Editor’s Note: Links to stories on external web sites provided where available; some sites may require registration or subscription.
U.S. News & World Report
Research job prospects before investing in your education
10/19/2011
If you are thinking of attending law school, you should pay attention to a relatively obscure decision by the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. On September 23, the Section decided it will not require law schools to reveal the percentage of 2010 graduates working in the legal profession or in part-time legal jobs. In fact, as pointed out in The National Law Journal article cited above, Brian Tamanaha, a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, has determined that for the Class of 2009, at least 30 ABA-accredited law schools had 50 percent or fewer of their graduates in jobs that required a law degree after nine months.
Link to article: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/student-loan-ranger/2011/10/19/research-job-prospects-before-investing-in-your-education
Discovery News
A dog food ad only Fido can hear
10/19/2011
A new dog food commercial is designed to capture canine interest since it features high-frequency noises that only dogs and certain other animals can hear. The sounds are either inaudible or not consciously detected by humans. The ad, for Beneful, is airing in Austria now. It marks a growing trend to incorporate dog-only sounds into entertainment and advertising. “Pet owners are passionate about their pets and the commercial provides an opportunity for these consumers to engage with their ‘special friends,'” says Carol Johanek, adjunct professor of marketing at the Olin Business School.
Link to article: http://news.discovery.com/animals/commercial-only-dogs-hear-111019.html
Related news release: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22820.aspx
KSDK Newschannel 5 at Six (St. Louis)
How to prevent cancer: Colon cancer
10/19/2011
Every Tuesday at 6 we bring you stories on how to prevent cancer and cut your risk of that disease. We’re talking about colon cancer. Dr. Dayna Early is with Washington University and Siteman Cancer Center. Colonoscopy is the one tests people want to avoid, but it’s the one test that can really prevent cancer. “It really can,” says Dr. Early. “There’s great data that shows that colonoscopies find polyps, which are not cancer. We can take them out when they’re small and in the polyp stage and prevent cancer that way. It’s exciting as a gastroenterologist to remove a polyp that we know might have turned into cancer had it been left in place. It’s one of the few cancers you can do that with.”
KMOX NewsRadio 1120 – Total Information AM (St. Louis)
Preventing SIDS
10/19/2011
Two of the newest recommendations to help deal with SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), which kills just over two thousand infants each year,include urging mothers to breast feed their baby and to be sure the child is properly immunized. “Breast feeding is important because that allows a transfer of antibodies to the infant in the breast milk. Immunization, of course, is always important because there are a variety of infections that can predispose to sudden death,” says Washington University in Saint Louis Children’s Hospital SIDS researcher, Doctor Brad Thatch. According to Thatch, first and foremost, though, always put your baby on its back to go to sleep. Do not use crib bumper pads or soft mattresses because infants can be strangled or suffocate, and the best place for a baby to sleep is in its own crib in the parents’ bedroom.
KMOV News 4 (St. Louis)
A new threat to online security
10/18/2011
That familiar little padlock at the top of a web page is a signal that the site you’re on is secure. But there are recent reports of hacking and even fraudulent security certificates. Washington University security expert and author Alan Johnston explains: “If someone has these certificates and they can place themselves in the middle of your Internet connection, they can launch what’s called a ‘man in the middle’ attack …even though [the connection] is encrypted, it’s encrypted to the wrong person and they can see everything that’s going on.” Adds Johnson, “Typically before you put in sensitive information…make sure [the security certificate] is there. If you get errors, things that pop up and say there’s a problem, are you sure you want to go here?, click ‘no’ on those.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Architectural competition tries to highlight Jewish Sukkot holiday
10/19/2011
In a twist on Sukkot, the Jewish holiday that celebrates harvest and commemorates the years Israelites wandered homeless after fleeing Egypt, a bizarre community of shacks are on display in the middle of Washington University. These are nine finalists out of 42 proposals that architecture firms and students sent in from around the country for a competition. The collection looks like a shanty town designed with the eye of a modern artist.
Link to article: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_987c604a-cba9-51f3-b989-9324542d091a.html
See also:
St. Louis Beacon (includes video): http://www.stlbeacon.org/arts-life/visual-arts/113649-rain-or-shine-sukkah-city-stl-begins
Clayton – Richmond Heights Patch: http://clayton-richmondheights.patch.com/articles/sukkah-city-stl-exhibition-opens-tuesday-at-washington-university#photo-8099505
Related news release: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22774.aspx
St. Louis American
WUSTL receives $3 million for new diabetes research center
10/18/2011
Washington University in St. Louis has received a five-year, $3 million grant to establish a new center to develop better ways to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes in high-risk patients, including American Indians and Alaska Natives. The center’s funding comes from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Washington University was one of seven institutions awarded funding to establish this type of diabetes research center.
Link to article: http://www.stlamerican.com/your_health_matters/health_news/article_ad1c3e4e-f9be-11e0-b6bd-001cc4c002e0.html
Related news release: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22763.aspx
St. Louis Beacon
Million-dollar question: How many $ will World Series bring St. Louis?
10/18/2011
In this era of moneyball, how seriously should you take estimates of the economic impact that the World Series will have on St. Louis? Washington University economics professor Steve Fazzari, whose quick calculations of the possible impact matched the estimate from the RCGA, compared the $25 million forecast with the 2.8 million residents of the area. “That’s less than 10 bucks a person,” he said. “You’re not talking about something that will fundamentally change the area’s economic outlook as a whole.”
Link to article: http://www.stlbeacon.org/issues-politics/172-Economy/113662-economic-impact-of-2011-world-series
Issues in Higher Education
USA Today
Student loan debt surpasses $1 trillion
10/18/2011
The amount of student loans taken out last year crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time, and total loans outstanding will exceed $1trillion for the first time this year. Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Link to article: http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2011-10-19-studentloans_ST_U.htm
USA Today
For-profit colleges focus of student loan issue
10/18/2011
For-profit schools such as the University of Phoenix, DeVry University and hundreds of smaller institutions have been particularly successful in winning students and their federal aid by offering courses that focus on specific careers, often taught online and aimed at older, non-traditional students.
Link to article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-10-18/student-loans-for-profit-college/50819470/1
New York Times
Seeing value in ignorance, college expects its physicists to teach poetry
10/16/2011
Sarah Benson, with a Ph.D. in art history and a master’s degree in comparative literature, stood at the chalkboard teaching formal geometry. It was just another day here at St. John’s College, whose distinctiveness goes far beyond its curriculum of great works: Aeschylus and Aristotle, Bacon and Bach. As much of academia fractures into ever more specific disciplines, this tiny college still expects — in fact, requires — its professors to teach almost every subject, leveraging ignorance as much as expertise.
Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/education/17stjohn.html
New York Times | Opinion
Invitation to a dialogue: Affirmative Action
10/19/2011
A letter writer suggests that admissions officers consider using economic status rather than race to achieve diversity on college campuses.
Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/opinion/invitation-to-a-dialogue-affirmative-action.html
For additional higher education news (subscription may be required):
The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com
Inside Higher Ed: http://www.insidehighered.com
University Business: http://universitybusiness.com