Legacies might even be the deciding factor in an increasingly competitive college admissions world.

The study conducted by Michael Hurwitz, a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, reported that applicants with a family member who attended a highly selective college are twice as likely to be admitted as their equally qualified non-legacy counterparts.

For what Hurwitz terms “primary legacy candidates”—applicants with at least one parent who attended the college as an undergraduate—the probability of admission is seven times as likely as non-legacy applicants.

Hurwitz cannot disclose whether Washington University was one of the 30 highly selective institutions that provided him with data. But according to the Office of Undergraduate admissions, the legacy trend is observable at Washington University.

“For as long as I can remember, the Admissions Office has tried to continue family relationships whenever possible,” said Julie Shimabukuro, director of undergraduate admissions. “In the fall 2010 freshman class, approximately 5 percent of admitted students had one or more parent graduate from the University.”

According to Shimabukuro, applicants who have at least one Wash. U. graduate as a parent are admitted to the University at a higher rate than others. For example, last fall, the difference in probability of admission between non-legacy and legacy applicants was approximately 21 to 38 percent.

But according to Shimabukuro, this discrepancy may be due to the difference in admission rates between early decision and regular decision admission rounds. Nearly half of enrolling legacies were admitted in the early decision round.

“Because our admit rate in the early decision round is usually higher than in the regular round for all applicants, not just legacies, one would expect to see a higher admit rate overall [for legacy applicants],” Shimabukuro said.

Junior Anna-Marie Muchen thinks the “legacy factor” is fine.

“When it comes to two equally qualified applicants, colleges need to use something to decide between them,” Muchen said. “Even though legacies may have a higher chance of getting in, colleges are still going to admit those that they feel are a fit for the school.”

According to Hurwitz, the admittance rate for legacy students at the schools he sampled does not greatly decrease other students’ odds of acceptance. This is due in part to the large applicant pool at the sampled schools.

“My sense is that the percentage [of legacy advantage over non-legacy] has been dropping over the years, as the applications have risen,” Shimabukuro said. “As you can imagine, it has been difficult to admit all of the students who would like to attend Washington University, even those who have a family relationship.”

According to a recent analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project, college graduates who received a bachelor’s degree in 2008 borrowed, on average, 50 percent more than their counterparts who graduated in 1996. These figures were adjusted for inflation.

The numbers come as no surprise to students.

“With college tuition on the rise, it is not too surprising that more students are taking out loans,” said junior Anna-Marie Muchen. “A lot of college kids end up being in debt after graduating. It’s kind of depressing to realize how much getting a bachelor’s degree is going to end up costing our generation.”

The analysis concluded that more college students are attending private for-profit schools, and this, in turn, has resulted in an increased number of students taking out larger loans. Specifically, in 2008 alone, 60 percent of all college graduates across the nation had borrowed, compared with 52 percent in 1996. Of this 60 percent, the average loan for bachelor’s degree recipients was more than $23,000, compared with slightly more than $17,000 in 1996.

Nevertheless, a similar trend might not be present at Washington University, which is considered a private not-for-profit school.

“It’s difficult to know how many Wash. U. students take out loans because some students take out loans without our knowledge,” said Bill Witbrodt, director of Student Financial Services. “However, if we were able to have an accurate count, I’m sure we would see a decrease in the loan numbers.”

According to Witbrodt, the University has adopted the policy of awarding financial aid without loans to students whose family annual incomes are less than $60,000. In addition, Student Financial Services makes an extra effort to minimize the size and quantity of loans students take out using other available sources of funding in lieu of student loans.

The national analysis found that 24 percent of 2008 bachelor’s degree graduates at for-profit schools borrowed more than $40,000, compared to only 5 percent of graduates at public institutions and 14 percent at not-for-profit schools.

The undergraduate tuition at Washington University for the 2010-2011 academic year is $39,400, which is $1,600 or 4.2 percent more than the 2009-2010 tuition of $37,800. This tuition is expected to rise again for the 2011-2012 academic year.

About 60 percent of all Washington University undergraduates receive some form of financial assistance.

“We try to discourage students from borrowing,” Witbrodt said. “Student Financial Services counselors work with students to help them develop financial plans or budgets to monitor their spending to avoid the necessity to borrow more loan funds than are required.”

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Students board the Campus2Home shuttle late Tuesday night. Operating hours of the service have been expanded to 6 p.m.—4 p.m.

Starting Monday, the shuttle began nightly service at 6 p.m. and made its last trip at 4 a.m. Prior to the change, the hours were 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

The Campus2Home vans provide a safe ride home from the Danforth Campus for those who live in four off-campus areas: Skinker-DeBaliviere, Loop South, north of the Loop and south of campus.

