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RENOVATION INTEGRATION: Students interested in architecture, art, and art history and archaeology will soon have a new campus center for learning and creating: the Sam Fox Arts Center, named in honor of Sam Fox, BU51, and his longstanding relationship with the University. Besides renovations to Bixby, Givens, and Steinberg Halls, the center's facilities will include a new art museum and a second building for the School of Art designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki.
FULL CIRCLE: Larry J. Shapiro, LA68, MD71, will come back to his alma mater this summer to become executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. An internationally renowned research geneticist and pediatrician currently associated with the University of California, San Francisco, Shapiro will assume his post on July 1, succeeding William A. Peck.
A HOSPITABLE HOSPITAL: The once-daunting campus of the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital is now much more patient-friendly, thanks to additions like the Center for Advanced Medicine. A top architecture award honors the design implemented to promote patient-centered care and cutting-edge research in the same building.
Research
VIA DUCTS: A new technique enables doctors to examine the lining of milk ducts in the breast for early signs of cancer and other abnormalities. Currently used for women with pathologic nipple discharge, ductoscopy may one day help surgeons detect and treat breast cancer.
DETECTION AND DEACTIVATION: The University's Aerosol and Air Quality Research Laboratory is developing innovative ways to detect and capture microbial and viral agents in air and water. The work is promising for deactivating bioagents and bioweapons.
VISUAL ACTIVITY: People who are blind regularly use regions of the brain normally dedicated to processing vision information, according to a University study. These visual areas are used not only when blind individuals respond to Braille words, but also when they respond to heard words.
PLANT DIVERSITY: Plant biologists at the University are working with the Missouri Botanical Garden to track changes in the amount of genetic diversity in a Central American crop, jocote. They will measure changes associated with the domestication of jocotes, fruit trees in the same plant family as mangoes, pistachios, and cashews.
Features
SMOKE-FREE IN 2003: With the right coaching for those who resolve to stop smoking, there is hope for change in the New Year, even for smokers who have repeatedly tried and failed to quit. The month of January can serve as the time for change, says psychologist Edwin Fisher. He also says, "The average individual who has quit smoking successfully has tried two or three times and failed before."
TAX CUTS: Economist Russell Roberts says Congress should lower the total tax burden for low-income workers, as it now stands under the payroll tax, by getting rid of the payroll tax and creating a new tax bracket. He clears up the confusion between tax rates and tax revenue to boost his argument.
BRAIN FITNESS: Getting your mind or career in shape by turning to college can be intellectually, and perhaps financially, rewarding. Many more people are turning to college to start or complete degrees or to get second degrees. Robert Wiltenburg, dean of University College, stresses the importance of career advising while considering a course of action.
Heard on Campus
"Organizational charts and stationery are much easier to change than organizational cultures. It will take years before we know whether creating a Department of Homeland Security has been an effective response to terrorism, or simply an exercise in political symbolism."
- James W. Davis, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science at Washington University
Kudos
Steven Fazzari, Ph.D., professor and chair of economics in Arts & Sciences, received a 2002 Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Coordinating Board for Higher Education, a state policy board that oversees the Missouri Department of Higher Education. Read more!
Ira J. Hirsh, Ph.D., the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Audiology, was recognized recently with a symposium held in his honor as part of the 143rd Annual Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Read more!
Rebecca Rotello, LA03, (Springfield, IL) has been named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Player of the Year. A three-time All-American, she led the Bears to a 41-2 record and a second-place finish in the 2002 NCAA Division III National Championships.
Washington University linebacker wins "Academic Heisman"! Senior football player Brandon Roberts, EN03, (Akron, OH) has been named winner of the 2002 HealthSouth Vincent DePaul Draddy Award, the academic equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. In its 13-year history, Roberts is the first non-Division I player to win the prestigious award, which includes a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship. He was profiled by CBS Sports during the nationally televised halftime of the Sun Bowl game on Tuesday, December 31. Read more!
Announcements
PHILLIPS POETRY READING: Award-winning poet Carl Phillips will read from his work on January 16 in Hurst Lounge of Duncker Hall to begin the Writing Programs' Spring Reading Series at the University. The reading, which is free and open to the public, begins at 8 p.m. Phillips is professor of English and African and Afro-American studies, both in Arts & Sciences.
T.S. ELIOT LECTURE IN LONDON: The Honorable William Webster, LW49, former FBI and CIA director, will give the T.S. Eliot Lecture in London on January 16. The lecture, which honors the grandson of University co-founder William Greenleaf Eliot, is co-sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis and the University of London Institute of United States Studies.
WUSTL Links
About @ Washington University in St. Louis
This newsletter is prepared by the staff of the Office of Special Development Communications Projects and the Office of Alumni and Development Programs. It is intended to provide a summary of what is happening at the University. Alumni, parents, and friends of the University for whom we have valid e-mail addresses automatically receive @ Washington University in St. Louis as a service of the University. While we may occasionally run a test to see what topics appeal to you most, we will never sell, rent, trade, or pass on your e-mail address.
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