Student Life Archives

Margaret Bauer

Originally from:

England

Did you attend college and/or job training? Where?

Cambridge University, England

What brought you to Wash U?

I’d been in Cambridge 10 years, wanted a change, and had contacts at
Washington University when a position in my field came open here.

What is your favorite book?

At the moment, David Malouf’s “An Imaginary Life.”

Something interesting that many people don’t know about you is…?

When I was seven my waistline was four inches bigger than it is today, so it is possible to lose weight!

David Brody

In case you’re wondering why a few students seem to be walking around in shackles this week, fear not: it’s just Lock & Chain promoting the George Washington Week of Service. The 101st class of the sophomore honors society is revamping an old tradition by placing a focus on community service this year.

Lock & Chain has used each day to focus on a different community issue, such as environmental concerns and poverty. The week of service culminates this weekend with community service events both tomorrow and Sunday. Sophomore Lorin Kline, a member of Lock & Chain, has been working to integrate service into the Lock & Chain tradition.

“It’s always been a Lock & Chain tradition to celebrate George Washington week,” said Kline. “In years past it’s just been a fun week with cake and someone dressing up as George Washington every day… but this year we’ve decided to make it a week of service. It really has a different tone.”

Junior Alex Harmon-Threatt, an alumnus of Lock & Chain, found this year’s changes a fitting reflection of the sophomore honorary’s mission.

“I think it’s great because we are a service honorary, service is one of our main focuses,” said Harmon-Threatt. “That’s also a big part of the University and a big part of what Lock & Chain is. I think they’re promoting a lot of good things as well as promoting themselves well.”

Harmon-Threatt noted that Lock & Chain has been able to cover a large range of issues that are important on campus.

“I think they’re incorporating of a lot of different aspects,” said Harmon-Threatt. “They’re trying to get people to come out to service projects this week, and looking at a lot of issues that are all important in their own right.”

Harmon-Threatt noted that last year’s Lock & Chain George Washington Week worked with the University and Office of Student Activities, with a focus on the University’s sesquicentennial year. The honorary had teamed up with the University to promote awareness about the University’s history. The University changed its name from Eliot Seminary to Washington University in 1857. The newly-named Universtiy’s charter was signed on February 22-George Washington’s birthday.

“I think some of the conversation came up because there’s the question, ‘Do students know who we’re named after?'” said Jill Carnaghi, vice chancellor for students.

Last year’s George Washington week focused on promoting awareness of the University’s history through events such as a George Washington birthday party.

Margaret Bauer

Washington University stem cell scientists could lose the right to conduct their research if a proposed bill passes in the state legislature.

State Senator Matt Bartle, R-Jackson County, and House Representative Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis County, have simultaneously introduced Senate bill 160 and House bill 457, which would criminalize techniques associated with human cloning.

If the bills are approved, any person who attempts to use cloning techniques in the state of Missouri could face a 15-year prison sentence.

In an effort to oppose the bill, Washington University has helped found the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. Over 80 businesses and 1000 individuals have joined the coalition since it was formed approximately six weeks ago. In addition to Washington University, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, and dozens of businesses, academic centers and disease and patient advocacy organizations have enlisted in the coalition.

The bill also proposes that somatic cell nuclear transfer, an important procedure in stem cell research and a form of human cloning, would be banned.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a technique that allows researchers to remove the nucleus from an unfertilized egg cell and replace its genetic material with the nucleus from a somatic cell, such as a skin cell or a nerve cell. Within a week of stimulation, the cell begins dividing and producing stem cells.

A recent study on the potential health care and economic benefits of SCNT, conducted by the national research firm The Analysis Group, shows that more than 500,000 Missourians have diseases or injuries that could be treated with future stem cell therapies. If these therapies are successful, they could reduce Missouri’s health care cost by billions of dollars.

However, if the bill is passed, Missouri physicians and researchers would not only be barred from conducting research but also, if research starts to develop in other states such as California and New Jersey, would not have the ability to actually use the therapies and techniques that come in from outside sources.

“I think we’ll have problems recruiting the faculty and [the bill would be] bad for national and international competition,” said Dr. Steven Teitelbaum of the department of pathology and immunology at the School of Medicine.

Rose Windmiller, the University’s director for state and local government affairs, agreed.

“If [researchers] are forced to leave Missouri, they’ll certainly go to other states where they can conduct their research in a climate that welcomes what they do,” she said.

Both Illinois and Maryland have proposed bills that would use state funds to finance stem cell research.

“We encourage not just students but all people who are concerned about the legislation to become politically active whether they’re for it or against it,” Windmiller said.

Teitelbaum has already testified against the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bill Neaves, the president and CEO of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and a member of the Washington University Board of Trustees, has also testified.

“If the bill passes, it criminalizes somatic cell nuclear transfer, it criminalizes human reproductive cloning,” said Windmiller. “It criminalizes a research procedure which is really important to the possible developing of new cures and new therapies for diseases and for things like spinal cord injury.”

Windmiller worried about the ramifications the bill could have on researchers across the state.

“It will have a very chilling effect on research in Missouri, not just at our institution, but anyone who practices medical research,” said Windmiller.

According to a poll of 600 Missouri voters taken at the beginning of February, 71 percent of voters who were aware of the anti-cloning bill were in favor of SCNT research. The poll was conducted by the Republican pollster Fred Steeper and Market Strategies, a national polling firm.

Of previously unaware voters, after hearing arguments made on both sides of the issue, 66 percent supported stem cell research. Only 30 percent wanted to ban all forms of cloning procedures, including SCNT.

Members of Washington University and the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures have been alerting the St. Louis community about the promising breakthroughs that SCNT research could foster.

