Newsroom Stories

Should movies and television shows be free on the Internet? Which business models will benefit artists, producers and distributors? Questions such as these are being pondered in a popular course at Olin Business School, “The Economics of Entertainment.” Industry executives visit the class to provide corporate insights about the challenges facing film and music makers in the Internet age.

“The myth is a public dream.” So argues playwright Mary Zimmerman in Metamorphoses, her hypnotic, Tony Award-winning adaptation of myths by the Roman poet Ovid. Beginning Friday, April 23 and for two consecutive weekends, the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will present Metamorphoses, perhaps the most acclaimed theatrical work of the last decade, as its spring Mainstage production. 

Washington University in St. Louis has released its Strategic Plan for Environmentally Sustainable Operations. The plan details the university’s sustainability achievements, aspirations and challenges in terms of energy and water use, food sources, recycling and transportation, among others.

The Graduate Student Senate (GSS) honored seven faculty members with Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards for their dedication to graduate students and commitment to excellence in graduate training. Special recognition for excellence in mentoring went to 14 other faculty members during GSS’ 11th annual awards ceremony and reception, held April 14 in the Danforth University Center.

“The retirement announcement of Justice John Paul Stevens does not come as a big surprise, but it is still a sad day,” says Gregory P. Magarian, JD, former Stevens clerk and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “The Supreme Court is losing a great jurist and a great man.” Magarian calls Stevens a “pragmatic populist” because of the way he approached his decisions with the court. “Stevens always has been very focused on what a Supreme Court decision is going to do to an ordinary person,” he says. “He’s never written an opinion just to make a point or put on a show.” 

Barry Sleckman, MD, PhD, was a busy young entrepreneur and disaffected commuter college student when his life began taking a sudden series of unexpected turns in the late 1970s.

The WUSTL Energy Awareness Committee is offering faculty, staff and students the opportunity to celebrate Earth Day with a volunteer event at Tyson Research Center from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, April 24. Volunteers will be asked to assist with the restoration of a glade, a native habitat in Missouri, at Tyson.

Ryan Anderson, a second-year medical student and president of the class, was one of 30 medical students nationwide to receive the American Medical Association Foundation’s 2010 Leadership Award. The award provides medical students, residents, fellows and early-career physicians with special training to develop their skills as future leaders in organized medicine and community affairs. … […]

Organisms from yeast to rodents to humans all benefit from cutting calories. In less complex organisms, restricting calories can double or even triple lifespan. But researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and two other centers report in the journal Science that they are less interested in calorie restriction for longer life than for its ability to promote good health throughout life.  

What do ballroom dancing, fresh farm produce and paper beads from Africa have in common? They are central to the business plans of award-winning ventures in the 2010 YouthBridge Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition. Five start-up businesses dedicated to helping others shared a total of $155,000 in cash grants presented at a ceremony April 13 at Washington University.