Newsroom Stories

Good design can be many things: a book, a poster, a smart phone. But increasingly, designers are being asked not only to create objects, but to address large-scale social problems, from poverty to sustainability to eating disorders. In September, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will launch its fall Public Lecture Series with two speakers, Jon Kolko and Cynthia E. Smith, who are rethinking the role of contemporary design.

How do you recreate a live event? It’s a pressing question in many fields, as scholars, historians and arts institutions struggle to archive and preserve choreography, performances, installations and other works that, by their nature, can be fleeting.In September, Washington University in St. Louis will present Reperformance, an interdisciplinary symposium exploring the means, methods and difficulties of restaging live work. ​

Karen Tokarz, JD, dispute resolution expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, says that criticisms about foreclosure mediation programs – currently under review across the country – are not supported by research and appear to be based on misunderstandings of the process.

Washington University’s main move-in day in the South 40 residence halls for new students is Thursday, Aug. 23. Some 1,700 new students (freshmen, transfer and exchange) are arriving for the 2012-13 academic year that begins Aug. 28. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton will lead university staff members and upperclass student volunteers in a 7:30 a.m. pep rally as they prepare to welcome the new students and assist with move in throughout the day.

Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, MPHS, a clinical research fellow at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, has been named one of 16 recipients of the 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium Merit Award.

Washington University physicians at Barnes-Jewish Hospital are the first in Missouri to offer a new type of PET scan for patients being evaluated for Alzheimer’s disease. The test detects neuritic plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

Graham Paul, consul general of France in Chicago, will discuss “France and the Future of Europe” at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19. Immediately following the lecture, Paul — on behalf of the French government — will formally recognize WUSTL alumna Elizabeth Gentry Sayad as a Chevalier (knight) of L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

First amendment expert John Inazu, JD, associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, argues in a USA Today opinion column that evangelicals are wise to join the legal fight over the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraception mandate.

In recent decades, the federal government has relied more and more on contractors, private businesses, to perform public services. The federal government issues more than $260 billion in government contracts each year, with few restrictions on the employees of those contractors. Government ethics expert Kathleen Clark, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, has written extensively about this issue, provides some suggestions in a Q&A.

At WUSTL, orientation extends much longer than the five-day Bear Beginnings welcome. Through the WUSA (Washington University Student Associate) program, all incoming students are paired with upperclass peer mentors for the entire first year. The WUSA program is viewed as a model program nationally. Right, a WUSA gets ready for move-in day with the WUSA cheer.