McDonnell Academy welcomes 12 new scholars from around the world

The McDonnell International Scholars Academy at Washington University in St. Louis welcomed 12 new talented graduate and professional students for the 2011-12 academic year. The new scholars are graduates of one of 27 premier universities from around the world partnered with WUSTL in the McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

New Mars rover’s mechanics to be used to study Martian soil properties

NASA has announced that Raymond E. Arvidson, PhD, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, has been selected to be a participating scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory, a mission to land and operate a rover named Curiosity on Mars. Arvidson proposed that he use the rover itself as a terramechanics instrument to learn about Martian soils. He will be using a simulation of the rover and of the Martian terrain to contribute to path planning for the rover and to look for crusted soils created by the modern Martian water cycle.

Spring Activities Fair Jan. 25

The Spring Activities Fair, open to all students, will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, in the Danforth University Center. Featuring approximately 150 student groups and university departments, the event is an opportunity for students to explore options for involvement and find experiences that will augment classroom learning.

2012-13 tuition, board and fees announced

Undergraduate tuition at Washington University in St. Louis will be $42,500 for the 2012-13 academic year — a $1,550 (3.8 percent) increase over the 2011-12 current academic tuition of $40,950. The required student activity fee will total $425, and the student health fee is estimated to be $780. Barbara A. Feiner, vice chancellor for finance, made the announcement.​

SOPA would be sour note for music industry

The controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is merely an attempt to shore up a dying and inefficient business model, grafted onto an attempt to control the Internet, says an expert on the business of entertainment at Washington University in St. Louis.

‘A Force of Nature’ Feb. 7

Described as “a force of nature” by The New York Times, dancer Kirstie Simson is internationally renowned for creating virtuoso improvisational performances. On Tuesday, Feb. 7, Simson — the 2012 Marcus Artist in Arts & Sciences — will present a free, informal concert in WUSTL’s Annelise Mertz Dance Studio. The event will include a performance of Simson’s solo Somewhere and excerpts from the documentary Force of Nature as well as a new improvisational work created in collaboration with dance professor David Marchant.

Immune system memory cells have trick for self preservation

Immune cells
After defeating an infection, the immune system creates a memory of the attacker to make it easier to eliminate in the future. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered an important component of the immune system’s strategy for preserving such immunological memories.

Honoring Martin Luther King at Graham Chapel

Marsha Cann, left, and Ron Himes of The Black Rep perform Jan. 16 during the 25th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration in Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis. Himes, a WUSTL alumnus and the founder and producing director of The Black Rep, received the Rosa L. Parks Award for Meritorius Service to the Community. The event also paid tribute to the late James E. McLeod, vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

Work, Families and Public Policy series continues Jan. 23

Faculty and graduate students from St. Louis-area universities with an interest in labor, households, health care, law and social welfare are invited to take part in a series of Monday brown-bag luncheon seminars to be held biweekly on the Danforth Campus at Washington University in St. Louis beginning Monday, Jan. 23, through Monday, April 16.The series continues Monday, Jan. 23, with a lecture by Kelly Bishop, PhD, assistant professor of economics at WUSTL, on “Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Estimating Marginal Willingness to Pay for Differentiated Products without Instrumental Variables.”