“We determined that we would try the earlier hour, especially during daylight savings time to account for the fact that it’s getting darker earlier,” said Nick Stoff, director of Parking and Transportation Services. “In part, the later hours were to assist with grad students who, as we all know, do not always have prime time for research and their work on campus, which typically happens later in the evening.”

The decision was made by a committee created to evaluate the program. This committee consists of Stoff, Associate Vice Chancellor for Operations Steve Hoffner, Police Chief Don Strom, faculty, staff and undergraduate and graduate students.

According to Stoff, these new hours are temporary, and the committee will re-evaluate the program over spring break. The expansion of the shuttle service hours should not make the program more expensive because summertime and holiday schedule adjustments will compensate for the added hours of operation.

“I think it will be more convenient,” junior Hillary Black said. “I definitely do think that [the shuttle] is very good since I am on campus until very late almost every night and use the shuttle mostly after midnight or 1 a.m.”

In October, approximately six to seven people used the Campus2Home shuttle each hour after 1 a.m.

“We’re not sure what the usage will be, [but] there were certainly some requests for it,” Stoff said. “It fluctuates depending on what time of the year and how close we are to finals. We will continue to monitor the ridership.”

The shuttle leaves from Mallinckrodt Center every 30 minutes and makes a stop at the Brookings Drive steps. Campus2Home takes passengers the front doors of their buildings, and the shuttle driver waits for the passengers to enter their buildings safely.

Ben Gottesdiener | Student Life

Freshman Tori Bawel stands under the Underpass with a cardboard sign Tuesday morning to promote Homelessness Awareness Week.

The student group feels especially compelled to get its message across this year, with so many more people facing economic hardships than in the past.

“Our main purpose [for Homelessness Awareness Week] is, as the name says, awareness and education,” said junior Christine Weingarten, president of the Alliance of Students Against Poverty (ASAP). “Most of the events involve communities in St. Louis that are only miles away. We hope by making people aware, we can break down stereotypes and motivate people individually to take action outside of the events going on this week.”

The national week is coordinated by the National Coalition for the Homeless.

According to Professor of Education Carol Camp Yeakey, there are several subpopulations of homeless people in St. Louis, including veterans, runaway youth, the unemployed, single women with children, those with mental illnesses and those with drug or substance abuse issues.

Yeakey also said that there are more homeless people than in past years because of the recession.

“There is a new group which I call the ‘working poor’ who have never been homeless before but are now sleeping in cars or shelters, who cannot afford permanent housing,” Yeakey said.

Highlights of this year’s Homelessness Awareness Week include a photo documentary project in collaboration with The Bridge, a local sanctuary for homeless and at-risk persons in downtown St. Louis.

The Bridge is the outreach arm of the Centenary Church of St. Louis.

ASAP has collaborated with The Bridge many times in the past. This year, people at The Bridge will be given cameras, and their pictures will be displayed on campus.

Other events scheduled for this week include a food/toiletries drive, a hunger banquet and a holiday dinner.

ASAP is cooperating with SIR, the International and Area Studies honorary, as well as the Social Justice Center, for the hunger banquet.

While Yeakey said that there are social service agencies and shelters to help the homeless, she expects the availability of these programs to decrease.

“With the election of a more conservative Congress, many social service programs will begin experiencing even more severe budget cuts, which will impact the social services available to the homeless and other vulnerable populations in our society,” Yeakey said.

The WeCar program is open to all WUSTL students, faculty and staff and employees of qualified service providers. All WeCar users must have a valid driver’s license and credit card. In addition, students between 18 and 20 years old must have their own car insurance.

Students are unsure about what the change will bring.

“I do not use the WeCar,” senior Patrick Carrera said. “Price was not what kept me away from the WeCar. I will not use it even though prices have gone down because I have no use for it. I do know people who use the WeCar, but I do not think that the price change will affect those who use it for community service since it’s already free.”

The WeCar program uses hybrid vehicles exclusively, which are greener options for transportation.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which operates the WeCar program at the University, announced that it will be add three more WeCar sedans to campus beginning Monday. The new sedans will be added to the South 40, the Snow Way garage and North Campus.

This addition will increase the size of the WeCar fleet on campus to 10 vehicles at six different locations.

At present, there are five WeCar locations on campus. The parking lot in front of Givens Hall has one sedan; the parking lot in front of Mallinckrodt Center has one sedan and one SUV; the South 40 parking garage has three sedans, and the Snow Way garage has two sedans. The Medical Campus has a sedan in one of its parking lots.

Registration for the WeCar program is free, and participants must be at least 18 years old. Fuel and maintenance for the WeCar are included in the hourly rental fee.

WeCars have been available at Washington University since January 2008.

Washington University is no outlier in this trend. Though biomedical engineering (BME) was introduced at the University just 14 years ago, it is now the largest undergraduate department in the engineering school.

