News highlights for March 4, 2011

Reuters

Recurrent muscle injuries plague pro soccer players: study

03/04/2011

About a third of injuries that knock professional soccer players off the field are muscle-related — many of them recurrent injuries that might have been avoided with adequate recovery, a Swedish study said. These injuries usually came from a player running or kicking, and not from when they hit another player, said Robert Brophy, assistant professor of sports medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, who did not take part in the study. “Contact’s going to happen,” said Brophy. Link to Article

Business Week

Innovator: Michael Lefenfeld’s offbeat power play

03/04/2011

Michael Lefenfeld, a 2002 Washington University chemical engineering graduate, has designed a safe, cheap compound to power fuel cells. Lefenfeld’s Manhattan-based company, SiGNa Chemistry, is now selling alkalis to chemical companies that use them in oil refining, drug development and more. Starting later this year it will be used in electric bikes and phone chargers. Lefenfeld received the WUSTL School of Engineering young alumni award in 2008. Link to Article

EHS Today

Efforts to curtail public sector workers collective bargaining rights impacts all workers

03/04/2011

A number of states have taken legislative steps toward rolling back public-sector bargaining rights. It is telling that these actions are now being taken in traditional Midwestern union strongholds such as Indiana and Ohio that have suffered the most in the de-industrialization process, said Marion Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis.
 Link to Article See also Los Angeles Times.
 


Related news release http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21954.aspx

North by Northwestern

Northwestern University strives to recruit the most diverse class yet

03/03/2011

When Tyris Jones was a high school senior, he narrowed his college prospects down to Washington University in St. Louis and Northwestern. He attended a diversity weekend at Wash. U., where African-American students welcomed him. Northwestern did not have a comparable event, but Jones spent time at Northwestern’s Black House. All factors considered, Jones optimistically chose Northwestern, where minority application numbers are up 12.6 percent, a rate that surpasses those of both Wash. U. in St. Louis and the University of Chicago. Link to Article

YubaNet

Tragedy of BLM mustang roundup continues as mares begin to abort foals

03/04/2011

Last year’s winter roundup of wild horses in the Calico Mountains Complex in northwestern Nevada caused more than 40 mares to miscarry their late-term foals. Dr. Bruce Nock, a tenured faculty member at Washington University Medical School and an expert in the physiological effects of stress, has stated that such miscarriages are a direct result of the trauma of the roundup. “Expending resources to sustain and maintain a fetus. . . just isn’t physio–logical if it seems like you are about to die,” he wrote last year in a report for AWHPC. Link to Article

Chronicle Online

Smaller house size intended to create strong communities

03/03/2011

Duke University plans to open smaller-sized student housing options by Fall 2012. Intended to foster community and encourage interaction, similar housing is already offered to undergraduates at schools such as Harvard University, Yale University and Washington University in St. Louis. Mary Elliot, associate director of residential life at Washington University in St. Louis — which implemented a residential college system in 1998 — said the system’s contribution to the campus community and student experience is remarkable. Link to Article

St. Louis Beacon

Opinion: Egypt and the world after Mubarak
03/02/11

“The momentous events surrounding President Mubarak’s resignation raise three vital questions,” suggests Ewan Harrison, a lecturer in political science and assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington University. “First, what are the prospects for stable democratic transition in Egypt? Second, what are the implications for Arab-Israeli relations and American’s role in the region? And third, what are the consequences if a viable democracy does emerge from the old regime?” Harrison also teaches classes on international relations for the Masters in International Affairs Program in University College. Link to Article

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Obesity study asks subjects to pack it on

03/04/2011

Imagine packing on the pounds by eating burgers, fries, pizza and milk shakes, all in the name of science. Think “Super Size Me,” — the 2004 movie where a filmmaker ate only McDonald’s food for a month. A new study at Washington University is expanding the movie’s premise with a study requiring participants to increase their weight by 5 percent by eating fast food for more than four months. “We’re using fast food because we know the calorie content and the calories are easier to keep under control,” said chief researcher Dr. Samuel Klein. Link to Article

Daily RFT

Wash. U lady Bears prepare to defend national title

03/04/2011

This weekend is a big one for college hoops. Arch Madness1 comes to town. The suddenly hot Saint Louis University team will attempt to win its fifth in a row. And perhaps most importantly, the Washington University Lady Bears will take their first step toward defending their national-championship throne. 
Link to Article

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Cigar lover files suit against Clayton’s ban on smoking in parks

03/04/2011

Arthur Gallagher used to enjoy smoking a cigar in Concordia Park near his home in Clayton, Mo., at least until Jan. 1, when Clayton’s ban on smoking in parks went into effect. On Thursday, while puffing on a cigar near downtown Clayton, Gallagher announced he had filed a suit challenging Clayton’s ordinance. The suit argues that the ban denies Gallagher his constitutional rights. Gallagher’s lawyers are W. Bevis Schock and Hugh A. Eastwood, assisted by Washington University law graduate Russell Anhalt. Link to Article

News in Higher Education

New York Times

Harvard says it will allow the ROTC to return
03/03/2011

Nearly 40 years after Harvard expelled the ROTC from its campus, university officials announced Thursday that they would officially recognize the Naval ROTC. Harvard banned the ROTC amid anti-Vietnam War sentiment and more recently, the program drew criticism on campuses because of don’t ask don’t tell. Now, two months after President Obama signed a repeal of the don’t ask, don’t tell policy, some colleges are inviting ROTC back. Link to Article

New York Times | The Choice

Would you consider “buying down?”
03/02/2011

In an audio podcast and article, The Chronicle of Higher Education explores whether more of this year’s college applicants are “buying down” — which the publication defines as “settling for second best or second choice, if the price is more appealing.” Link to Article

Campus Technology

Universities adopt Facebook alumni engagement app
03/03/11

A Massachusetts startup has launched an application to help institutions boost engagement with alumni. U For Life has a Facebook application that lets schools digitize and distribute “current and nostalgic content,” including yearbooks, alumni magazines, sports guides and newsletters. Tulane University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute are customers. Link to Article

KOLR10/KSFX TV (Springfield, MO)

Security breach unsettling for thousands of MSU students
03/03/2011

More than 6,000 Missouri State University students had their social security numbers compromised when lists meant to be posted on a secure server ended up accessible through Google. The exposed documents include information about students from nine semesters between 2005 and 2009. Link to Article

For additional higher education news (subscription may be required):
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Inside Higher Ed
University Business