Freshmen explore St. Louis via faculty-led field trips

A new program coordinated through the First Year Center encourages faculty members to share outside interests as a way of introducing freshmen to the city of St. Louis.As part of “St. Louis by the Dozen,” faculty members lead groups of 12 in an off-campus weekend adventure.

Tennessee Williams centennial celebration kicks off with Assembly Series lecture by Henry I. Schvey

In this centennial year of Williams’ birth, and the 75th anniversary of his matriculation at WUSTL, Tennessee Williams’ literary legacy will be the subject of an Assembly Series lecture by Henry I. Schvey, PhD, professor of drama and comparative literature in Arts & Sciences. Schvey’s presentation, “Tennessee Williams at 100: From Washington University to the Wider World” will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6 in Steinberg Hall Auditorium.

First Taste of St. Louis Service Fair Oct. 5

Washington University in St. Louis will host a university-wide Public Service Fair at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in College Hall on the South 40. The event features more than 30 nonprofit organizations offering a variety of community service and internship opportunities.

Tennessee Williams returns

It is the stuff of campus legend. In 1937, Tennessee Williams took fourth in a playwriting competition at Washington University in St. Louis. So upset was the young writer that he soon left town and later, in The Glass Menagerie, exacted sly artistic revenge upon his alma mater. But on Oct. 7 and 8, Williams will return to Washington University, in the form of two one-man shows by veteran actor and playwright Jeremy Lawrence.

BioSTL gets boost from WUSTL

Washington University in St. Louis, along with two other organizations, is getting behind BioSTL (evolved from the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences), a new regional organization to champion St. Louis bioscience. The university, BJC HealthCare, and the St. Louis Life Sciences Project have each committed $2 million per year for five years to the venture, for a combined total of $30 million. The announcement of the funding, which will forward bioscience company creation and drive economic growth in St. Louis, was made Sept. 27.

‘Speed’ mentoring

Maxine Lipeles, JD, co-director of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, participates in “speed mentoring” sessions with law students at Washington University School of Law during Women’s Law Day Sept. 21 in Crowder Courtyard of Anheuser-Busch Hall.

Genetic variant linked to blocked heart arteries in patients with diabetes

Researchers have identified the first genetic variant associated with severity of coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. Though this variant is not likely the cause of more severe coronary disease, the researchers say, it implicates a gene that could be. Such a gene has promise as a future target for treating coronary artery disease in diabetic patients.

Sidney Outlaw and Carol Wong present Liederabend Oct. 9

Sidney Outlaw, a rising young American baritone lauded as a “terrific singer” by The New York Times, will join pianist Carol Wong for an intimate Liederabend at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, at Washington University in St. Louis. Literally translated as “evening of song,” Liederabend is a German term referring to a recital given by a singer and pianist, particularly of works by 19th-century Austrian or German composers. The performance is presented in conjunction with the American Arts Experience—St. Louis.

WUSTL to send delegation to UN Climate Change conference

The Washington University Students for International Collaboration on the Environment (WUSICE) recently was granted the opportunity send the first WUSTL delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17). The group is in the process of building an effective interdisciplinary delegation of undergraduate and graduate students. WUSICE is seeking students from a variety of backgrounds who have an interest in international environmental negotiations. Deadline is Thursday, Sept. 29.