Washington University

A new analysis led by Washington University has shown a possible link between exposure to certain common, long-lasting chemicals and the earlier onset of menopause.

The researchers analyzed information from 1,442 menopausal women who had been tested for what are known as endocrine disrupting chemicals -- chemicals that can affect how hormones work in the body. The data were collected between 1999 and 2008 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as part of a national health and nutrition study.

Washington University has rolled out a blueprint for making the highly regarded school more accessible for low-income students.

“For Washington University to take its place as one of the great institutions of this country, we have to make sure we’re doing our part to provide opportunity,” said Provost Holden Thorp. 

Thorp said the initiative will reduce the number of students who are not admitted because they can’t afford a tuition that will top $47,000 next fall.    

“We will be doing less of that in the future,” he said.

Jeigh Singleton joyously accepted the “burden” of being a fashion guru. He created clothes for the country-club set, church-going folk, showgirls, theater companies and items suitable for framing, all while teaching generations of Washington University design students to do the same. Mr. Singleton died Sunday in his hometown of Plaquemine, La., one day past his 70th birthday.

His guiding design principle he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1992, was “The stuff must sell. Period.” But Mr. Singleton, never one for reticence, ignored his own punctuation and continued.

Now that adjunct instructors at Washington University have voted to join a union, they have to figure out exactly what improvements they want their new status to bring.

On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board announced the election results. The proposal to join the Service Employees International Union won by a vote of 138-111. Afterward, the union’s Adjunct Action project sent out an email headed “Victory!”

Part-time faculty members at Washington University have voted to unionize in an effort to improve their salary, working conditions and stability of employment.

Ballots counted at the National Labor Relations Board Monday showed the proposal passed by a vote of 138-111, with 18 contested ballots that would not affect the outcome of the election. Just over 400 instructors at the university were eligible to vote, with a simple majority of those voting needed for passage.

As part-time instructors at Washington University ponder whether to join a union, two major questions have arisen about the campaign.

American politics is not working very well today, but religion can play a role in helping to move it away from partisanship and back to a spirit of compromise.