Brown School

Studying Child Protective Services’ effectivenessEfforts to improve Child Protective Services (CPS) would be more effective if they were based on evaluations of available data instead of assertions that are not supported by evidence, say two child welfare services experts. “While there is no doubt that the current child welfare system has flaws, we can find little empirical data supporting the scathing critiques of mandated reporting laws and CPS. We now have enough empirical evidence to scientifically evaluate many longstanding criticisms of CPS, and many of those criticisms appear to be without basis in reality,” write Brett Drake, Ph.D., and Melissa Jonson-Reid, Ph.D., in an article titled “A Response to Melton Based on the Best Available Data,” published in the current issue of the international journal Child Abuse & Neglect. More…

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) at Washington University in St. Louis will be shaped and supported by advisory and steering committees comprised of both internal and external leaders, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced.

PakrasiThe International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) at Washington University will operate under the direction of Himadri B. Pakrasi, Ph.D., the George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, and professor of energy in the School of Engineering.

Washington University in St. Louis is creating a new International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) to encourage and coordinate university-wide and external collaborative research in the areas of renewable energy and sustainability — including biofuels, CO2 mitigation and coal-related issues. The university will invest more than $55 million in the initiative, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

Women from Mahabo Village in Madagascar weaving baskets for the Blessing Basket Project.It might seem odd that college students in the middle of the United States could make a difference to a small village in a developing country halfway around the world, but that’s exactly what happened when five students from Washington University in St. Louis went to Madagascar. More…

Urban American Indian community centers help keep traditions alive.Urban American Indian community centers in the United States can look to their neighbors to the north for an example of how to create a strong national voice, says Dana Klar, J.D., founding and interim director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Today, nearly 60 percent of American Indians reside off-reservation, and because of that, the majority of American Indians do not have ready access to the cultural and financial services provided by tribal and federal agencies on the reservations. “We have more recently realized that a national organization can aid the individual centers in advocacy and policy development efforts that affect all urban American Indians,” Klar says. More…

An American Indian Pow Wow, a presentation on American Indian mascots in sports and a traditional food tasting are among the highlights of the University’s American Indian Awareness Week April 9-14.

Robert L.E. Egger, founder and president of the non-profit culinary arts job-training program D.C. Central Kitchen, will speak on “Using Punk Rock and Leftover Food to Change the World” at 4:30 p.m. March 27 in Room 132 of Goldfarb Hall.

An American Indian Pow Wow, a presentation on American Indian mascots in sports, and a traditional food tasting are among the highlights of the University’s American Indian Awareness Week April 9-14. The annual awareness week and Pow Wow allow the University’s American Indian students to share their unique cultures with the rest of the campus and the St. Louis community. All events are free and open to the public.

Robert L. E. Egger, founder and president of DC Central Kitchen, will speak about “Using Punk Rock and Leftover Food to Change the World,” from 4:30- 6 p.m. on March 27 in room 132 of Goldfarb Hall. At DC Central Kitchen, food donated by regional foodservice businesses is used to fuel a nationally recognized culinary arts job-training program, where unemployed men and women learn marketable skills while donations are converted into balanced meals. The lecture is free and open to the public.