In addition to speaking with state legislatures, Teitelbaum has been giving presentations open to both the public as well as private organizations that have an interest in learning more about SCNT.

“[The bill] has a much larger chance of passing this year,” Teitelbaum said in reference to the anti-cloning bills Senator Bartle has introduced but failed to pass in the past three years.

This is the second year that Representative Lembke has sponsored an anti-cloning bill.

Valencia Gant, a graduate student in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, was among 25 Americans selected to participate in the first ever United States-European Union youth advocacy summit on youths’ rights to sexual and reproductive health.

The conference was held on February 15 and 16 in Brussels, and 25 other young people from across Europe joined the Americans for the two-day gathering.

According to Gant, the purpose of the conference was to get as many non-governmental organizations as possible from each country to collaborate on better methods for educating youth about their rights to sexual and reproductive health.

To this end, members of the conference worked from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. both days to draft documents outlining views that they shared and different aspects of youths’ rights regarding sexual and reproductive health.

“There were a lot of brainstorming and group dialogues in term of developing these documents,” said Gant.

During the conference participants discussed basic political polices and their domestic and international ramifications, said Gant. All members agreed that “youth have the responsibility to make their own choices on sexual and reproductive health.”

Gant remarked that despite the short nature of the conference and the hard work involved, participants also had personal time to enjoy themselves, whether it was socializing with other students or spending time out in the city of Brussels.

Gant noticed that there were significant differences between the U.S. and Europe on approaches to youth sexual reproductive health-education: unlike other countries, the U.S. puts an overwhelming emphasis on abstinence.

“Listening to other European students, I learned about how their government and local leaders support having open mindsets about teaching protection and contraception as part of sexual education,” said Gant. “Here in the U.S. most of the federal funding only goes to programs that teach abstinence. We struggle to receive support services. We are fighting to have a comprehensive sexual education, which is constantly being attacked. That’s not to say that it isn’t good to teach about abstinence, but youth should also be able to learn about options for protection and contraception.”

Gant was accepted to the conference largely due to her involvement with the Young Women of Color Leadership Council, of which she was one of the 10 original members locally. The Council is “composed of young women of color, leaders and activists, who have come together to promote a message of prevention and empowerment,” according to the group’s Web site. “All of our work is a collaboration of diversity and passion, coming together in the hopes of affecting a million more.”

Thirteen out of 25 American participants came from the Young Women of Color Leadership Council and the International Youth Leadership Council. The Advocates for Youth organization runs both programs.

“I definitely encourage students to join different youth initiative groups,” said Gant.

David Hartstein

Students will soon be able to download music the legal way-through a filesharing service contracted by the University. Student Union is looking into various services, and a vendor fair scheduled for April 7 will allow students to find out more about their options before weighing in on which filesharing service they prefer.

The votes will be used to determine which service the University ultimately contracts.

“It’s gone from the theoretical ‘would you use a music downloading service’ to ‘these are the different options, this is what it’s going to cost us, this is how we’re going to pay for it’… and we’ll get some feedback from there,” said Student Union (SU) President David Ader.

SU’s Technology Resource Committee first began looking into the issue after last year’s Direct Connect shutdown. The incident prompted a midnight protest among angry students and an impromptu performance by The Hatch-a rare display on a campus where students generally abide by established “quiet hours.”

Though plans for a legal downloading service at the University are still in early stages, Ader expressed a hope that SU will be able to help defray the costs for the new service. Depending on which provider students choose, SU may be able to pay for the service entirely or subsidize its cost. On the other hand, students may have to foot the bill on their own.

“There are so many services out there; it’s all dependant on what students are looking for and how exactly it would run,” Ader said, noting that providers may charge per song, a monthly subscription, or a number of other options. “We’re looking to do something that students will use and embrace. We don’t want to rush into it too soon.”

Sophomore Michael Kugler said he would be amenable to the idea depending on the ultimate cost of the service and what was included.

“I don’t see any problem with… a small premium,” Kugler said. “I’d also want to know what kinds of files you could share. I’d want to know how it works. If it were primarily music, I might… choose other sources. There are other ways to find music.”

Other students said they would not be willing to pay for such a service.

“I mean, that’s the point of file sharing, isn’t it, that we don’t have to pay?” said sophomore Ted Drury. He went on to add that “any computer sciences undergrad worth his salt” could write a filesharing program, which would be much cheaper than contracting an outside service provider.

Sophomore Mary Rosamond noted that she can already listen to others’ music legally on iTunes, and she prefers this method to owning the music herself.

“Since there’s no way for me to keep those songs, [the playlist is] different every time,” Rosamond said.

Ader acknowledged that illegal downloading will always be a problem because some people are unwilling to pay for a music downloading service regardless of the cost. However, he hopes a legal service on campus will “set the tone” for common practice among students.

“A lot of people download illegal stuff because it’s convenient,” Ader said. “If we can make it convenient to do things in the legal way… fewer students are going to be using illegal services, and therefore [the University will] have to use fewer resources to track the students down.”

Ader noted that providing the downloading service to students would benefit the University in other ways as well.

“It cuts down illegal usage of bandwidth… and it’s a lot more manageable if students are using a consistent service rather than going all over the place. So they’ve been really receptive and said they’ll help us institute whatever we want to do,” he said.

The vendor fair in April will take place in the Mudd multipurpose room and last for approximately four to five hours. A South 40 location was chosen for the event because students on campus with ResTech accounts are anticipated to be the main people using the service, Ader said. The Technology Resource Committee has not yet decided whether students will vote by ballot at the event or through a school-wide survey.