Humanities & Society

Senior Hana Greenberg and junior Scott Friedman, both in Arts & Sciences, will gain an inside look at the U.S. political process by participating in a Washington Center educational program focused on the election year. As part of the program, Greenberg will attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver while Friedman will travel to Minneapolis to attend the Republican National Convention. Both will receive media credentials through Student Life, the University’s student newspaper, to have access to exclusive events at the conventions.

Senior Hana Greenberg and junior Scott Friedman, both in Arts & Sciences, will gain an inside look at the U.S. political process by participating in a Washington Center educational program focused on the election year. As part of the program, Greenberg will attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver while Friedman will travel to Minneapolis to attend the Republican National Convention. Both will receive media credentials through Student Life, the University’s student newspaper, to have access to exclusive events at the conventions.

By Sarah Conard, *St. Louis Post-Dispatch*Maria Littrell works out.A few days after gastric bypass surgery, Maria Littrell found herself in the grocery, choosing which type of baby food to buy — for herself. Before the operation, Littrell honored her Sicilian heritage by eating pasta — a lot of it, and often. After struggling with her weight for 20 years, Littrell had gastric bypass surgery in September. The surgery reduces the size of the stomach and allows food to bypass part of the small intestine.

Magarian”Minor political parties’ inability to gain traction in the United States does not reflect natural facets of our national character,” says Gregory P. Magarian, election law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, home of the 2008 vice presidential debate. “Rather, our legal system imposes formidable barriers to minor parties’ electoral viability. The use of plurality voting (the candidate with the most votes gets the only prize) and single-member districts in congressional and most state legislative elections drives voters to coalesce around only two electoral options, marginalizing any candidate who lacks a major-party brand.” Magarian is available to discuss general election law and electoral system issues.

Despite popular theories to the contrary, early humans evolved not as aggressive hunters, but as prey of many predators. “Humans are no more born to be hunters than to be gardeners,” argues Robert W. Sussman, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, in the newly-updated version of the controversial book “Man the Hunted: Primates, Predators and Human Evolution.”

Anorexia can be a nightmare for an entire family. Immediate family members can also play crucial roles helping an anorexic patient attempt to recover. Considering all the familial factors of the disease, researchers at the School of Medicine are recruiting families to help evaluate two family-oriented therapies.

Therapies, rehabilitation and specialty medical care are just a few of the extra costs parents face when raising children with special needs. In a new study published in Pediatrics, Paul T. Shattuck, Ph.D., professor of social work, found that families with similar demographics and nature of their children’s special needs have different out-of-pocket health expenditures depending on the state in which they live.

James WertschAmbiguous U.S. policies toward emerging democracies in former Soviet states may have set the stage for the brutal military conflict that erupted this week between Russia and its neighboring Republic of Georgia, suggests James V. Wertsch, an expert on post-Soviet democracy movements at Washington University in St. Louis.

Your kid just got beat up by the fifth-grade bully. Or perhaps you aren’t sure the lunches are healthy enough for your child to be eating. Maybe you’ve even noticed a change in your child’s behavior after returning to school. Washington University has several experts that can comment on any one of these concerns, as well as many others that arise when children are going … back to school, whether it’s kindergarten, high school or college.

DiekmanWith food and fuel costs far above what they were a year ago, school children can expect to see some changes in menu offerings this academic year, says a nutrition expert at Washington University in St. Louis.