Guzik, currently the senior News editor, competed against four other candidates to claim the title of editor in chief. His tenure will begin on April 1 of this year.

As editor in chief, Guzik will be responsible for hiring staff, overseeing the production of the newspaper and making all final editorial decisions.

Guzik has been heavily involved in Student Life since the beginning of his freshman year, rising from staff reporter to assignments editor to senior news editor.

“I was definitely pleasantly surprised. There were a lot of good candidates that were running. It’s a very big job, and I’m looking forward to taking it on. I have very big shoes to fill,” he said.

One of Guzik’s main goals is to create a big push for online coverage and further development of the newspaper’s Web site.

“Going forward, we’re going to be focusing on a combination of increasing our online presence-following the trend of journalism-and focusing on issues that are serious and important to the University in a way that is interesting to members of the community.”

Guzik looked forward to the opportunities in the coming year, including the vice presidential debates at the University and the national presidential election.

“[The elections] are going to be a very big part of campus next year, regardless of whether people are politically involved or not. It’s going to be a big effort of our paper to really try and educate voters. Part of our obligation to the community is not only to tell students about what’s going on but also to help people make informed decisions.”

WUSMI selected Guzik on Friday based upon his application, the Board’s interview and the recommendation of the staff.

While the last sophomore to take on the job of editor in chief was elected five years ago, Erin Fults, the current editor in chief, expressed optimism toward the WUSMI selection of Guzik.

“I am really happy to have Sam take this position. He has always been dependable and a hard worker,” said Fults. “I know he will take the paper to great places and I am proud to leave Student Life in his hands.”

In addition to announcing the editor in chief, the Board also awarded the Gregory M. Freeman Award for Outstanding Achievement in Journalism to senior and executive editor David Brody.

After weeks of debate, the executive members of Ashoka, the undergraduate Indian Students Association, decided to change to a South Asian Students’ Association (SASA). Ashoka decided to change its name after complaints from South Asian minorities, who felt alienated by the idea that Ashoka catered exclusively to Indian students.

“Culture is shared throughout the seven countries that encompass South Asia. We’re not talking about specific nationalities,” said Ashoka co-president, junior Mansi Shah. “So we wanted to open the doors to more people and be more inviting.”

Ashoka executives recounted the story of a Pakistani student who wanted to have a fundraiser for earthquake relief in Pakistan. Although she felt that Ashoka was the closest group to approach culturally, she felt unable to turn to Ashoka due to its status as an ISA.

“We’re also going to listen to the minority’s voice. If a person wants to address an issue, we’re going to be there to help them get resources and bring the general body’s attention to it,” said sophomore Kushal Patel, treasurer for Ashoka.

Executives felt that the trend of Ashoka’s programming was already heading towards a South Asian organization, because of events like South Asian Awareness Week and a Diwali skit about Partition between India and Pakistan.

“The interest is there and I think that by changing the name, they will be more approachable,” said senior Samira Sihabdeen, a Sri Lankan student. “For other South Asian students, the numbers aren’t there, so for us to start a group on our own isn’t feasible.”

“I think that, coming in as a freshman, having the term ISA [Indian Student Association], as opposed to SASA, definitely wasn’t as welcoming. Especially as a freshman, when the groups are based on titles, it might be somewhat of an offset,” said Sihabdeen.

While the debate of ISA versus SASA had come up in years past, Ashoka made new efforts to get input from general body members through online forums, questionnaires and personal interactions with executives.

Some of the members in the forums questioned whether the expansion of the organization would jeopardize the quality of the programming.

“We shouldn’t add any events unless there’s an interest in them. I don’t think they have to have forced programming,” added Sihabdeen.

Others were upset at the idea that Diwali, Ashoka’s big-ticket cultural show, would probably need to change its name, to have less religious connotation than the eponymous Hindu festival of lights.

“It’s not the name that brings people together, it’s the quality of the show,” said Ashoka Co-president, junior Charu Agrawal. “We did a lot of research and a lot of colleges said that it didn’t hurt then publicity-wise to change from an ISA to a SASA.”

Although they faced some opposition from their members, Ashoka executives said that their response was generally positive.

“When I talked to our advisor, Dean Glore, she was really open to the idea, and thought it followed the trend that’s currently happening in our country today. She was very supportive,” said Shah.

The change follows a precedent set three years ago by the Chinese New Year Festival (CNYF) changing its name to the more inclusive Lunar New Year Festival (LNYF). The new LNYF show incorporates aspects of Korean and Japanese New Years.

