STAFF EDITORIAL | THE CAMPUS BAR: A RECONSIDERATION | SEE FORUM, PAGE 4
STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 VOLUME 129, NO. 53
Loveline’s Dr. Drew to headline Sex Week BY ANN JOHNSON STAFF REPORTER Drew Pinsky, known to millions as Dr. Drew from the radio program Loveline, is coming to Washington University this Friday as the keynote speaker of Sex Week, a weeklong event concerning sexual issues on campus. Sex Week, which will be sponsored by the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), focuses on encouraging openness about sexual issues among students. “I think putting sex out in the open makes it a lot easier for kids to talk about it amongst themselves and open up dialogues among friends,” said senior Alex Ambinder, a Sexual Responsibility Week programming co-chair. “Striking up conversations is a good way to feel comfortable around the subject. And when you feel comfortable with the subject, you are more likely to make good and safe
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decisions.” The emphasis will be on student concerns. Students will be treated to a questionand-answer forum with Pinsky running from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15 in Graham Chapel. Afterward, there will be a reception in Retner Gallery, where students will have more opportunities to ask questions. Pinsky has worked on VH1’s Loveline for over twenty years, answering the questions of teenagers and adults who call in to the nationally syndicated radio show played by over 100 radio stations. A board-certified physician and addiction medicine specialist, he offers a wide array of advice for medical and relationship problems. Pinsky is also famous from his Discovery Channel show, “Strictly Dr. Drew,” and his new VH1 show, “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.”
See SEX WEEK, page 2
WU sponsors charter school program BY BEN SALES NEWS EDITOR Washington University is the chief sponsor of a public middle school that will educate underserved children in the St. Louis area. The school, set to open for the 2009-2010 academic year, is part of a program sponsored by the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP). KIPP, started in 1994 by two alumni of Teach for America (TFA), aims to start systems of charter schools in cities across the country to put underserved children on the path to college. Now, Trina Clark James of St. Louisans United to Attract KIPP is excited to give the opportunity to area students. “The success of KIPP in other urban cities is being able to provide high quality education,” said James. “Kids in St. Louis deserve to have that option.”
James’ success in bringing KIPP to St. Louis is in large part due to the partnership with the University, which will provide programming ideas and research opportunity as well as some funding. Debbie Fine, an employee of KIPP, says that the most important part of the University’s sponsorship is the message it sends to the community. “One of the reasons it’s such a beneficial partnership is the symbolism,” said Fine. “Washington University is one of the most prestigious universities in the country.” James added that the partnership with the University would further encourage the students to attend college. “These kids will learn about college and get the feeling that they will go to college,” she said. “To have a partnership with one of the top universities of this country, it makes it more real for them.”
DOING THE DIRTY WORK
James also says that the University will create a wealth of opportunities for the students to learn. “It’s a partnership that we think will make resources and programs available to the schools,” she said. “The faculty and staff will be very much involved.” Senior Brianna Baylor, a tutor in Each One Teach One, a program that pairs tutors with under-served children in St. Louis, sees the partnership as a positive. “That Wash. U. is trying to get involved in the community is a good thing,” she said. Though students will be encouraged to attend college, they will be shown the University not as the top choice but as one in a plethora of options. “They’ll be encouraged to consider [the University] just like they would every other university,” said Fine. “For
some it may be a natural progression. It’s such a personal decision.” Fine says, however, that pushing students toward a college education is one of the main goals of the program. “The primary mission is to get these kids to college and to prepare them for success in college life,” she said. “The basic premise is a lot of hard work to provide a high quality education.” Now that St. Louis has been selected as the newest expansion location for KIPP, the next step is to raise more funds and fi nd a school leader to help open the middle school. With this step accomplished, teachers and students will be recruited, and KIPP will need to fi nd a building site for the middle school. “We need to fi nd an educa-
See SCHOOL, page 2
Off-campus protest against scientology draws students BY SAM GUZIK SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
DAVID HARTSTEIN | STUDENT LIFE
Senior Mark Kizelshteyn works on building a bed Saturday morning on the new campus farm just east of the Alumni House on the South 40. The Burning Kumquat, the student group responsible for implementing the farm, successfully built seven raised beds during their first workday of the year on Saturday. The Burning Kumquat plans to work every Saturday, ultimately doubling the number of beds and producing more than 15 different crops ranging from greens and corn to strawberries and herbs. The group plans to donate the crops to Feed St. Louis, a local organization aimed at ending hunger, as well as potentially making the crops available elsewhere on campus. Members of the Burning Kumquat expect to plant in the new farm in early April.
A number of Washington University students, together with a group calling itself “Anonymous,” staged a protest outside the University City Church of Scientology yesterday. The group, which is based online and attracted the attendees through a message board, drew more than 50 people to criticize the religion’s membership recruitment and retention practices, which demonstrators claimed were inhumane. “[This protest] is not against the beliefs of the Church,” said the moderator of the forum that organized the protest. “It’s their methods and tactics in terms of getting and keeping members that we have a problem with.” The protest began around 10 a.m., and throughout the day the demonstrators stood across the street from the church and marched through the Delmar Loop. “It’s really like dogs nipping at our heels,” said Ellen Maher-Forney, a spokesperson for the St. Louis Church of Scientology. “It really doesn’t
bother our parishioners.” Although many of the protestors wore masks to prevent themselves from being identified by the Church of Scientology, several identified themselves as University students. “I heard from one of my friends all the terrible things that the Church of Scientology has done, and I decided to come out to support the protest,” said junior Aarthi Arunachalam. Arunachalam acknowledged that most of her information was secondhand, but mentioned her support for the cause and her desire to do more research after the protest. Several other demonstrators preferred not to be identified by name. “Some people come from 10 minutes away, some from as far away as Springfield,” said Gene Marcun, a protestor and member of the community. According to Marcun, the demonstrators had not met before the event began and did not know each other’s identity. The St. Louis protest came
See PROTEST, page 2
In cancer patients, breast implants increase infection frequency BY PUNEET KOLLIPARA NEWS EDITOR A recent study by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine found that female breast cancer patients who receive breast im-
plants after mastectomies experience infections twice as frequently as women who have breast reconstruction using their own tissues. According to Margaret Olsen, the lead author of the study and a research assistant professor
Students getting political How have today’s youth become engaged in the 2008 elections? Read about the life of a student activitist. Scene, Page 3
of medicine, the study looked back at a group of women who had breast surgery other than breast conservation, or lumpectomy, between July 1, 1999 and June 30, 2002 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The study’s goal was to determine hospital costs due
to surgical site infection. The study found that surgical site infection brought an additional $4,091 in excess costs because of several variables, including the type of surgery, the amount of chemotherapy administered to the patient af-
‘Nothing but net’ for the Bears The Red and Green are on a winning streak. See how the both men’s and women’ s basketball shot their way to victory. Sports, Page 6
ter surgery, age, weight, serious underlying diseases and years of surgery. “We performed this study because it is important to determine costs of infection, in order for hospitals to perform cost-benefit analyses to com-
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pare the cost of interventions to prevent infection to the cost of the infections themselves,” said Olsen. The researchers noticed that, of the breast cancer patients
See IMPLANTS, page 2
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