BME is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field. It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve health care diagnosis and treatment.

“It is very challenging to understand what engineers do,” said Dennis Barbour, assistant professor of BME. “They solve society’s big problems, but [their contributions] are often hidden and easy to take for granted. BME is drawing people in probably because they can see the application of BME a lot easier. BME is hitting closer to home and relating to a closer arena of medicine and biology of the human body.”

The growth in BME as a field has exceeded all expectations. In addition to more than double the number of students earning bachelor’s degrees in the field over the past decade, similar growths were recorded at the master’s and doctoral levels, with growth at 193 percent and 256 percent respectively.

“BME is a small and rapidly growing field,” Barbour said. “There are more opportunities to major in it as there are more than 70 departments in BME [in the U.S.]. The BME undergraduate degree requires students to master both the physical and the biological sciences, which make it quite a versatile degree.”

There were 1,156 BME bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2000. By 2009, that number jumped to 3,644. The increase was equally astonishing for master’s and doctoral degrees awarded. In 2000, 476 and 203 master’s degrees and doctoral degrees were awarded in BME respectively. Nine years later, the number of master’s degrees awarded surged to 1,396 and likewise, and the number of doctoral degrees spiked to 722 nationwide.

Washington University is ranked 11th in the number of BME degrees awarded in 2009 with 72. Duke University, topped the list with 141. University of California San Diego and Georgia Institute of Technology were a close second and third with 136 and 134 respectively.

“I became interested in BME because I took some BME-like classes in high school,” junior William Stock said. “Classes here are very interesting and very difficult. The subject matter is extremely interesting, and that’s where the entire medical field is going toward. BME will have the most demand job-wise, and in the next decade, it is for sure going to grow, and there will be huge demand for it.”

Indeed, preparation for a job is one of the main draws of the BME major.

“A large fraction of BME students go on to medical school,” Barbour said. “Engineering school has roughly the same percentage of students going to medical school as the school of ArtSci. Other students go on to additional professional training such as graduate schools or even law school. Some choose to go into immediate practice such as working at biomedical device manufacturers or big pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson.”

Students appreciate the options that the BME degree offers.

“I would like to work in the field for a couple of years and go to graduate school or medical school,” Stock said. “I am thinking about industry job such as drug research or something in biomolecular. I feel more prepared for medical school [as a BME major]. [As long as one can] power through four years and maybe through grad school, it will be very rewarding.”

Biomedical engineering is among the newest fields in engineering. Prominent biomedical engineering applications include the development of biocompatible prostheses, various diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices, ranging from clinical equipment to micro-implants, and common diagnostic tools such as MRI and EEG machines.

Matt Lanter | Student Life

The University installed seven automatic external defibrillators in various high traffic locations across campus last week, including this one in the Danforth University Center.

An automatic external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that can assess potentially life threatening heart problems and re-establish a regular heartbeat through an electric shock.

The AEDs have been placed in the Danforth University Center (DUC), Mallinckrodt Center, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Olin Library, South 40 House, Village House and Whittemore House. They are in clearly marked metal cabinets with glass windows.

“[The] South 40 House has the largest dining facility on campus along with a fitness center where emergencies can occur,” said Mark Bagby, the emergency management coordinator.

According to Leslie Heusted, the director of the DUC, an AED was installed in the DUC because the building is open 19 hours a day and is so large.

Bagby does not anticipate all buildings on campus receiving an AED. They have already been installed in the Athletic Complex, Simon Hall, Knight Center and on North Campus and West Campus.

The AEDs are funded through the emergency management department, and each unit costs approximately $1,700.

“The funding we are given this year is enough for seven new AEDs and the training for two personnel for each location,” Bagby said.

The University started installing AEDs on campus four years ago and has been adding more as funding becomes available.

Emergency management services proposed putting an AED in every building, which was denied. The medical school also tried appealing for funding for an AED on every floor of all of their buildings, but only received one in each building.

Both the Emergency Support Team and the Washington University Police Department have AEDs as well.

There are currently no plans to install AEDs at off-campus areas.

Some locations, such as the DUC, are allocating their own funds to enroll more employees in the AED training program. The Career Center, Community Service Office and Graduate Student Center each have one employee participating in training. Four additional DUC employees will be trained in addition to the two mandatory employees.

Heusted hopes that by ensuring that each major office in the DUC has at least one trained employee, so that the availability of trained staff to operate the AED at times of emergency will be increased.

James Harrang | Student Life

Saida Bonifield was recently hired as the new Coordinator for LGBT Student Involvement. She hopes to serve as a resource for students and to continue improving the campus community.

Bonifield was the LGBT coordinator at the University of Kansas while she was in graduate school and wanted to continue in the field.

