News highlights for October 26, 2010
National Geographic News Oldest modern human outside of Africa found 10/25/2010 A human jawbone fossil discovered in southern China is upsetting conventional notions of when our ancestors migrated out of Africa. The mandible sports a distinctly modern feature: a prominent chin. But the bone is undeniably 60,000 years older than the next oldest Homo sapiens’ […]
Meetings to be held to answer open enrollment questions
Washington University employees may attend one of many sessions that will go over changes to the benefit plans for 2011.
Sports update Oct. 25
Sports updates for the week of Oct. 25, 2010.
WeCar rates reduced, more cars added to campus
Hourly rates for the WUSTL WeCar program will be reduced beginning Monday, Nov. 1, 2010. The WeCar program allows WUSTL students, faculty, staff and employees of qualified service providers to rent vehicles on campus at an hourly rate. The new rates, as of Nov. 1, are $5 per hour for a sedan and $8 per hour for an SUV.
Modern humans emerged far earlier than previously thought
An international team of researchers based at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, including a physical anthropology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, has discovered well-dated human fossils in southern China that markedly change anthropologists perceptions of the emergence of modern humans in the eastern Old World.
Changes in the American workforce puts role of National Labor Relations Act into question
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Marion Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law at Washington University In St. Louis, looks at the act’s history and says changes in the American workplace and other factors raise the question of how the NLRA will adapt in the future.
Washington University to offer master of science degree for biology teachers
Washington University in St. Louis will offer a master of science in biology degree specifically for in-service teachers through University College, its adult, evening and continuing education division in Arts & Sciences. Faculty created and piloted the degree with 90 biology teachers nationwide as a National Science Foundation teacher institute.
Global citizenship in a borderless world
Richard Heinzl, M.D., founder of Doctors without Borders, Canada, will present a talk, “Lessons from Abroad: The Opportunities of a Borderless World” at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 8 at Graham Chapel on the Danforth Campus.The event is co-sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy, the Gephardt Institute for Public Service and the School of Medicine
A gift from space
NASA astronaut Robert L. Behnken, PhD, presents to Chancelllor Mark S. Wrighton a photograph of James S. McDonnell, a.k.a. “Mr. Mac,” that had traveled into space and been signed by his fellow astronauts. Behnken presented the photograph at the end of the third annual Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lecture Oct. 21, during which he described his experiences as a space shuttle crewmember and life on the International Space Station.
Nanotechnology conference draws scientists from across the state
Scientists from across Missouri will gather Wednesday, Oct. 27, at Washington University in St. Louis to learn — in one jam-packed day — about the latest advances in nanotechnology and opportunities for commercializing them. Co-organized by seven Missouri universities, the 2nd Annual Missouri NanoFrontiers Symposium is co-hosted by Washington University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis and begins at 7:45 a.m. in Whitaker Hall on the Danforth Campus. The meeting is free and open to the public.
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