Newsroom Stories

While many may see “taking Christ out of Christmas” as a recent phenomenon, the roots of secular Christmas celebrations and commercialization go deep into American history, says Anne Blankenship, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate at the John C. Danforth Center for Religion & Politics at Washington University in St. Louis.

Pulitzer Prize-winning political journalist and author George F. Will visited campus Tuesday, Dec. 4, to deliver the fall 2012 keynote speech for the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics in Graham Chapel. While on campus, Will visited with students and faculty members, along with Sen. John C. Danforth.

WUSTL has been named a Truman Foundation Honor Institution because of its two Truman Scholarship winners this year and its sustained success in helping students win Truman Scholarships to pursue careers in public service. The highly competitive federal scholarship is awarded based on academic performance, leadership and dedication to public service.

As the holidays draw near, expect the usual onslaught of well-intentioned suggestions for lifestyle changes guaranteed to make you healthier, wealthier and wiser in the new year. Talk is cheap, but these 13 New Year’s resolutions for 2013 are backed up by decades of research. If your resolve needs strengthening, click through the embedded web links to learn more about the research behind the resolutions, including tips on using your smart phone to quit smoking and the best way to pay down your holiday debt.

​Douglas W. Hanto, MD, PhD, is the new associate dean for continuing medical education (CME) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Patients with sickle cell disease rely more on the emergency room as they move from pediatric to adult health care, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions.

The No. 5 women’s basketball team improved to 6-1 with a pair of wins over Millikin University (71-42) and Augustana College (74-61) last week.

The Super-TIGER comic-ray experiment had a perfect launch Sunday 9:45 am  New Zealand Daylight Time. The enormous balloon that will carry it to the limits of Earth’s atmosphere was stretched out on the ice and then partially filled.  As it came up off the ice, the balloon rose over the downstream instrument. When it was directly overhead the Boss released the  two-ton cosmic-ray instrument and it was lofted effortlessly into the skies over Antarctica.

On Dec. 7, President Barack Obama signed legislation to delay implementation of the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, which would require Internet posting of the annual financial interest forms for 28,000 executive branch employees. A law, WUSTL Congressional ethics expert Kathleen Clark says, that will not prevent Congressional insider trading.

WUSTL and its academic and corporate partners worldwide are putting research into action and leading a major initiative in Mumbai, India, Dec. 6-12 to address global energy and environmental solutions. The WUSTL-led McDonnell Academy Global Energy and Environmental Partnership (MAGEEP) — a consortium of 28 international universities — is convening in Mumbai for the Fourth International Symposium on Energy and Environment: ACCESS. The symposium is co-hosted by Washington University, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay.