The amicable professor

Photo by David KilperThe swashbuckling economist frequently instructs using a fencing foil. He keeps it safe. He doesn’t lunge or attack anyone. Instead Glenn MacDonald, Ph.D., uses the foil to engage his students in animated discussions about microeconomics or game theory or his daughter’s belly-button jewelry.

“Boesman and Lena”

Photo by Stewart GoldstenThe St. Louis Black Rep will open its 31st season with “Boesman and Lena” at Edison Theatre Sept. 12-23.

Laumeier Park design finalists launch series

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and Laumeier Sculpture Park will launch the school’s fall Architecture Lecture Series Sept. 10. Beginning with talks by three prominent architects — David Lewis, Lawrence Scarpa and Charles Rose.

Help save a life by donating blood

Sign up today to donate blood or volunteer at Washington University’s first campus-wide blood drive. The event will be held Tuesday, September 11 at 12 locations and a variety of times to fit your schedule. All students, staff, and faculty are invited to articipate in this exciting effort, where one hour of your time as a blood donor can save up to three lives.

Heart repair may give migraine relief

More than 30 million Americans suffer from debilitating migraine headaches, but a current worldwide clinical trial may have many on the road to relief. Closing a small hole in the heart has already alleviated migraine symptoms for a group of stroke patients, says WUSM physician John Lasala. Now, a clinical trial of hundreds of patients is trying to better gauge the effectiveness of the procedure.

Addiction study to examine interaction of genes and environment

A psychiatric geneticist at the School of Medicine is one of several principal investigators around the country who will participate in the Genes, Environment and Health Initiative (GEI), a unique collaboration between geneticists and environmental scientists. The $48 million initiative is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Laura Jean Bierut, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine, will head the national study of addiction, looking both at genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the problem.

Software enables ‘thoroughly modern milling’

Software developed using a concept discovered at WUSTL may be used to optimize high-speed machining processes, leading to lighter, stronger, and more accurate parts for the aircraft or medical device industry.An engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has helped find a way to “cut the chatter” in high-speed machining of aluminum and titanium aircraft parts. Chatter in milling is an instability that arises because the cutting tool vibrates, making oscillating patterns on the work piece. Now researchers including Philip V. Bayly, Ph.D., Washington University Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering, have developed software that predicts when chatter is going to occur as well as the accuracy of the cut.