Author: Ken Duenke

The European Union (EU) will impose trade sanctions on billions of dollars of U.S. goods starting March 1 if Congress fails to repeal an export subsidy ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The export subsidy provision — known as the “extraterritorial income” deduction — gives U.S. companies a big leg up on competitors, but is paid for by the U.S. taxpayer, said William J. Streeter, a professor of international business at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. Streeter says legislation to repeal the export subsidy that has yet to be passed by Congress is projected to save U.S. taxpayers $80 billion over the next decade, but will be offset by lower corporate taxes on the earnings of U.S. firms abroad.

Dr. James Lowe in the operating room.Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but plastic and reconstructive surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis are trying to learn the basics of aesthetic beauty in various ethnic groups. When plastic surgeons operate, they don’t want to make African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and other groups look the same. Rather, they hope to preserve ethnicity while at the same time restoring or enhancing beauty. The Washington University team is one of only a handful worldwide that is scientifically studying ways to preserve ethnicity in plastic surgery procedures, and as more people from different ethnic backgrounds seek plastic surgery, defining aesthetic attractiveness in various ethnic groups is becoming more important.

Photo courtesy of The OASIS InstituteVolunteering can have a positive effect on the overall well-being of older Americans.Looking to chase away the winter blues? Interested in staying active after retirement? Need a boost to your health? Try volunteering at your church or a neighborhood organization for a few hours a week — it could do you a world of good. Just two hours of volunteering a week can have a positive effect on the overall well-being of older Americans, according to a study from the George Warren Brown (GWB) School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. The researchers found that older adults who volunteered had better assessments than non-volunteers on three measures of well-being: daily functioning, self-rated health and self-rated depression.

Determining the right pricing strategy can make or break the overall profitability of a firm. One such strategy, dynamic pricing, long practiced in the airline and hotel industries, is showing promise and profitability in the world of retail. When applied to products sold over a short sales season—new toys, skiwear, and the like— dynamic pricing can boost profits for a firm, according to research recently conducted by two professors at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.

Eminent physicist Charles Falco contends that the great master painters of earlier centuries used optical instruments nearly 200 years earlier than previously even thought possible and account for the remarkable transformation in the realistic portraits appearing as early as the 15th Century.

A study that included investigators in the School of Medicine is the first to demonstrate an association between a particular gene and alcoholism. Click here for more medical articles

Study participants with optic nerve disease were 20 times more likely to be pathologically sleepy than those with normal sight. Click here for more medical articles

Michael Les Benedict, a professor of history at the Moritz School of Law at Ohio State University, is an authority on Anglo-American constitutional and legal history, the history of civil rights and liberties, and the federal system. Benedict will present “The People Themselves: The Constitutional Responsibility of the American People” at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, February 11 in Graham Chapel.

Super Bowl XXXVIII is over, but the Super Bowl ads — which cost a cool $2.3 million for a 30-second ad — are still battling it out. For the fourth year in a row, MBA students and faculty at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis critiqued and ranked the Super Bowl ads during the big game with veteran advertising executives. This year, the Olin MBA students huddled with senior ad execs from the Leo Burnett agency. But expectations were dashed as most of the Super Bowl ads fell flat. Click here to view the article on the Super Advertising Bowl from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Growing up practically next door to the National Institutes of Health, Alexander W. Dromerick, M.D., became fascinated with science at a young age. But it wasn’t long before he realized that the people behind the science are what ultimately motivate him. His commitment to patient care was further reinforced by his own experience as a […]