Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Wayne Fields, PhD (left), the Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Professor of English in Arts & Sciences and director of the Danforth Center on Religion & Politics leads a discussion that includeded three members of Congress on the roles that citizens, elected leaders and the media play in promoting civility in a democratic society during a forum titled “A Vision of Civility” Feb. 24 in the Knight Center.

The annual Relay For Life will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 5 and 6, at Francis Field’s Bushyhead Track at Washington University in St. Louis. The relay is a 12-hour family-friendly event that raises money for the American Cancer Society. More than 1,700 volunteers, participants and supporters will be on hand for the fundraiser that already has generated $180,000 this year for cancer research, advocacy, patient services and education.

Washington University in St. Louis graduate and undergraduate students recently helped teacher Scott McClintock and his students at Maplewood Richmond Heights Middle School complete a diverse study of wind energy, biomass, solar power, and hydropower, spending an entire week with four different classes.

Joel Seligman, JD, president of the University of Rochester, will discuss the future of financial institutions at the 2011 Tyrrell Williams Lecture at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 3. Seligman, former dean of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, will speak in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall. The lecture will be followed by a reception in the Crowder Courtyard. The event is free and open to the public.

Siti Syuhada Binte Faizal (left) explains her research during the 16th annual Graduate Student Research Symposium held Saturday, Feb. 26, in the Laboratory Sciences Building. She was among nearly 60 graduate and professional students who presented their work to a broad audience of diverse academic backgrounds.

Sports updates for the week of Feb. 18, 2011.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s move to strip or significantly narrow his state’s public-sector workers’ collective bargaining rights has significant implications for all unionized workers, both in the public and private sector, says Marion Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis and director of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Work & Social Capital.

The Supreme Court should affirm the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, contends Washington University in St. Louis law professor Greg Magarian, JD, because the Act fits comfortably within a proper understanding of the federal-state balance of power. Magarian, a constitutional law expert, says the basic argument against the constitutionality of the health care bill is that some parts of the bill, most notably the requirement that people purchase health insurance, exceeds Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce.

Sports updates for the week of Feb. 21, 2011.

Eden Brukman (left), vice president of the International Living Building Institute, presents Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton with an award recognizing Washington University in St. Louis’ Living Learning Center as a Living Building. The Living Learning Center, located at the Tyson Research Center in west St. Louis County, was one of only two buildings to meet the institute’s Living Building Challenge in 2010.