Author: Neil Schoenherr

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Robertson will perform a free concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, on Art Hill in Forest Park. Five members of the symphony orchestra currently teach violin, bass, bassoon and trombone through the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences.

Due to construction, the #1 WUSTL Gold eastbound bus, operated by Metro, has been rerouted. This change only pertains to the eastbound bus route and will be in effect through Friday, Sept. 28.

In science, it’s best to be good, but sometimes it’s better to be lucky. Ecologist Owen Sexton, Ph.D., professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences, had just completed a census of snakes at a conservation preserve northwest of St. Louis when the great flood of 1993 deluged the area, putting the preserve at least 15 feet under water. The flood provided Sexton with a rare opportunity: His collected data and the flood would combine to make “the perfect study” of how an area rebounds from natural disaster.

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Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photo ServicesThree aspiring playwrights will present staged readings of their works Sept. 25 and 26 as part of the 2007 A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival, sponsored by the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences. Named in honor of alumnus A.E. Hotchner, the festival consists of an intensive two-week workshop that culminates in the staged readings. Each of the participating plays — which are selected by jury — also will be eligible for a full production as part of the PAD’s 2008-09 season.

Photo by David KilperPakrasi’s passion is bringing together unlikely University partnerships — then seeing what good can come of it

Julie Thornton (left), director of student activities, gets a snack after giving blood during the University-wide blood drive Sept. 11. The drive was a huge success — 908 people attended and produced 690 units of blood compared with 609 units collected during the entire 2006-07 academic year.

A team of researchers, including Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has determined through analysis of the earliest known hominid fossils outside of Africa, recently discovered in Dmanisi, Georgia, the former Soviet republic, that the first human ancestors to inhabit Eurasia were more primitive than previously thought.

Best-selling suspense author Ridley Pearson will read the children’s book “The Story of Ferdinand” — the official campaign book for Jumpstart’s “Read for the Record” — at 4 p.m. Sept. 20, in the University’s Campus Store on the Danforth Campus.

Metro St. Louis is conducting a series of public meetings and information sessions to assist transit patrons and motorists interested in Metro’s services during the I-64 construction project. There will be a meeting at WUSTL Oct. 3.