“The reason we wanted to change to LNYF was because the name CNYF confused a lot of people. They asked, is it only for Chinese people? Or are you only doing Chinese events?” said senior Mike Yang, coordinator for LNYF and former member of Chinese Students’ Association.

“LNYF now includes most of the east Asian countries. It’s a more broad title, because it goes by the lunar calendar and we can include many different cultures.”

Overall, students seemed to embrace the trend of inclusiveness promoted by Ashoka. In the fall, Ashoka plans to include dances and fashion shows from other countries to be representative of more South Asian countries.

“I’m not Indian and most of the groups that claim to be South Asian are actually more Indian, so I felt kind of awkward joining them,” said sophomore Nyda Mukhtar, an international student from Pakistan.

Regarding Ashoka’s affiliation change, Mukhtar agreed that, “It’s nice. I’d be slightly more interested in joining now.”

International Fashion Show
The African Students Association (ASA) and Vietnamese Students Association (VSA) are collaborating to host a multicultural fashion show. The show will start at 7 p.m. and dinner will be served at 8:30 p.m. There will be beautiful clothes, fantastic performances and delicious food. If you would like to help out as a model or if you have any clothes that you would like to be in the show, contact ccukatu@wustl.edu. Watch your classmates strut their stuff from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Graham Chapel; tickets are $5 and will be sold in Wohl and Mallinckrodt.

Pride Alliance BBQ
Join Pride Alliance for some free BBQ during Celebration Weekend! Are you a vegetarian? Not to fear-they will have vegetarian options as well. Other free goods include buttons, magazines and Frisbees. Bowles Plaza, Friday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Holi on the Swamp
What could be more fun than 20,000 water balloons on the Swamp? Join Ashoka for the annual Holi celebration, the Indian festival of spring. The muddy action begins at 4 p.m. and ends at 6 p.m. So bring your friends and some old clothes for good fun.

Saturday, April 21

Children’s Film Symposium
What’s a better cheap date than a film screening of Poland’s “I Am” on a Saturday night? The film, about a young orphan who falls in love with a well-brought-up girl, is part of the third annual Children’s Film Symposium, sponsored by the Film and Media Studies department. The film airs in Brown 100 at 4 p.m., with other films being screened all day long. Warning: brief scenes of female nudity are present.

Asian Night Market
If you’re tired of eating the food served on the 40, come to Gregg walkway between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to sample food from a variety of student groups. There will also be performances outside Ursa’s Fireside ranging from Spirit of Korea hip-hop to Hawaii Luau and the WU Step team. Drop by and join the craziness hosted by Asian American Association.

Sunday April 22

Classical Music Trio
Eliot Trio, consisting of three music faculty members, will perform piano trios of Franz Joseph Haydn, Camille Saint-Sa‰ns and Johannes Brahms in Whitaker Hall auditorium. The music begins at 2:30 p.m. and is free for students. Tickets are $10 for staff and faculty and $15 for the general public.

In stroke patients, neglect can be defined as the inability to respond to a stimulus on the opposite side of a brain lesion, usually in the right hemisphere. There are several types of neglect, including spatial neglect, where a person does not detect stimulus on one half of the visual field, and motor neglect, where there is a delay in physically reacting to the stimulus.

To differentiate between the two types of neglect, researchers created an experiment in which stroke patients were shown two targets, one in each half of the visual field, and asked to respond to this stimulus. If the subjects simply had a delayed recognition time, this would indicate a spatial neglect, whereas recognizing that a stimulus was present but taking a long time to press the button would indicate motor neglect.

“It is not yet known if neglect is one syndrome or a family of syndromes. It was never actually done systematically-breaking up the syndrome into specific types,” said Ayelet Sapir, a post-doctoral researcher in neurology.

Motor neglect can be a serious problem for stroke patients in day-to-day activities. For instance, driving with neglect can be difficult because there are no outward indicators of problems, but reaction time is compromised.

The potential link between motor neglect and Parkinson’s disease was found through the analysis of MRI scans of stroke victims with motor neglect, isolating which areas suffered from similar damage.

The answer was clear: all right hemisphere stroke victims with motor deficit showed damage in the putamen, a subcortical region of the brain.

“Those patients who didn’t have a motor deficit didn’t have lesions. That’s as strong as it gets. That means the putamen must be involved,” said Sapir.

Coincidentally, Parkinson’s disease had been linked to problems with the putamen as well.

