With the 2012 elections looming, a Washington University professor says increasing partisanship is impeding the government from finding a lasting solution to existing problems.

The Washington University professor who spent several years as deputy principal coordinator for the Mars rover Opportunity was recently selected to contribute to a new rover mission.

Over the past five years, the number of Chinese undergraduates attending Washington University has more than quintupled, according to statistics from the Office for International Students and Scholars (OISS). For the class of 2015, the OISS reported that 182 undergraduate students from China accepted admission to the University, up from 29 half a decade ago.

As the Obama administration stands by legislation that would make contraception available and free under most health insurance plans, it remains to be seen whether it will make birth control more accessible and affordable for college students.

As the field of Republican candidates narrows, students at Washington University are struggling to choose their favorites as the race plays out among the four remaining candidates: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. Freshman Kaitlin McTague used to support Michelle Bachmann but is now leaning toward Romney.

With the Republican primaries looming in the near future, Washington University students from all over the political spectrum are weighing in on who will earn the GOP nomination and what the future of the Republican Party will be in the 2012 presidential election.

Suicide is more common than alcohol-related death among college students, a recent study of national colleges found.

Despite a national trend of universities discontinuing funding for national merit scholarships, Washington University continues to fund students named with the distinction. New York University’s recent decision to stop funding the National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSP) has incited a host of discussions amongst universities over whether it is practical to offer scholarships based on standardized test scores.

Janji, a sports apparel company founded by Washington University students, won first place in the 2011 University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) Sports/Outdoors Business Plan Competition last weekend. The company beat out 15 other teams to win the first place prize of $20,000.

President Barack Obama announced a government program intended to help college students manage their student loans and debt, as well as reduce their monthly payments last week. The new “Pay As You Earn” program, which will take effect next year, will reduce the interest rates many students pay on loans, and waive their loans after 20 years of maintaining payments.