Technology Review
What happens when you breathe in nanoparticles
11/16/2010
Scientists have tracked the flow of nanoparticles from the lungs to the bloodstream for the first time. The work could enable the development of new drugs and show how pollution can cause respiratory problems. Scientists are manipulating nanoparticles to find better ways to carry them through the body. “There’s a learning curve that all of us are going through,” says Steven Brody, associate professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. “When we start designing nanoparticles as drug-delivery vehicles, we need to start understanding what the rules are. This starts to give us some rules.” Link to Article
Nature News
Study says middle-sized labs do best
11/16/2010
Jeremy Berg, who heads the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, has analyzed the scientific productivity of nearly 3,000 researchers funded by his institute. Raphael Kopan, a developmental biologist and NIGMS grantee at Washington University in St Louis, says Berg should be applauded for trying to analyse what his institute gets for its investment. But without segregating the data — comparing, for instance, investigator-initiated grants with projects instigated by the NIGMS, or intramural with extramural investigators — “it may lead to the wrong conclusion — that scientists do best if their funds are limited and their labs are small. I don’t think this is necessarily correct,” says Kopan. Link to Article
The Point News
Feminism, poetry and sex fuse at lecture
11/16/2010
Barbara Baumgartner, in her presentation on Victorian-era popular medical texts at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, combined her background as both a nurse in neurology and as associate director in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis into a unique, “historical-medical” approach to seeing the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Link to Article
St. Louis Beacon
Should school-sponsored health plans be exempt from health-care reform?
11/16/2010
Washington University is one of the top colleges in the country, so it’s no surprise that its student health insurance plan, compared to those on other campuses, is better than average. Every full-time student at the university’s Danforth Campus is automatically enrolled in the school’s student health insurance plan, an annual policy that costs $575 and pays for 80 percent of covered medical expenses at the campus health center. WUSTL’s student health benefits compare well with other universities, but good may not be good enough when it comes to meeting mandates set forth in the new health-care law passed by Congress. Link to Article
Sauce Magazine blog
The Scoop: Jon Parker to open Delmar Farm and Food in spring 2011
11/16/2010
Delmar Farm and Food is among the businesses planning to open in a renovated retail complex planned for a site across from the Delmar Metro at 6045 Delmar Boulevard in the space formerly occupied by Dobbs Tire and AutoService. The concept encompasses a farmers’ market as well as a grocery and a restaurant. Slated to open in May 2011, the market will have space for 60 vendors. The property is owned by Quadrangle Management Company, a real estate title holding company of Washington University. Link to Article
News-Leader.com
Number of international students in Missouri grows by 18 percent
11/16/2010
The number of international students studying in Missouri grew by more than 18 percent, to 13,360 for the 2009-10 academic year, according to a recent report issued by the Institute of International Education. The top destinations for international students in Missouri are the University of Missouri-Columbia, Washington University, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Missouri State University and Missouri University of Science and Technology. The top sending countries are China (26.8 percent), India (15.3 percent), South Korea (8.4 percent), Saudi Arabia (4 percent) and Taiwan (3.4 percent). Link to Article
ED.gov blog
Financial education and savings
11/16/2010
Education Secretary Duncan visited a San Francisco high school yesterday and talked about the lack of financial literacy in this country as a barrier to college access and success. He told the audience about research showing that even low- and moderate-income families can and do save if given access to appropriate accounts and the right incentives, and highlighted work done by Washington University in St. Louis that demonstrates students with a savings account are up to seven times more likely to enter college. Link to Article
KTVI-TV (St. Louis MO)
Fox 2 News (St. Louis) Bariatric surgery offers option for adolescents with weight problems
Segment explores experiences of a teenager who underwent surgery aimed at addressing serious obesity-related health concerns. Her surgery, which some consider controversial for teenagers, was performed by the new adolescent bariatric program ran by the Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital with help from Children’s Hospital. Doctors used a reversible technique to make her stomach the size of a golf ball instead of a football. Link to Broadcast Related news release http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21457.aspx
St. Louis Business Journal
St. Louis loses booster in Sigma-Aldrich’s Nagarkatti
11/16/2010
Jai Nagarkatti, the CEO and Chairman of St. Louis based chemical company Sigma-Aldrich who died this week at age 63, is remembered as an ardent booster for the St. Louis research community. He was a trustee at Washington University and served on the boards of the Saint Louis Science Center and Missouri Botanical Garden. “Jai was a good friend and my thoughts are with his family during this difficult time,” Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton said. “He was an outstanding contributor to the Washington University board of trustees and a very successful leader of a major international business headquartered in St. Louis. He will be deeply missed.” Link to Article
St. Louis Business Journal
Washington University taps S.M. Wilson for $8M Cupples project
11/16/2010
Washington University in St. Louis has hired S.M. Wilson & Co. to renovate its 100-year-old Cupples II Hall on the school’s Danforth Campus. The $7.9 million project will convert the 41,000-square-foot building, which now houses the School of Engineering & Applied Science, into the new home of the College of Arts & Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Office of Undergraduate Research. Link to Article
STLtoday.com
Nicklaus: How about building a bigger job base?
11/16/2010
If we want to invest taxpayers’ money in ways that create jobs, the best place to look would be at homegrown, high-tech companies. Researchers at Washington University, the Danforth Plant Science Center and other institutions generate a lot of good ideas, and some of their companies are being nurtured at local business incubators. If they can’t find enough money to support them, these companies will either wither or move elsewhere. Link to Article
News in higher education
New York Times
Education: How clickers work
11/16/2010
At Northwestern University and on hundreds of other campuses, professors are arming students with hand-held clickers that look like a TV remote cross-bred with a calculator. Link to Article See also New York Times / More colleges are using hand-held devices as classroom aids
New York Times
Questionable science behind academic rankings
11/15/2010
A recent revelation that the works of one scholar put a little-known university into a top league table is embarrassing for the business of academic ratings. Link to Article See also New York Times / French university rankings draw praise and criticism
New York Times
U.S.: China surges past India as top home of foreign students
11/15/2010
The number of students from China who are studying in the US went up 30 percent in the 2009-2010 academic year, a sign of China’s booming economy. Link to Article
Forbes
US: Money fuels environmentalist boom on campuses
11/14/2010
Forbes has published its annual list of America’s Greenest Colleges and Universities, and if they’re any indication, environmentalism is booming on campuses nationwide. The rankings are based on the College Sustainability Report Card, which grades more than 300 institutions on a range of green efforts, including student involvement, transportation and green building policies, investment priorities, food and recycling programs, and the administration’s overall approach to sustainability. Link to Article
For additional higher education news (subscription may be required):
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Inside Higher Ed
University Business
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