Newsroom Stories

Courtesy photoMartha SandweissMartha Sandweiss, Ph.D., professor of history and American studies at Amherst College, will speak on “Western Photographs, National Culture” March 23,for the Faculty Fellows Lecture and Workshop Series, presented by the Center for the Humanities Arts & Sciences. In addition, Sandweiss will lead a graduate student workshop on “American Material Culture: Reading Photographs from Local Collections” March 24.

Thursday, March 30 at 5 p.m., the finalists will be announced for the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition, co-sponsored by Washington University and the YouthBridge Association. The event features Theresa Wilson, founder of The Blessing Basket, as a keynote speaker. Currently there are 14 semi-finalists. The finalists will be selected based on their two-minute presenations about their projects. The event takes place in May Auditorium in Simon Hall on the Washington University Hilltop Campus.

Olafur EliassonOlafur Eliasson’s *Weather Project*Olafur Eliasson, one of the most challenging and celebrated artists of his generation, will kick-off After the Digital Divide: German Aesthetic Theory in the Age of New Media, a three-day symposium on aesthetics and new media at Washington University March 30 to April 1. The symposium will feature more than 20 artists, art historians, museum professionals and new media experts from across the United States and Germany.

John LaRueSusannahThe Washington University Opera will present Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, which updates the biblical story of Susannah and the Elders to 1940s Appalachia, March 24 and 25. The story centers on an attractive but innocent girl of 19 who is observed bathing by a group of male church elders. The men falsely accuse Susannah of sinfulness and “loose” behavior, ostracizing her from the life of the town.

For anyone who could not make the January/February Washington University Bone Marrow Registry drive, the Washington University Marrow Registry is offering one more chance this year to join the National Marrow Donor Program in honor of Matthew Pearl, a second-grader from Eureka, Mo.

It’s challenging enough to pave a road and remove temporary bridges without worrying about cars, trucks and buses barreling through intersections. “So, from — 7 p.m. today to 5 a.m. March 20, the intersection of Skinker & Boulevard and Forest Park Parkway will ‘be closed’ to all vehicle traffic. As part of the MetroLink expansion […]

Anthropologist Eugenie Scott has been involved with some of the high-profile legal trials about the teaching of evolution in the classroom. She is the executive director of the National Center for Science Education. She speaks on intelligent design at the Assembly Series on March 22.

Alexander Calandra, Ph.D., professor emeritus of physical science in physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, died Wednesday, March 8, 2006. Calandra, who joined WUSTL in 1947 and retired in 1979, was nationally known for his work in science education. He was 95.

A blood vessel that has become narrowed by build-up from cholesterol and other substancesA pill containing plant substances called sterols can help lower cholesterol, according to researchers at the School of Medicine. The researchers studied patients who already were eating a heart-healthy diet and taking statin drugs to control cholesterol. The addition of plant sterols helped further lower total cholesterol and contributed to a nearly 10 percent reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the so-called “bad” cholesterol.

In this PET image, the arrow shows inflammation of the lungs.A noninvasive approach for assessing lung inflammation should accelerate efforts to develop drugs for inflammatory lung conditions like cystic fibrosis and pneumonia, scientists at the School of Medicine report. Researchers have used positron emission tomography (PET) scans to monitor artificially induced inflammation in the lungs of healthy volunteers. The new imaging process may help doctors monitor the conditions of patients with inflammatory lung diseases and should make it easier for investigators to test potential anti-inflammatory drugs.