Andrew ODellThe 2002-2003 academic year was one of improvement in many areas for Washington University. The overall undergraduate program rose from the 14th to the 12th-highest ranking in the U.S. News and World Report, which also ranked 19 University graduate programs among the top 10 in their respective categories. Highlights of these rankings include the School of Medicine’s rise to become the second-best medical school focused on research, the Olin Graduate School of Business’s rise to 29 from its previous position of 31, and the School of Art’s new position of 21. WU also improved in its food rankings, offering the best food of any college in the country, according to The Princeton Review.
* In response to student complaints that there was not enough security for off-campus housing, the WU Police Department began patrolling surrounding neighborhoods of University-owned property. The other goal of this new program was to help improve the relationship between students and other members of the neighborhoods.
* Freshmen last year were given the option of taking new “themed” English composition courses to fit their interests. The different options included Technology and Society, Journey and Quest, Language and Identities and the traditional English composition class, Writing and Critical Thinking.
* With the assistance of 18 University student interns and Chancellor Mark Wrighton, alumnus and balloonist Steve Fossett brought the Bud Light Spirit of Freedom capsule to its final destination at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.. The capsule was used in Fossett’s circumnavigation of the globe last summer, which took him four days, 19 hours and 50 minutes.
* The one year anniversary of September 11 was marked by a candle-light vigil in the Brookings Quadrangle to remember the victims and their families. Almost 1,000 people sat in silence as a variety of students and faculty shared their thoughts, reactions and experiences about the tragic event.
* Controversial author of “Step Across This Line” Salman Rushdie spoke on campus on Oct. 3 and 4. Rushdie was invited back this year after his visit last year was cancelled due to security concerns. Rushdie went into hiding after the publication of his work “The Satanic Verses,” because Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini placed a death threat, or fatwa, on Rushdie. His appearance on campus marked one of the occasional public appearances Rushdie now makes.
* Religious group Jews for Jesus ignited debate on campus concerning religious boundaries in the fall. Sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, members of Jews for Jesus made an effort to spread their beliefs in order to convert “traditional Jews,” or members of the Jewish community who do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, into believers of Jesus.
* WUTV came out with a new show called “Wake Up Wash U.” This is a daily morning news program that provides students with both campus and national news as well as entertaining segments.
* University College started giving employees free tuition, compliments of a new University benefit package which also includes 50 percent remission for graduate courses. The result was a 32 percent increase in University College enrollment from 2,028 students the previous year to 2,681 students last year. The number of university employees enrolled increased by over 500.
* The School of Law’s Student Bar Association (SBA) denied funding to the Law Students Pro-Life (LSPL), but upon LSPL’s appeal, SBA reversed the decision and funding was granted. Prior to the reversal, this had been the first time in University history that the SBA, the law school’s student government, had denied any group of students the right to become an acknowledged organization on campus.
* Senior Arianna Haut represented WU on Jeopardy! as part of the college tournament. On her first appearance on the show, Haut came in first, winning $17,200. She lost in the semi-finals, however, but she still won $5,000 for advancing that far.
* Dr. Larry Shapiro was named as Dr. William Peck’s successor as dean of the School of Medicine. Shapiro, along with two of his three children, is an alumnus of the University. Shapiro is also an alumnus of the School of Medicine. Peck will remain with the university as a professor and researcher.
* Undergraduate tuition increased by 5.2 percent, from $26,900 last year to $28,300 for the 2003-2004 school year. This hike was in response to new construction costs and rising faculty salaries. Currently, 60 percent of WU undergraduates are receiving some form of financial assistance; this number should increase in the coming year due to the tuition increase.
* After an electric pole caught on fire at the corner of Wydown and Big Bend, the South 40 went without power for approximately 12 hours. The results of this event included flooding in Eliot dormitory due to frozen pipes.
* The University announced its support of affirmative action in its admissions policies by signing an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief submitted to the United States Supreme Court. Washington University joined 37 other universities in this endeavor.
* University students and staff watched on television as hundreds of law enforcement officials searched the “debris belt” of the exploded Columbia shuttle for remnants and bodies. The campus mourned after the shuttle broke up over Texas only 16 minutes before it was scheduled to land in Florida.
* President George W. Bush delivered a speech that shocked parts of the campus and the nation, in which he gave Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq. When these demands were not met, the U.S. invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. This event was met with protest from segments of the University community; a protest of the war was held the next day in the Brookings Quadrangle.
* After three years of meetings, planning, engineering and financial decisions, groundbreaking for the new MetroLink line finally took place. The groundbreaking was marked by a ceremony in the University’s West Campus parking lot. Although Forest Park Parkway will be closed for more than a year, the new line, expected to open in March 2006, promises many benefits. The new route will run underneath Millbrook Boulevard via a tunnel, and will surface at the intersection of Hoyt Drive and Throop Drive to pick up passengers.
* Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright addressed the class of 2003 at the annual Commencement exercises Friday, May 16. Albright also received an honorary doctor of humanities degree.