Debate regarding the future of coal will touch Washington University’s campus once again this week. Fred Palmer of Peabody Energy and Bruce Nilles from the Sierra Club will face each other in Tuesday’s Great Coal Debate.

Freshmen can take a study break at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Graham Chapel for what may become a new Washington University tradition: Freshman Finale. Following the spirit of Freshman Orientation and Convocation, Freshman Finale will provide closure for students’ first year at the University and prepare them for the upcoming sophomore experience.

Another major might soon bite the dust. Students, faculty and administrators met last Wednesday in a town hall forum to clear up confusion regarding the fragile future of the environmental studies program. With the departure of three professors in the field, the program’s structure is currently under review.

Washington University is giving students at St. Louis public school Patrick Henry Downtown Academy reason to look forward to Mondays. Every week Washington University students visit the school and act as student-teachers.

Nearly 1,000 years ago, the ancient city of Cahokia flourished only 20 minutes away from modern St. Louis in the floodplains of the Mississippi River. Today, the discovery of a copper workshop by a team of researchers led by John Kelly, Washington University archeology professor, and James Brown of Northwestern University will provide insight into the lives of the mysterious Cahokians.

As national fundraisers for Haiti include everything from texting donations to celebrity-sponsored telethons, Washington University’s Engineers Without Borders continues to pursue long-term efforts to tackle poverty in the country.

As sustainability efforts continue to influence campus culture, project uHome U City engages 13 Washington University architecture graduate students in designing five homes for the local Sutter Heights neighborhood.

In light of the economic downturn, family dependence on food stamps has grown significantly in Missouri from August 2008 to 2009. According to a study published by the Brookings Institution and First Focus in December, nearly 150,000 additional people relied on these Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for food purchases.

NASA announced that mission MoonRise, a proposal to send a lander to collect samples from the Moon for analysis, is one of three finalists in the New Frontiers Program. Bradley Jolliff, a Washington University research professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, is the principal investigator of this mission.

The search for the 10th dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science began Friday.
In an e-mail to faculty, Provost Edward Macias, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, encouraged Washington University faculty to submit applications and nominations for the position of dean by Dec. 14, 2009. The selected candidate will succeed current interim Dean Salvatore Sutera in June 2010, when Sutera plans to step down.