While the putamen is not actually damaged in Parkinson’s patients, it is responsible for receiving dopamine signals from the substantia nigra, a region significantly destroyed in Parkinson’s disease. This lack of dopamine signaling creates problems with muscle contractions, leading to decreased reaction time, just like in motor neglect.

“It may be interesting to try treating stroke patients with dopamine. This has been tried in the past and the results were kind of mixed, because probably only some patients will benefit from it and some patients will not,” said Sapir. “It may be more complicated than just [giving] dopamine to stroke patients.”

Sapir explained that the ultimate goal of her research would be to get a clinical trial and start treating patients. Before this, however, Sapir wants to identify more types of neglect and if we can isolate a brain region with them. For example, object-based neglect and spatial neglect are still not pinpointed to a certain region of the brain.

“Now that we found the region, it is possible to treat them not only with dopamine but other treatments. For instance, something that is also done in Parkinson’s is deep brain stimulation to reduce imbalance.”

Sapir is the lead author of this research project, whose findings are published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Undergraduate Julie Kaplan, a junior, also participated in the collection and analysis of the stroke data.

“I really liked working directly with the patients. Giving the behavioral tests was pretty interesting,” said Kaplan, a philosophy-neuroscience-psychology major. “It was a great experience just to be in a lab environment and [to be able to participate] in all parts, from the computational analysis to the behavioral tasks.”

Alternative rock band OK Go will take the stage as W.I.L.D. headliner this spring, joined by ska-punk band Reel Big Fish and Cut Chemist, a hip hop-style opener. The announcement came during last night’s Ben Kweller performance at the Gargoyle and was met with mixed reactions.

OK Go is best known for the music video “Here It Goes Again,” which featured them dancing in time on treadmills. The group, consisting of four members, won a 2007 Grammy award for “Best Short Form Music Video” and is known for their distinctive “geek” rock look.

Cut Chemist, a solo turntablist, was a former member of Latin-funk band Ozomatli and underground rap group Jurassic 5. His song “The Audience is Listening Theme Song” has recently been featured in an Apple iPod commercial.

“[Cut Chemist] doesn’t have a lot of name recognition, but he’s a legitimate artist. Last night when we were putting the names on the underpass, people were excited. It’s not straight hip hop – it’s different than what we’ve done recently,” said Hovey.

Hovey explained the difficulties Team 31 faced in getting the band lineup to match students’ requests.

“When we only have one day to pick from and a limited budget, the odds of us getting the first and second choices are pretty slim. The reason we didn’t get Lupe Fiasco, our first choice, is because they are playing Coachella which is a decently large music festival.”

After the announcement of Reel Big Fish as one of the acts in spring W.I.L.D., a Facebook group was created in protest named “Say NO to W.I.L.D.,” which had 138 members as of Thursday.

“It demonstrated that there are people on this campus that were really looking forward to hip hop. There are always going to be some people complaining,” said Hovey. “The reaction was a little bit more intense than in the past. I think 95 percent of people that show up will have a good time.”

In response to some criticism that Team 31 did not give ample opportunity for students to provide input, Hovey said that they were working in conjunction with the Office of Student Activities and the Social Programming Board to come up with an e-mail survey to better understand the student vibe.

“We have a band request link on our website that goes straight to our e-mail. All the bands that we looked at, both the ones that didn’t make it and the ones that are here now were requested by someone,” said Hovey. “Funnily enough, they were all rock bands.”

Senior Sarah Duve was enthusiastic about hearing Cut Chemist, even though the other acts tended more towards rock. “I’ve never been a fan of the rap W.I.L.D.s.” said Duve. “I feel like [the rappers] spend most of their time talking and dissing other rappers, so I’m satisfied with the movement towards more rock.”

“I’m a big fan of OK Go. I’ve seen them live before; they put on a really great show. I think it will be a good time,” said senior Eliana Tselepidakis.

Others hoped that W.I.L.D. followed the more traditional format of previous years. “I wish that they would mix it up. I liked the fact that they used to do half R&B and half rock,” said junior Beryl Ojwang.

Hovey encouraged students to become involved with Team 31 productions by joining their “roadies” crew, which helps with the setup of the shows in return for perks such as meeting the band and receiving free t-shirts. According to Hovey, becoming a “roadie” is a stepping-stone for getting onto the executive board for Team 31.

“I would consider all three of them to be a pretty big deal to get for a concert. We were very lucky to pull together a show within our budget, without overspending. All three of these acts are known for having a lot of energy,” said Hovey.

For more information on the bands or how to get involved with W.I.L.D., visit team31.wustl.edu.

