Author: Neil Schoenherr

On April 6, St. Louis County residents get to decide on a tax increase that will provide $75 million annually to expand and operate the Metro system, which includes Metro bus, MetroLink light rail and Call-A-Ride services. In order to have a voice on this important issue, students, faculty and staff must be registered to vote in Missouri by Wednesday, March 10.

Anthropology professors Peter Benson and Carolyn Sargent will travel to Washington, D.C., Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 23 and 24, to speak with U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan of Missouri about the recently convened Healthcare Reform Task Force and new ways to link academic research and policy development.

Africa Week, an annual event celebrating African culture sponsored by the African Students Association, begins Monday, Feb. 22, and continues through Friday, Feb. 26. The week’s focus is on myths about identity, art and legends and how they effect Africans around the world.

The annual George Washington Week, sponsored by the sophomore honorary Lock & Chain, continues. The week started Monday with horse and buggy rides around the Danforth Campus and birthday cake in the Danforth University Center. Other activities will include colonial lunches and dinners, serving tea and cherry tarts, and the “wigging” of this year’s George and Martha.

Susan Rotroff, Ph.D., the Jarvis Thurston and Mona Van Duyn Professor in the Humanities, has been awarded archeology’s 2011 gold medal for achievement from the Archaeological Institute of America.

The Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program and the Association of Latin American Students will host Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz as part of the sixth annual Symposium on Latino Contributions at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, in the Danforth University Center.

After both of her parents and both of her husband’s parents succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease over a 14-year period, Susan Rava knew she needed to write a book about the experience. Swimming Solo was released in January.

The Freshman Reading Program steering committee has announced that the Class of 2014 will be reading and studying “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” by Mohsin Hamid. It is a novel set in the aftermath of September 11 and told from the perspective of Changez, a young Pakistani, who despite his love for America, sympathizes with the attackers.

Junior Nick Yozamp, a biology major in Arts & Sciences, won the 2010 Jeopardy! College Championship and a $100,000 cash prize. The St. Cloud, Minn., native emerged victorious after the two-week competition by outplaying 14 undergraduates from across the country. Yozamp is the first WUSTL student to win the title.

Members of the WUSTL community are pitching in to help relief efforts in Haiti in the wake of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.