WUSTL plays key role in Phoenix Mars Mission

Since a stunningly successful landing of NASA’s Phoenix Mars Mission Lander May 25, mission researchers centered at the University of Arizona have rolled up their sleeves and commanded the lander to find soil and ice samples and are taking and analyzing pictures from the Red Planet’s frigid northern hemisphere.

Researchers find that neurons compensate for electrical changes

All mental processes, including thinking, learning and memory, depend on the electrical properties of individual nerve cells in the brain and on the connections between them. In turn, the electrical responses of each nerve cell, or neuron, reflect the unique set of pores — called ion channels — that perforate its surface and allow the passage of charged particles, or ions. So researchers at the School of Medicine were a little surprised when they saw no harmful effects in mice after eliminating an important type of potassium ion channel from neurons in the brain.

Two Arts & Sciences seniors earn scholarships

Arts & Sciences seniors Gregory S. Gandenberger and Kelley E. Greenman were recognized in April with prestigious national scholarships. As one of 22 students nationwide to be named a Beinecke Scholar, Gandenberger, a philosophy major with a minor in physics, will receive $34,000 in support of graduate study. Greenman, an environmental studies major, is one […]

Washington University in St. Louis selected to host the 2008 vice presidential debate

Presidential candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry speak to town hall participants during the Oct. 8, 2004 debate.Washington University in St. Louis will host the 2008 vice presidential debate, scheduled for 8 p.m. CDT on Oct. 2, 2008, 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). Full story >>

Graduates: Don’t despair, says WUSTL careers expert

Students celebrate at Commencement.The graduation pictures have been e-mailed to friends, posted on Facebook and framed alongside family photos perched on bookcases and fireplace mantels. But behind the toothy grin of many college grads lies a worrisome question that flies in the face of this celebrated educational milestone: Where’s my job? Finding one requires the right actions, says a careers expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

SEED OK background information

SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) is a seven-year initiative designed to test and promote matched savings accounts at birth for all children. The purpose of the SEED OK study is to test the policy concept of universal children’s savings accounts by assessing the impact of giving every child an account at birth. The initiative, which is part of a larger national program known as SEED (Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment), will set the stage for a broad, national policy for asset building among children, youth, and families. The theory of asset building suggests that accumulating assets or savings within households changes the thinking and outlook within those households, which in turn may lead to more positive outcomes for families, such as an increase in children who obtain college degrees.
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