Ska-punk band Reel Big Fish will get reacquainted with Washington University when they play this Spring’s W.I.L.D. concert, nearly a decade after performing in the Gargoyle.

Their booking agency, The Agency Group, confirmed that the band would take the stage at the University on April 27, 2007.

“I want to make it clear that Reel Big Fish is not the main headliner. I don’t know if we’re having them as co-headliners, or as the main opener, but they will be the second band of the three slots,” said sophomore Randy Lubin, co-chair of Team 31.

“We could either get one pretty big band, which would cost between $50,000 to $55,000, or we could go for two bands that were slightly smaller than that. We hope that with two different big groups, it will have the chance of appealing to a larger crowd.”

Lubin explained the selection process for choosing Reel Big Fish, which came up as a suggestion several times through Team 31′s online request form. “Team 31 really wants to appease the needs of the students. We strive to have a balance of rap and rock. I think that was evident in the Guster concert with Rahzel opening for them.”

“For the spring, people wanted a concert with more energy, so going into this concert, we looked really hard in trying to meet that. We looked at rapper Jibbs before the offer fell through.”

Other bands that Team 31 considered for the spring concert include rap groups Lupe Fiasco and Gym Class Heroes, both of whom were considered before Reel Big Fish. Team 31 is still working on confirming a hip-hop opener for the spring concert.

“We had a couple of problems with trying to get rap on campus. One of them is that a good rap act costs a lot more than a rock act of the same popularity and it would take up a much more significant proportion of our budget,” said Lubin. “Another problem is not only does the date have to work out, but [the band] has to have enough incentive to route their tours through St. Louis.”

Reel Big Fish has released seven albums, starting with “Turn the Radio Off” in 1996. They gained mainstream popularity in 1997, with their hit “Sell Out.” Their most recent release, “Our Live Album is Better Than Your Live Album,” is a double live CD and DVD set. Reel Big Fish currently includes six band members, ranging from a pianist to a trombonist.

The Gargoyle’s previous booking of Reel Big Fish drew a crowd of over 900 students, which ended the Gargoyle’s relaxed alcohol policy. The Battle of the Bands this past Thursday marked the first event where the Gargoyle served alcohol since the performance by Reel Big Fish.

Junior Sharad Wadhwani was enthusiastic about the spring WILD performance. “I think it’s great. They’re a good live band and have good music.”

Senior Alexa Nathanson, president of the Gargoyle Committee, agreed. “I’ve seen them play before around two years ago. They were really good live – really energetic. They sold out the venue where they played in New York City. I think they’ll be a really good show.”

Not everyone was equally excited about the ska band’s arrival for spring W.I.L.D., however. Several students said they preferred the tradition of having one rap W.I.L.D. and one alternative rock W.I.L.D.

“I prefer hip hop bands like Lil Jon. They’re much more W.I.L.D.,” said sophomore Ryan Cotter. “They should at least mix it up instead of having three low-key bands in a row.”

Lubin defended Team 31′s decision to bring in two rock bands in a row to headline WILD. “The supposed tradition of rap one semester and rock one semester is not that big of a tradition. It’s only happened in the past few years. If you look historically, it hasn’t been that big of a trend.”

The rest of the spring 2007 lineup will be announced during the Ben Kweller concert in the Gargoyle on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

In 2005, Glenn Stone, professor of anthropology and environmental sciences, and his daughter Abby Stone helped start the Kalleda Photo Project, in which rural Indian teens aged 13-15 were given digital cameras and shown techniques to create their own photo blogs.

The following year, senior Emily Hawkins, an anthropology major and Stone’s research assistant, helped continue the Kalleda Photo Project. “I taught a small course on composition but more importantly, I wanted to show them how to create art.”

“We’ve got a ‘greatest hits’ blog, where we go and pick the very best of the pictures. There’s more texture, more ethnographic content-they photograph palm-wine collectors and capture daily life,” said Stone.

“The first cohort of photo-bloggers is graduating from secondary school and going to the junior college. Because of these kids and their photography, there will be more money going towards their education.”

Recently, the BBC featured an article on the Kalleda Photo Project, which was, at one point, the most e-mailed story of the entire Web site.

“24 hours after the story appeared on [the BBC] website, it was read by over 135,000 people. When you compare it to the kids themselves, it’s quite remarkable. Suddenly they’re on the BBC with over 100,000 people looking at their art-it’s really huge.”

“Just seeing the expressions on their faces and how excited and happy they were was gratifying. I saw this change in the level of their English skills . and it made me realize that we were finally understanding each other,” said Hawkins.

