Newsroom Stories

Jan. 1-17 Jan. 3 4:32 p.m. — The WUSTL accounting department reports that six fraudulent Washington University checks were cashed at various Wal-Mart stores during the Christmas break. User information recorded on the checks was falsified. Jan. 5 2:06 p.m. — The victim, a visiting actor from New York, had approximately $50 taken from his jacket, which had been hanging in the men’s dressing room in the performing arts area. The dressing room is not secured, but is only accessible by the spiral staircase into the backstage area of the theater Jan. 16 12:13 p.m. — A student lost a package in Wohl Student Center between 5 p.m. Jan. 11 and 10 a.m. Jan 12. 3:45 p.m. — A stolen student ID card was used to purchase food items between between 3-10 p.m. Jan. 14. Total loss is estimated at $50. University Police also responded to one report each of parking violation, auto accident, judicial violation, false fire alarm, leaving the scene of an accident and larceny.

Photo by David KilperMechanical and aerospace engineering seniors Topher McFarland (left) and Rahul Bhinge (kneeling) demonstrate their creation, a computer artist nicknamed “Action Jackson” designed to paint in the style of Jackson Pollock at the Dec. 8 Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Design Fair in Whitaker Hall.

The No. 24 men’s basketball team improved to 10-1 overall with two victories last week.

Lighting designer Paul A. Zaferiou will launch the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ spring Architecture Lecture Series Jan. 22. Zaferiou, a 1975 alumnus of Washington University, is president and principal of Lam Partners Inc., a lighting consulting firm whose credits include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and The Getty Villa in Malibu, CA, among many others. The lecture series will continue Jan. 29 with Winy Maas, a principal of MVRDV, the Office of Architecture and Urbanism, in Rotterdam.

The pink color in the image on the right highlights cells producing excess mucus, a symptom of COPD. The image on the left shows normal lung tissue. Physicians say that smoking is by far the biggest cause of emphysema, but why doesn’t every smoker get the disease? If you asked WUSM physician Michael Holtzman that question, he might answer that for most cases of emphysema you need a mix of genes, viruses and cigarettes. Emphysema and the associated condition of chronic bronchitis are both disorders that contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.

The AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (ACTU) at theSchool of Medicine has received a $10 million grant to find new treatments for AIDS and HIV-related complications, such as dementia, neuropathy and cardiovascular disease. The seven-year grant is from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

An immune system gene that flunked its first tryout as an antiviral factor has triumphed in its second, proving that it can help fight the flu, herpes and the Sindbis virus. Picking the right opponents for interferon stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) to square off against proved to be key to uncovering its potential.

Ralph Stewart*The Dead Father*Choreographer Paul D. Mosley — artistic director for the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY — will return to St. Louis for the first time in a decade to perform an evening of new and old dance works.

The growth factor G-CSF caused bone tumors to increase in size in lab mice. The mouse on the left did not receive G-CSF. The mouse on the right did.In laboratory tests on mice, researchers found that a medication often used to reduce toxic side effects of chemotherapy induced bone loss and helped tumors grow in bone. So the researchers are recommending increased awareness of bone health during cancer treatments. The medication studied is a growth factor commonly used to help cancer patients recover healthy blood counts after chemotherapy, which can destroy white blood cells.

Feinknopf PhotographyLam Partners Inc.Lighting designer Paul A. Zaferiou will launch the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ spring Architecture Lecture Series Jan. 22. Zaferiou, a 1975 alumnus of Washington University, is president and principal of Lam Partners Inc., a lighting consulting firm whose credits include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and The Getty Villa in Malibu, CA, among many others. The lecture series will continue Jan. 29 with Winy Maas, a principal of MVRDV, the Office of Architecture and Urbanism, in Rotterdam.