging them to die. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have found an efficient way to send a message to cancer cells that forces them to die. And they did it using one of the most sinister pathogens around — HIV. STUDENTS ARGUE BEFORE CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Four finalists in the School of Law's Wiley Rutledge Moot Court Competition experienced what most lawyers only dream of: arguing before the Chief Justice of the United States, John G. Roberts Jr. Competition began last fall with preliminary rounds in which nearly 100 second- and third-year law students participated in two-person teams.
NOT SO RISKY BUSINESS: Ask most people how entrepreneurs are different from the rest of the population, and you're likely to hear: "Entrepreneurs are risk-takers." Not so, says Anne Marie Knott, assistant professor of strategy in the John M. Olin School of Business. They are just as sensitive to uncertainty as anyone; however, according to Knott, entrepreneurs have an overdeveloped sense of confidence.
MISSOURI’S AFRICAN AMERICAN MOTHERS: African-American women are three times more likely to deliver babies prematurely than Caucasian women, according to a review of Missouri birth statistics by researchers at the School of Medicine. So far, researchers have found a link between genes that play a role in human birth and those that determine the response to infection, but they are still working to pinpoint causes of pre-term birth.
"Good judges, I find, don't make a decision before argument, but come to argument with an open mind, sometimes with a lot of questions, sometimes with tentative views, but certainly not a formed opinion. And so the argument plays a critical role in the process."
—John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, in remarks at the awards ceremony of the School of Law's Wiley Rutledge Moot Court Competition. Chief Justice Roberts headed the panel of judges presiding over the finals of the competition on February 6.Kathleen Clark, J.D., professor of law, has been elected to the American Law Institute. Currently, 13 member of the Washington University School of Law faculty are members of ALI.
David Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor of Neurology and Molecular Biology & Pharmacology, head of the Department of Neurology, and Associate Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, has received the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease.
Paul J. Donnelly, FAIA, the Rebecca and John Voyles Professor of Architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, received the Distinguished Professor Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
Timothy J. Eberlein, M.D., Bixby Professor of Surgery, chairman of the Department of Surgery, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor, director of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at the School of Medicine, and surgeon-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, received the 2006 Dr. Rodman L. Sheen and Thomas G. Sheen Award, given each year for outstanding contributions to the medical profession.
Jonathan S. Turner, Ph.D., the Barbara J. and Jerome R. Cox, Jr. Professor of Computer Science in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
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