A government shutdown is looming and many politicians who claim “we’re broke” are proposing steep budget cuts as the only option to reduce the deficit. But Timothy McBride, PhD, economist and associate dean for public health at the Brown School, challenges that notion and says evidence supports the theory that some politicians are using a strategy of “starving the beast.” FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22140.aspx

Workers exposed to welding fumes may be at increased risk of damage to the same brain area harmed by Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study by Brad Racette, MD, and researchers at the School of Medicine. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22116.aspx

Students, faculty and staff hosted aspiring scientists three weekends this spring during “Catalysts for Change” workshops aimed at introducing female high school students to science, technology and engineering fields. Students designed and launched egg containers outside of the Lab Sciences Building. They competed to see who could launch their container the farthest without breaking the egg. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22133.aspx

William A. Peck, MD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine, director of the Center for Health Policy and former dean of the School of Medicine, will present “Health Care in America: Transforming the Citadel,” for the Weidenbaum Center Forum at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, in Whitaker Hall, Room 100. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22139.aspx

High school student Isabella Kanak (left) shares a few laughs with University of Chicago cosmologist Edward W. “Rocky” Kolb, PhD, a cosmologist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Kanak and other members of the Junior Academy of Science visited with Kolb March 31 in Whitaker Hall after he delivered the 2011 McDonnell Distinguished Lecture about the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22141.aspx

• 4 p.m. Dept. of Music Lecture Series. “Death and the Maiden: Responding to Negative Resonances of Convent Music in the Dance of Death.” Craig Monson, prof. of musicology. Free and open to the public. Music Classroom Bldg., Rm. 102. (314) 935-5566.

• Recycling facts sheet posted online. To help keep the WUSTL community updated on the recycling efforts of the university and its partners, the Recycling Committee and Office of Sustainability have partnered to develop a summary of the many recycling initiatives, including single-stream recycling and RecycleMania. The facts sheet can be found by visiting wustl.edu/initiatives/sustain/recycling.html.

• Baseball looks to continue winning streak. The baseball team is 19-11 and has won 13 of its last 15 games — including eight straight wins. The Bears look to continue the hot streak this weekend in Iowa with doubleheaders at Central College Saturday, April 9, and at Coe College Sunday, April 10.