“We are excited to have Saida Bonifield join us to continue the momentum that the first coordinator has done since 2007,” said Julia Macias, assistant director of campus life. “Under Saida, we hope to continue to help [present] Wash. U. as a welcoming experience for all students.”

According to Macias, who was spearheading the hiring process, a new coordinator was actually hired in November 2009 and scheduled to fill the post in January 2010. But because of family reasons, the new coordinator ultimately passed on the job. The University reopened the search process in January 2010 and Washington University was without an official LGBT coordinator for much of the 2009-2010 school year.

Michael Brown, the previous coordinator, left after September 2009, Macias said. “During the [interim], we had the help of two graduate students to continue the work of the coordinator position,” Macias said. “The LGBT advisory board, which is made up of faculty and staff, was also very helpful during that time.”

Finally, in the summer of 2010, the University hired Michael Brown’s successor, Bonifield.

“I wanted to continue my work as an advocate, but in a different context,

Bonifield said. “Working with college students specifically on issues related to sexuality and gender seemed to be a logical next step for me [after graduation].”

In 2006, Chancellor Mark Wrighton appointed a task force to investigate the possible help and resources that could be allocated to the LGBT community on campus. The position of coordinator for LGBT student involvement and leadership came about as the task force determined that more visible support was needed for the LGBT community on campus. The position was created in May 2007 via a Student Union resolution.

With the new coordinator in place, LGBT is expected to continue pursuing its mission of creating programs and resources to support the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body with particular attention paid to the needs and concerns of the LGBT community.

“My predecessor, Michael Brown, laid the framework for the LGBT student involvement and leadership position,” Bonifield said. “I hope to continue his efforts and work with students and the LGBT advisory board to pursue new LGBT-related initiatives.”

Bonifield indicated that first and foremost, she hopes that students will continue to see the LGBT coordinator as a resource for them.

She plans to work on a graduate and undergraduate mentorship program, a special graduation ceremony, an initiative for alumni engagement and the annual Holobaugh Honors. She will also be acting as the advisor for various campus groups such as Pride Alliance, Safe Zones, Open and the Alternative Lifestyle Association.

“I think it’s important to make sure that students are involved in all levels of the decision-making process,” Bonifield said. “I look forward to responding to current issues and continue to improve the current structure of the position.”

So far, Bonifield has been working closely with student groups.

“We have contact with her on a weekly basis and [Saida] is extremely helpful with the planning of events to reach a larger audience,” said junior Adrienne Sands, the co-president of Pride Alliance. “She is very involved in helping us with the reorganization of our constitution. She is also very active in bringing the different LGBT student groups together.”

Bonifield received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas in Spanish literature in 2005. She spent three semesters abroad during college, including one year in Costa Rica and a semester in Spain.

When she was not studying abroad, she volunteered at the local domestic violence shelter and helped to organize various related campus events like Take Back the Night, Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Upon graduation, Bonifield lived in San Francisco for a year working in the non-profit field before returning to Kansas to work full time as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. She continued this work before deciding to make a career change and pursue a master’s degree in higher education administration.

Lauren Patrick

An unidentified student smokes a cigarette just outside of campus property. Thanks to the July 1 tobacco ban, students must now go off campus to smoke.

As of July 1, Washington University is officially smoke-free. The University announced the tobacco ban in April 2009.

The ban’s implementation has proceeded smoothly so far, according to chief of police Don Strom.

“From the WUPD perspective, we have had very few complaints to respond to and we have no new enforcement patrols planned at this time,” Strom said.

Disciplinary actions for tobacco ban violations, while not preferred, will be implemented if necessary. Such responses would be tailored to individual constituencies within the community, such as students, faculty and staff.

According to Dr. Alan Glass, director of Student Health Services (SHS), and Ann Prenatt, vice chancellor for human resources, who are co-chairpersons for the University’s tobacco-free initiative, the policy is mainly based on a principle of self-enforcement.

“We hope for voluntary compliance with this University policy,” Prenatt said. “Enforcement of the tobacco-free policy is not exclusively the responsibility of the campus police.  In fact, we each have a responsibility to comply with this policy and enforce its terms.”

In order to facilitate the ban’s enforcement, the University has begun a communications campaign to provide key messages about the ban to the community.

Advertisements for the ban include decals on building doors and banners that will be hung on Oak Alley and on the South 40.

With the implementation of the ban, smokers face new challenges. According to Dr. Betsy Foy, assistant director of Student Health Services (SHS), resources are available to help them quit if they choose to do so.

“SHS is making readily available to students smoking cessation services either at Student Health Services or students can look at the Aetna Health Insurance Page and will find the phone number to call for smoking cessation assistance,” Foy said.

Services available include counseling and selected medications and nicotine replacements, available free of charge.