Author: Neil Schoenherr

Neighborhood features such as bike facilities and low crime rates are associated with increased leisure and workplace-related physical activity, according to a new study from the Prevention Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis.

Sadie Pierce (left) and her partner, Lilly Leyh, became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in Missouri earlier this month. Leyh is set to graduate in May with master’s degrees in social work and business administration, and Pierce is a recent alum of the Brown School.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a lawsuit targeting federal subsidies designed to help millions of Americans afford health insurance. The case is dubious on its merits, says Timothy D. McBride, PhD, professor at Washington University in St. Louis’ Brown School and a noted health economist, citing legal precedent as reason for allowing the subsidies to continue.

Though the rhetoric in Washington, D.C., may seem to favor a push on progress, broad-based individual tax reform is not possible in the short term, though other opportunities for reform may still exist, says an expert on federal income tax and tax law at Washington University in St. Louis. Adam Rosenzweig, JD, discusses the possibility of tax reform in the lame-duck session.

While political and judicial rhetoric around unions has softened in recent years, images of the past still haunt labor, argue two Washington University in St. Louis researchers. In “Re-Assembling Labor,” published online Nov. 5 in Social Science Research Network, the authors seek to draw the lessons of assembly into contemporary labor law — to re-assemble labor law around the theory and doctrine of assembly that formed its early core.

With Republicans gaining control of Congress after the midterm elections, Speaker of the House John Boehner insists that President Barack Obama could get “burned” if he uses executive action to move forward on immigration reform during the remainder of his presidency. Obama is well within his rights to proceed with the temporary measures he is considering, says an immigration law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Brown School Policy Forum at Washington University in St. Louis presents “The University, the Community, and Race” at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, in Brown Hall’s Brown Lounge. The talk, part of the “Ferguson and Beyond” lecture series, will be given by Larry E. Davis, PhD, dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh and director and founder of its Center on Race and Social Problems. 

Today’s freshmen students have a 50 percent chance of living to see their 100th birthdays. They are in the middle of a demographic revolution that will shape every aspect of their lives. A new interdisciplinary course for freshmen introduced this fall, “When I’m Sixty-Four: Transforming Your Future,” aims to prepare students for this aging revolution and to encourage them to examine their present and future lives in more detail.

Election Day is difficult for many political candidates. But it’s no picnic for their supporters either. A new study co-authored by Olin Business School’s Lamar Pierce, PhD, shows just how tough election days can be. The study finds that winning elections barely improves the happiness of those from the winning political party.

To truly understand corporate law in America, the study must go through Delaware, long the favored state of incorporations for U.S. business. Washington University in St. Louis law students annually get a firsthand look at how these important courts operate through the eyes of Delaware Supreme Court and chancery judges who come to St. Louis to deliver lectures and seminars. The students also can work in the Delaware courts through corporate judicial externships and clerkships.