Humanities & Society

GibsonWhen the U.S. Supreme Court issues its much-awaited decision on the constitutionality of the controversial McCain-Feingold campaign reform legislation, its arguments may hinge on testimony regarding the validity of a political advertising database used to push for the legislation. Supporters of the legislation claim the database provides clear and compelling evidence that McCain-Feingold reforms do not infringe upon free speech, but this is far from the truth, according to James L. Gibson, a Washington University political scientist who served as expert witness when the case was heard in a lower court. His analysis found the database to be “riddled with internal errors and inconsistencies.”

Image by Trent L. Schindler, Nat’l Science Foundation, Arlington, VAComputer-based reconstruction of an arsinoithere, an extinct fossil mammal from Ethiopia that lived 27 million years ago.Tab Rasmussen, Ph.D., a professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, and two of his graduate students, were part of an international team of researchers that discovered new fossils in the highlands of Ethiopia that are filling gaps in scientists’ understanding of the evolution of African mammals. The results are reported in the Dec. 4, 2003, issue of the journal Nature.

Image courtesy of Cindy LustigParts of the brain involved in a “resting network” show large differences between young adults, older adults, and people with Alzheimer’s disease.Researchers tracking the ebb and flow of cognitive function in the human brain have discovered surprising differences in the ability of younger and older adults to shut down a brain network normally active during periods of passive daydreaming. The differences, which are especially pronounced in people with dementia, may provide a clear and powerful new method for diagnosing individuals in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Rebecca Dresser, an expert on biomedical research law and bioethics and the Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses the legal and ethical implications of stem cell research with Mike Sampson of KWMU’s “St. Louis on the Air” Nov. 25. Dresser is also a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. Listen to the program from the KWMU Web site.

SmithSenate Republicans and Democrats are preparing for a 30-hour marathon debate on judicial nominations starting about 6 p.m. Nov. 12 and running as long as early morning on Friday, Nov. 14. Republican senators say they want the country to know that Democrats are stalling judicial nominations made by President Bush. Democrats have filibustered on four recent Bush appeals court nominations and may use similar tactics on future nominees. Congressional expert Steven Smith says this is business as usual in Congress and that Republicans have used the same tactics in the past.

Photo courtesy of Tom Paule PhotographyMarrying for love … and money.Becoming wealthy and creating a happy family are two key components to achieving the American Dream, but do marriage and children have any impact on your chances of becoming rich? “Marriage substantially increases a person’s likelihood of becoming affluent,” says Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of a study out this month that looks at earnings over the course of a person’s lifetime. “Having children, however, significantly lowers the probability of becoming wealthy for all people,” Rank adds.

Washington University in St. Louis will host the presidential debate scheduled for 8 p.m. CST on Oct. 8, 2004, according to an announcement made today by Paul G. Kirk Jr. and Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., co-chairmen of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). This is the fourth consecutive time the university has been selected by the CPD to host a debate. The university hosted the first presidential debate held prior to the 1992 election, was selected to host a presidential debate in 1996 that eventually was canceled, and hosted the third and last presidential debate of the 2000 campaign season. “It is an honor and a privilege to once again be chosen to host one of the presidential debates,” said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. ”

Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations global development network, will be delivering the Stein Lecture in Ethics as part of the Assembly Series lectures at Washington University at 11 a.m. on Wed., Nov. 12 in Graham Chapel. The chapel is located just north of Mallinckrodt Center (6445 Forsyth Blvd.) on the Washington University campus. Assembly Series lectures are free and open to the public. The title of his talk is “Six Months after Iraq: Why the UN Matters.”

Supreme Court cases are now predictable, thanks to new computer model.As the U.S. Supreme Court moves into its new term, litigants, attorneys and the public will be closely watching its docket and speculating about its decisions. Now, thanks to the Supreme Court Forecasting Project at Washington University in St. Louis, court watchers everywhere will be able to log on to the Internet and obtain a forecast of how individual cases are likely to be decided. The project accurately predicted decisions in 75 percent of the cases heard by the Court in its last term.

Bernstein”The settlement of the grocery strike in St. Louis sends conflicting messages to the parties involved in similar strikes in California, West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky,” says Neil Bernstein, an expert in labor law and legal issues relating to striking workers and a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “In St. Louis, the Union did achieve an important victory in convincing the employers to eliminate the annual deductibles that they tried to impose for the first time. On the other hand, the contract requires them to make larger co-payments for doctor visits and prescription drugs.”