This summer, the Department of Anthropology will be starting a new six-week study abroad in Andhra Pradesh, India. Dubbed the “Village India” program, students will be able to earn up to five academic credits during the program while participating in anthropology research and teaching English at Pai Junior College, an 11th -12th English-medium school.

“I had been going to Kalleda for a number of years, and I have been very impressed by the school there and the foundation that ran it. I thought it would be potentially a wonderful place to bring Wash. U. students, except for the language barrier.”

Stone noted that Kalleda schools had difficulty finding English teachers to live in the rural villages. Both Pai Junior College, which is slated to open in June 2007, and Kalleda rural school are run by the Rural Development Fund, a non-government organization based in Andhra’s capital city of Hyderabad.

“I started talking with the people in this foundation about how we could bring Wash. U. students over there. The people in Kalleda were extremely interested in it, because not only does it provide English teachers, but it also opens up the world for these kids.

University students will participate in two studies, one on Stone’s current research in biotechnology and the other on the effects of education on fertility and reproductive decision-making.

Stone first became interested in the Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh, where Kalleda is located, after the suicide epidemic among farmers in 1998. He subsequently spent several years studying the impact of genetically modified crops, such as cotton, on these farmers.

“Both the industry and the green activists claimed the suicides supported their side in the debate, but neither actually knew what would happen. How would the farmers understand the new technology? Would it produce new dependencies?”

Stone attributed the success of the Village India program to James McLeod, Dean of Arts and Sciences. “He is incredibly supportive of innovative programs. He could easily have said this causes a hundred problems and headaches for us, but he’s been very enthusiastic.”

In addition to receiving subsidies from Arts & Sciences, the program has also received contributions from private donors to help offset the costs to students.

Interviews were conducted earlier this week to find 6-8 students to participate in this summer’s study abroad program. Among the students selected were two Danforth scholars, a student representative to the Board of Trustees and a student that specializes in rural entrepreneurship.

“I was excited about the chance for Wash. U. students to have such an unusual overseas experience. This is not a dorm in a foreign university-it is living in a village. This is the real thing,” said Stone. “It’s not the sort of program I would even consider starting in a university that didn’t have the sort of talented and adventuresome students we have here. And judging by the students who have applied for it, it’s going to be a great program.”

Junior Venu Reddy, a biomedical engineer, became interested in the program because he wants to start a clinic in Andhra once day.

“My father grew up in a village and most of [the people] are very disadvantaged, and I just want to go back and help out in any way I can. You feel like these people supported you to get you where you are,” said Reddy, whose family has roots in Andhra.

Sophomore Kelley Greenman, who is also participating in the program, said that her involvement stemmed from her interests in environmental issues, such as depletion of ground water in India.

“Mostly I’m looking forward to the teaching and getting involved with the local kids, and seeing what their world is like, and how it differs from ours.”

For the third annual Sex Issue, 250 graduate and undergraduate students were randomly surveyed at major meeting places around campus about their sexual choices. We found that approximately 41 percent of students are virgins, which is similar to last year’s report that 43 percent of surveyed students were virgins. While we see that the majority of sexually active students use protection, there are still one third of those students that do not use protection regularly. Of the students surveyed, there was an even number of males and females represented, with transgender people comprising .4 percent of those surveyed.

SEX ISSUE: 2007 Student Life Sex Survey continued

12:45 a.m. LOST ARTICLE – POSSIBLY STOLEN – URSA’S – Student reported leaving her purse at Ursa’s Saturday night, and did not discover it missing until Sunday. All campus lost & found resources checked, all negative. Disposition: Pending.

Wednesday, Jan. 31

4:54 p.m. LOST ARTICLE – POSSIBLY STOLEN – ATHLETIC COMPLEX – Student reported he had his keys laying on his gym bag while he was playing basketball on Sunday Jan. 28 between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Keys were missing when the student returned. Disposition: Pending.

10:06 p.m. LOST ARTICLE – POSSIBLY STOLEN – MALLINCKRODT CENTER – Student reported her wallet missing and stated she last saw it while at the Hilltop bakery at 1:30 p.m. She noticed it missing while in Lopata after class at 3 p.m. Student reported no activity on her credit cards. Disposition: Pending.

Thursday, Feb. 1

2:53 p.m. PARKING VIOLATION – MILLBROOK GARAGE – Transportation located a vehicle displaying a fraudulent parking permit in Millbrook Garage. Vehicle was towed to Hartmans. Disposition: Cleared.

