In the case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, Texas is contesting a federal court’s redrawing of the state’s electoral district lines for the upcoming primary election. Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, Texas must get preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice before it can institute any voting changes. “This case gives the Supreme Court an opportunity to weaken or even strike down Section 5,” says Gregory Magarian, JD, election law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “If Texas wins, even if the Court stops short of striking down Section 5 altogether, it will mark a major change in the law. The Supreme Court will essentially be saying that racial voting discrimination by state officials is no longer a problem that justifies a federal remedy.”
Senior Dylan Richter scored 20 points and sophomore Tim Cooney tied a career-high with 19 points as the men’s basketball team opened University Athletic Association (UAA) play with a 79-72 victory over the University of Chicago Jan 7. at the WU Field House. Update also included on women’s basketball.
NASA has just funded Henri Krawczynski and his colleague Matthias Beilicke, to launch a balloon-borne telescope sensitive to the polarization of light that will float at an altitude of 130,000 feet for a day. During that time, the balloon will stare fixedly at two black holes in our galaxy, an accreting neutron star, the Crab nebula, an extragalactic black hole and other targets yet to be chosen. One of the first instruments of its type, it should be able to make the first direct measurements of the spin rate of black holes, among other advancements.
A biology lab at Washington University in St. Louis has successfully cracked the structure of an enzyme made by Plasmodium falciparum, the parasitical protozoan that causes the most lethal form of malaria. Plasmodium cannot live without the enzyme, which is uses to make cell membrane. Because people don’t make this enzyme, it is an ideal target for an anti-malarial drug. Such a drug might kill Plasmodium but have minimal side effects for people.
A new study shows that annual prostate cancer screening does not reduce deaths from the disease, even among men in their 50s and 60s and those with underlying health conditions.
The study was published online Jan. 6 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill will participate in a roundtable discussion with Washington University in St. Louis administrators and energy researchers, and the region’s energy leaders on the nation’s urgent energy needs. The roundtable energy discussion will be held at noon Monday, Jan. 9, at Washington University’s Brauer Hall, Room 3015, followed by a tour of WUSTL’s Ultrafast Laser Facility.
A Jan. 4 Huffington Post headline proclaims: “Rick Santorum called Mormonism ‘dangerous cult’ in minds of ‘some Christians’ in 2007.” Is Mormonism really a cult? Frank K. Flinn, PhD, a professor emeritus of religious studies in Arts & Sciences, argues that Republican detractors hope to do political damage by labeling Mitt Romney’s religion as a cult. However, this labeling creates a constitutional blur that threatens religious liberty, he says.
Most people would rather not have their video viewing habits easily available to the public — no need for co-workers to know about your love of reality TV. The Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (VPPA) protects these records, but the House of Representatives — at the urging of Netflix and Facebook — recently voted to amend the VPPA, allowing companies to share movie watching habits much more easily. “What’s at stake is intellectual privacy — the idea that records of our reading habits, movie watching habits and private conversations deserve special protection from other kinds of personal information,” says Neil Richards, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.
Staff and faculty are invited to the women’s and men’s basketball games Saturday, Jan. 7, as the teams battle the University of Chicago. There are a number of special offerings — including $1 food specials for those that RSVP — during this family-friendly afternoon of University Athletic Association basketball in the Athletic Complex.
The Community Service Office of the Gephardt Institute for Public Service is offering three Social Change Grants of $5,000 or $6,000 for summer 2012. The intent-to-apply notification deadline is Jan. 23, with proposals due Feb. 10. WUSTL students with an idea for improving the conditions or opportunities of a community anywhere around the globe are invited to apply.