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‘Give Thanks Give Back,’ WUSTL’s annual holiday gift drive in support of the 100 Neediest Cases, is under way. Members of the university community are encouraged to consider adopting an area family in need. The drive runs through Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Washington University School of Medicine Occupational Health Services will be offering flu shots on a walk- in basis to employees of the medical school from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8 through Friday, Nov. 11. Employees must bring their ID badge to receive a flu shot.

The following are among the new faculty members at Washington University in St. Louis: Parag Banerjee, PhD; Danielle Dutton, PhD; Josh Jackson, PhD; Kristina Kleutghen, PhD; Charlie Kurth, PhD; Zhao Ma, PhD; Paulo Natenzon, PhD; Jay Ponder, PhD; Elizabeth Quinn, PhD; and Lucia Strader, PhD. Others will be introduced periodically.

The 2011 annual Brown School Toys for Tots drive is collecting new, unwrapped toys to be distributed to youth and families to in the St. Louis area. Last year the “Bear Brigade” collected four full boxes. This year’s theme is “Joining Forces” as the Brown School challenge all students, faculty and staff, as well as on and off campus partners, to help reach the 2011 goal of five full boxes. The drive runs through Friday, Dec. 16.

An Apple mobile application called WUSTL Dining — which allows potential diners to check out menu items at each WUSTL Dining Services location — now is available at the Apple App Store. The new app is free and also allows users to find WUSTL Dining Services locations and view nutritional information on menu items on their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Washington University in St. Louis recently was named one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright students, based on outcomes of the 2011-2012 competition. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, recently announced the complete list of top-producing colleges and universities in the Oct. 24 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Due to increased employee interest in the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and the Health Savings Accounts (HSA), the WUSTL Benefits Department will host special informational sessions Nov. 17 and 18 about these health plan options.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and his wife, Risa Zwerling Wrighton, honorary event chair, and other faculty and staff members take the stage to lead students in “The Dancellor” during the Nov. 5 Dance Marathon of St. Louis in the Athletic Complex. A record number of student dancers — nearly 1,400 — participated in this year’s space-themed event, which raised $150,000 for Children’s Miracle Network.

With the recent time change — daylight savings time ended at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6 — it will get dark earlier in the evening. The Washington University Police Department offers some reminders as part of the “Don’t be in the Dark” campaign.

After testing and evaluating different learning management systems over the past two years, a committee of faculty, staff and administrators has selected Blackboard Learn 9.1 to be the new online teaching and learning tool for the Danforth Campus. The new learning management system is being phased in on campus beginning this fall.