COMMENCEMENT | MAY 2005
STUDENT LIFE | NEWS
A5
Sophomore year: Jews for Jesus, MetroLink, and war By Molly Antos Senior Forum Editor This school year saw improvement in many areas for Washington University. The overall undergraduate program rose from the 14th to the 12thhighest ranking in U.S. News and World Report, which also ranked 19 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. The University 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 University 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. Students this 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 9/11 was marked by a candlelight vigil in the Brookings Quadrangle to remember the victims and their families. Almost 1, 000 people sat in silence as students and faculty shared their thoughts, reactions and experiences about the tragic event. Controversial author of “Step Across This Line”
Salman Rushdie spoke at the University on Oct. 3 that the SBA, the law school’s student government, and 4. Rushdie was invited back this year after had denied any group of students the right to behis visit last year was cancelled due to security come an acknowledged organization on campus. Senior Arianna Haut represented the Univesity concerns. Rushdie went into hiding after the publication of his work “The Satanic Verses” because on “Jeopardy!” as part of the college tournament. Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini placed a death threat, On her first appearance on the show, Haut came in or fatwa, on Rushdie. His appearance on campus first, winning $17,200. She lost in the semi-finals, marked one of the occasional public appearances however, winning only $5,000 for advancing that far. Rushdie now makes. Dr. Larry Shapiro was named Dr. William Peck’s Religious group Jews for Jesus ignited provocative debate on campus about religious boundaries successor as dean of the School of Medicine. Shapearlier in the year. Sponsored by members of the iro, along with two of his three children, is a UniInterVarsity Christian Fellowship, 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 in Jesus. WUTV came out with a new show that year 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 this year, compliments of a new University benefit packSTUDENT LIFE ARCHIVES age which also includes 50 percent remission for gradu- Students discuss religion with Jews for Jesus representatives in ate courses. The result was a Mallinckrodt Center.Fall’s Jews for Jesus controversy was matched in the 32 percent increase in Uni- spring by the campus’ polarization over the war in Iraq. versity College enrollment, from 2,028 students last fall to 2,681 students this versity alumnus. Peck will remain at the university year. The number of university employees enrolled as a professor and researcher. Undergraduate tuition increased by 5.2 perincreased by over 500. The School of Law’s Student Bar Association cent, from $26,900 this year to $28,300 for the (SBA) denied funding to the Law Students Pro-Life, 2003-2004 school year. The hike came in response but upon LSPL’s appeal, the decision was reversed to new construction costs and rising faculty salaand funding was granted. Previous to the reversal, ries. Currently, 60 percent of University underthis had been the first time in University history graduates are receiving some form of financial
assistance; this number should increase next year, however, due to the tuition increase. After an electric pole caught on fire at the corner of Wydown and Big Bend, the South 40 was without power for approximately 12 hours. The after-effects of this event included flooding in Eliot Dormitory as a result of frozen pipes. The University announced its support of affirmative action in university admissions policies by signing an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief submitted to the United States Supreme Court. The University joined 37 other colleges in this endeavor, and studies of student opinion showed that it was largely backed by the student body. 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. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was announced as the speaker at this year’s spring graduation. Albright received an honorary doctor of humanities degree. Graduation took place on Friday, May 16, in the Brookings Quadrangle. President George Bush delivered a speech shocking parts of the campus and the nation when 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 anger from segments of the University community; a war protest was held the next day in the Quad. 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 West Campus parking lot. Forest Park Parkway will be closed for more than a year, with the new line opening in March 2006. The new route will run underneath Millbrook Boulevard via a tunnel, surfacing at the intersection of Hoyt Drive and Throop Drive to pick up passengers.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2005
And thank you to the graduating student workers of the Washington University Libraries... Undergraduates Aler, Carolyn Artime, Louis Benz, Stephen Christopher Berwick, Meredith Bobak, AnnMarie Brault, Kelley Dao, Christine Darwent, Katherine Dooley, Kevin Paul Edwards, Corrine Ezeife, Nnamdi Kingsley Fourie, Carl Freeberg, James Adrian Fynn, Anthony Frah Griffith, Bradley Hayden, Brittany Hollenbach, Lisa*
Special Collections Art & Architecture Library Shelving Reserves Serials Art & Architecture Library Chemistry & EPSc Libraries Chemistry Library Preservation West Campus Library Circulation Reference Physics Library Interlibrary Loan Special Collections Art & Architecture Library Administrative Office
Hyde, Caleb S. Khan, Sana Kharseeva, Irene Knisley, Matthew Lee, Hogan Lohr, Tara M. Nathenson, Robert A. O'Donnell, Carmen Marie Qian, Jun Ranatunga, Duneesha S. Reich, Adam Schwarz, Laura Steelman, Will Stevens, Katherine Viverette, Shelly Woerther, William Paul Woo, Justin
Circulation Art & Architecture Library Interlibrary Loan Business Library Arc/Library Technology Center Circulation Reference Circulation Earth & Planetary Sciences Library Interlibrary Loan West Campus Library Special Collections Arc/Library Technology Center Music Library Arc/Library Technology Center Shelving Arc/Library Technology Center
*Fulbright Scholar for FY 06
Graduate Students Gehling, Andrea Godlewski, Adam J. Gupta, Sundeep Higgins, Megan Matsuo, Tomoko
Music Library Circulation Mathematics Library Music Library East Asian Library
Merlino, Elena Ridenour, Robert Vincent Vaish, Prakhar Weber, Kathryn
Circulation Circulation Reference West Campus Library
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Congratulations, Class of 2005! From your friends at Quadrangle Housing