Newsroom Stories

Tim RussertTim Russert, the managing editor and moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” and political analyst for “NBC Nightly News” and the “Today” show, has been selected to give the 2007 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The title of Russert’s speech is “A View From Washington.” The university’s 146th Commencement will begin at 8:30 a.m. May 18 in Brookings Quadrangle, on the Danforth Campus.

A team of investigators at the School of Medicine and other centers around the United States is evaluating dietary supplements to determine if they can prevent some of the damage from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in Americans over the age of 65.

Political developments affecting American business and new challenges and directions in political risk analysis will be the focus of a public forum from 8 a.m.-noon March 23 in the May Auditorium of Simon Hall on the Danforth Campus of Washington University.

Poet David Baker, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will read from his work at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 22, for The Writing Program Reading Series. Baker is the author of eight books of poetry, most recently Midwest Eclogue (2005), as well as poetry editor for The Kenyon Review.

Robert L. E. Egger, founder and president of DC Central Kitchen, will speak about “Using Punk Rock and Leftover Food to Change the World,” from 4:30- 6 p.m. on March 27 in room 132 of Goldfarb Hall. At DC Central Kitchen, food donated by regional foodservice businesses is used to fuel a nationally recognized culinary arts job-training program, where unemployed men and women learn marketable skills while donations are converted into balanced meals. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Courtesy photoUta GrosenickUta Grosenick, managing editor for DuMont publishers in Cologne, Germany, will speak on the development of commercial art galleries worldwide since 1945 for Washington University’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.

Neuroscientists at the School of Medicine have linked a common post-stroke disability to impaired communication between brain regions. In the March 15 issue of Neuron, researchers report a tight correlation between the degree to which communication was blocked and the severity of patients’ symptoms.

An illustration from “When Grandpa Comes Home: A Story About Stroke,” an online book that teaches children how to cope when a relative suffers a strokeSpeedy treatment is essential to saving lives and preventing brain damage during a stroke. But the rapid pace of events also can leave patients and family members confused about what has happened and what to expect. That’s especially true for children whose parents or grandparents have a stroke. Now an online book is available to teach children about strokes.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo Services*Tartuffe*The Washington University Opera, led by director Jolly Stewart, will present Kirke Mechem’s highly acclaimed setting of Molière’s comedy Tartuffe. The story, first written in 1665, explores the impact of a corrupt and hypocritical “holy man” on a wealthy Parisian family. Mechem’s adaptation, which premiered in 1980, has since become one of the most popular works of contemporary American opera.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Side effects of AIDS medications (week of Mar. 7) • Belly fat’s role in disease (week of Mar. 14) • Aneurysm-causing enzyme identified (week of Mar. 21) • Smoking delays ligament healing (week of Mar. 28)