Noted behavioral economist Dan Ariely, visiting campus in March, took some time to sit down for a chat with friend and fellow researcher Michal Grinstein-Weiss of the Brown School’s Center for Social Development. What do great economic minds talk about when they get together? First, their groundbreaking Refund to Savings program — a joint project that encourages savings through Intuit Inc.’s TurboTax program.
Students from Washington University in St. Louis are gearing up for the annual Thurtene Carnival, and they’ll host community events this weekend — including a block party and youth basketball clinic — to bring the university’s neighbors together to join the fun.
Participants in the 23rd annual Pow Wow at Washington University in St. Louis line up for the grand entrance in the WU Field House March 16. The annual event, hosted by the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School, offered visitors and participants a full day of dancing, singing, drumming, arts, crafts and food. This year’s theme was “Honoring Our Cultures While Strengthening Our Communities.”
WUSTL has made strides in becoming more sustainable, from keeping more waste out of landfills to adding staff to focus on energy conservation. The university’s overall institutional waste diversion rate improved to about 40 percent in fiscal 2012. The campus community also is participating in the Recyclemania competition this month.
“William H. Gass: The Soul Inside the Sentence” opens Monday, March 11, in Olin Library’s Ginkgo Reading Room and Grand Staircase Lobby. Drawing on Special Collections’ archive of his literary papers, the exhibition includes items related to each of Gass’s many books, which range from novels to short story collections to essays and literary criticism. Gass also will give a reading at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2 titled “How to Behave Around Books.”
Save the date for the annual Staff Day event organized to recognize outstanding efforts by Danforth Campus staff members throughout the year. This year’s event will be held on Monday, May 20.
For his undergraduate thesis project, senior Thomas Muschninski working with professor of physics Jonathan Katz published an article in Nature Climate Change showing that the signature of an increase in storminess could be extracted from precipitation data for the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The scientists suspect the same signature lies hidden under naturally stormier weather at other locations as well.
Those interested in participating in a national study to help the American Cancer Society understand how lifestyle, genetics and the environment affect cancer may enroll in the study April 30 or May 1 on the Washington University Medical Campus.
March 15 was Match Day for 120 soon-to-be physicians in this year’s Washington University School of Medicine graduating class. They and medical students across the country learned where they will do their residency training. Shown are students Ignacio Becerra-Licha and Somalee Banerjee after they learned where their residencies will take them.
Take Steps for Kids is holding its annual charity run – with 5K and 1-mile options – this weekend. Take Steps for Kids is a WUSTL student-run organization. The family-friendly event on the Danforth Campus benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, a youth mentoring organization. Activities begin at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at Brookings Quadrangle.
