Author: Gerry Everding

Photo by Patrick ShoreAnatahan eruption yields spectacular images, seismic data trove.Washington University geophysicists were fortunate to observe the May 10 eruption of a long dormant volcano on the uninhabited island Anatahan, part of the U.S.-administered Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas in the western Pacific. A seismograph they deployed there only a few days before the unexpected eruption has captured a trove of important seismic data — a detailed chronology of pre- and post-eruption rumblings. While the team’s primary focus is exploring the tectonic forces in the region, the chance capture of detailed volcanic eruption data may offer new avenues of research, perhaps providing tools to help access volcanic and seismic hazards to the people of the Marianas.

Economic research on the micro foundations of markets and price formation will be among topics discussed May 23-25.

Students and recent graduates from Arts & Sciences have made an impressive showing, including four Mellon fellowship recipients.

Viewers will be treated to a lunar eclipse May 15th.A total lunar eclipse of the moon will be visible from across North America late Thursday, but whether the moon turns red depends on the presence of tiny particles in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, says Richard Heuermann, Outreach Program Coordinator in the University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Washington University students and recent graduates in Arts & Sciences have made an impressive showing in their annual quest for prestigious national scholarships and fellowships, including four recipients of the 2003 Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships in Humanistic Studies. “It’s an honor for any institution to place a student in the Mellon program and getting four of these awards in one year is fairly amazing,” said Dirk M. Killen, Ph.D., assistant dean, academic coordinator and fellowships adviser in Arts & Sciences.

A page from *Selected Poems* by MorrisAmerican poet John N. Morris never achieved widespread public acclaim in his lifetime, but those who knew him well — including some of the nation’s most distinguished poets and critics — expect his star to rise with publication of two books showcasing both his life and his life’s work. “Read him and you cannot live your own life innocently again,” suggests Helen Vendler, one of the nation’s leading literary critics. Morris, who died in 1997, was a professor of English literature in Arts & Sciences for 30 years at Washington University in St. Louis.

Photo by Andrew Cutraro / Post DispatchApril, 6, 2003 — Embedded Post-Dispatch Journalists Andrew Cutraro, right, and Ron Harris pose after filing stories with the Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines in Salman Pak, Iraq.St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalists Ron Harris and Andy Cutraro worked together as a team of journalists embedded with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, as the unit fought its way from Kuwait to Baghdad in the recent war with Iraq. Their reports and photographs appeared frequently in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Join them as they share stories and photographs about coverage of the war at 7 p.m. May 8 in Brown Hall, Room 100.

Rebecca Treiman says the “i before e” rule is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to spelling patterns found in the English language.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton made the announcement at the Chancellor’s Gala April 12; the awards will be conferred at the Faculty Achievement Awards Program Sept. 30.

Missionaries’ daughter studies ‘bad girls’ of Japanese literature