Friday, Feb. 2

4:14 p.m. LEAVING THE SCENE VEHICLE ACCIDENT – PARKING LOT #3 – Staff member reported unknown vehicle had struck his vehicle and left the scene while it was parked on lot #3. Time of occurrence between 8:45 a.m. and 4:10 p.m. Unknown damage amount at this time. Disposition: Pending.

Saturday, Feb. 3

12:15 a.m. FALSE FIRE ALARM – FRAT #4 – Pull station activated for unknown reason. No witnesses. Disposition: Pending.

Sunday, Feb. 4

9:47 a.m. LOST ARTICLE-POSSIBLY STOLEN – MILLBROOK APARTMENTS – Complainant reported that on Feb. 3 between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. he was unable to locate his wallet. Disposition: Pending.

Monday, Feb. 5

3:18 p.m. LEAVING THE SCENE VEHICLE ACCIDENT – PARKING LOT #26 – Complainant reported damaged that occurred to her vehicle between 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 4 and 2:40 p.m. on Feb. 5 by unknown vehicle. Disposition: Pending.

Of the 2,500 students that took the January MCAT, 800 found an error in the verbal section, where a passage was mistakenly matched with unrelated questions. While the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) has offered a full refund of the $210 registration fee and a chance to void the scores, they are confident that they can accurately score the exams without the erroneous passage.

According to the AAMC Web site, approximately four percent of examinees voided the exam at the test center itself. However, the administrators assured students that publishing errors occur “very infrequently” and that future problems of this nature should not recur.

“It’s really important, even though AAMC is going to contact the affected students, that they should still call AAMC just to make sure they were on their lists,” said Matt Fidler, MCAT program manager for Kaplan Test Prep.

Some of the other changes to the new MCAT include reducing the testing time from 8 hours to 5.5 hours and reducing the number of questions asked by one-third.

While there are still two essays to complete in one hour, the grading will be performed by one human grader as well as one computer grader. The computer will do basic spelling and grammar checks and is based on an algorithm to see if the essay prompt has been satisfactorily answered.

“Of the folks who took both the August pencil and paper exam and the January exam, 59 percent said that the new format was easier than the old format. There are lots of ancillary benefits because it’s 3 hours shorter, and there is a 30-day score turnaround time, which affects how late students can test and still make the admissions deadlines,” said Fidler.

Jonathan Dworak, an MCAT verbal instructor for the Princeton Review, said that most of the students had favorable reports of the January exam, although a few minor issues still remained.

“Apparently, the AAMC said that certain organic chemistry topics, like esters, would not be tested, but some test-takers received those topics anyway.

“Another complaint was that all of the practice tests that the AAMC made available had a search feature in the verbal passages, and apparently the real test didn’t have that,” added Dworak.

All computerized MCAT exams are proctored through the Thomson-Prometric company, which has five testing sites in Missouri, two of which are located in the St. Louis area.

“[The AAMC] hasn’t planned very well for the number of students who were taking it. All the April sites are already taken up. There’s no testing site in Columbia, Missouri, so all those people have to go to Kansas City or St. Louis,” said Dworak.

Junior Emily Torell, who registered for the April MCAT, was frustrated that she was not able to find a testing center in Missouri.

“I had to register in a small town called Carterville, Illinois, which is two hours away. I was really upset because I signed up the first week I got back in January and all the testing sites were full.”

“There are ups and downs to taking the computerized version. The essay will definitely be much easier online. But the fact that there are fewer questions makes me nervous because there’s less chance for error,” added Torell.

“According to our survey, 80 percent of people found a test site within 30 miles of their house. It shows how important it is to register as early as they can. Before, it was okay to register a month in advance, but these new test sites only hold about 20 people or so,” said Fidler.

Junior Lucy Chen, member of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the University’s pre-health honor society, was optimistic about the new challenges computer testing provided.

“It’s a new skill you have to learn because you’re so used to taking paper and pencil on standardized tests up until now. With practice, I think people will be fine,” said Chen. “A lot of people are going back home and taking the test. [The AAMC] might add in more mobile testing sites later, but they’re waiting to see.”

According to Fidler, the MCAT’s decision to move to computers is “where the industry is headed.” Fidler noted that all other graduate standardized exams except the LSAT have already switched to computer-based testing.

Neither Washington University nor the University of Missouri-Columbia currently accepts the January 2007 MCAT test scores for the 2006-2007 admissions process. Registration for the upcoming June and July testing dates opens on Feb. 14. More information about the MCAT can be found at www.aamc.org.