F R I D A Y SEPT. 5, 2003 Vo l. 12 5 , No . 5
Sunny and warm 78 / 58 w w w. s t u d l i fe . c o m
STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
INSIDE Center forms to promote biodefense MISSION TO MARS PAGE 7 Stargazers crowded into the Crow Observatory to view the red planet, which last week was the closest to Earth as it has been in 60,000 years. Reporter Tom Ward explains the phenomenon that creates, and gets reactions to, the sight of a lifetime. If you missed it this time, your next chance is in the year 2287.
Midwestern schools unite to enhance research efforts By Cory Schneider q Senior News Editor The Washington University School of Medicine has joined other educational institutions to form a Midwest center that will focus on biodefense. Yesterday’s announcement by the United States Department of Health and Human Services said that the School of Medicine will house the Midwest Center for Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (MCRE). Currently, the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is set to fund the MRCE with a $35 million grant. The School of Medicine is working alongside St. Louis University School of Medicine, Case Western University in Cleveland, OH and the University of Missouri-Columbia. The formation of the center comes in answer to a call put out by the National Institute of Health for a fortification of biodefense strategies across the nation. According to Virginia Miller, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology at the School of Medicine, one of two associate directors, the MCRE will be one of ten such centers across the country. “The goal for the country is that there will be one center in every
See CENTER, page 3
UNIVERSITY BIODEFENSE RESEARCH CENTER LOCATIONS ❖ Each center will study infectious diseases, new vaccines, and antibiotics
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❖ Terrorist agents to be studied include anthrax, smallpox, and plague.
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❖ LOCATIONS: 1. University of Washington 2. University of Texas at Galveston 3. Washington University 4. University of Chicago 5. Duke University 6. University of Maryland 7. Harvard University
ACTIVITIES FAIR
ResTech continues to warn against file sharing By Sarah Ulrey q News Editor
VOLLEYBALL HOME OPENER PAGE 11
do you think of Bob Q: What Dole speaking at WU?
A: A. That’s great. Can’t wait to hear him speak.
B. Okay, considering the other option was W. C. We’re the ninth-ranked school and the best we can do is a loser. D. I hope he takes his Viagra to spice him up. Let us know what you think! Cast your vote at studlife.com
INDEX Cadenza Forum Calendar Sports
pages 5-6 pages 7-8 page 9 pages 11-12
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RIAA loosens downloading restrictions
Soon you’ll be able to grab a cup of Joe at the corner of Big Bend and Forest Park Parkway. Kayak’s Coffee is slated to open its doors to students and the surrounding community midmonth. Reporter Justin Choi takes us inside Kayak’s to talk to the shop’s owner, Frank Grund.
STUDENT SNAPSHOT
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JONATHAN GREENBERGER
CUP OF JOE PAGE 4
The women’s volleyball team, who recently fell from No. 1 to No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, will play host to Millikin University and Southwestern University this weekend. After streaking to a 3-0 start on the season, the Bears fell in the fifth game to sixth-ranked Elmhurst College. The team should have its hands full with Southwestern, who is ranked No. 16 in the nation.
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Yu Araki
JuniorsBrittneyBailey(right)andJenniferHunt(left)signupforChiOmegaattheActivitiesFairthispastWednesday. Hundreds of students flooded the Quadangle to talk to the representatives of the more than 200 student groups and university departments which were recruiting students to join the ranks of their organizations.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) will only prosecute students who download a “significant amount” of copyrighted material, announced President Carl Sherman in a letter released Aug. 18. Sherman wrote the letter in response to Senator Norm Coleman, R-MN, who is chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs’ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. According to an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education dated Aug. 21, Coleman had previously expressed concern that the Recording Industry was targeting small-time down-loaders in order to intimidate the wide population of people who download songs. Matt Arthur, director of Residential Technologies at Washington University, was unable to clarify how many downloads qualified as a significant amount. Instead, he warned that any downloading or distribution of copyrighted material is illegal. “It is still a violation of the law whether they are uploading or downloading one song or a hundred songs,” said Arthur. According to Arthur, this letter from the RIAA is similar to previous statements made by the association. “It sort of fits with the things they’ve said in the past,” he said. “Their initial goal is to start large and work their way down.” In recent years, the University has seen a surge in the number of outside complaints received regarding student copyright violation. Once a complaint is taken, the student is notified and given a 48-hour period to respond and get rid of their files. If the student fails to respond, or the University receives a second complaint, that student will lose internet privileges. A second
See RIAA, page 3
Olin gets new face, interior By Sarah Ulrey q News Editor From her new office on level three of Olin library, associate dean Virginia Toliver can look out a window while at work for the first time in 21 years. New views and increased natural lighting are just some of the goals of the Olin library renovations scheduled to conclude Apr. 30, 2004. Currently, lower floors A and B, along with upper floor two, are complete. According to Toliver, the project is on schedule with the original construction plans. “It has always been a three-year project because we could not close the library,” said Toliver. The library has remained open while construction closed one floor at a time. The present renovation efforts have focused on the first and third floors of the building. The third floor will closely resemble floor two and is expected to be complete by late November. Plans include studyrooms, wireless Internet access at study tables and comfortable seating surrounding the glass windows that look down into the space that will eventually hold the cyber café.
STUDENT LIFE
The first floor is to be completed in December of this year. During winter break, the building entrance will be moved to the south side of the building. Service desks, which were previously spread to different floors of the library, will be brought together on the first floor. These services include circulation, reserve, interlibrary loan and reference. The final construction will be on the 24-hour cyber café. Food will not be served 24-hours a day, however, and the café will most likely be card access after midnight. There is discussion that library hours may change once the café is available to students. A large goal of the renovation is to make Olin more Internet-accessible. Along with increased coverage areas for wireless access, the Arc Library Technology Center is available to students on floor A. Sarah Bombich is manager of the Arc Center, which opened in March 2003. “I think they have done a really good job of looking at what students’ needs are in this century as opposed to the fifties,” said Bombich. “The construction is a little inconvenient now but I know it will get better.” One Brookings Drive #1039 #42 Women’s Building St. Louis, MO 63130
Junior Ryun Miller was pleased by the Arc Center and compared the previous condition of Olin to the future renovated areas. “The library used to be really bad and musty,” said Miller. “I think it will smell a lot better and architecturally it will look a lot better instead of feeling like a dungeon.” Toliver also anticipates an improvement in the library atmosphere. She already feels the difference in her new office. “I didn’t realize what a difference a window would make because I’ve been here for 21 years without one,” she said. “I think the students will notice the difference, too.” The interior design was formulated to improve the ambiance of the building but keep true to the qualities that won the building awards when it first opened in 1962. The rededication celebrating the official reopening of the building is scheduled for May 7, 2004. “We’ve always had a top collection, our research collection has always been great,” said Toliver. “Now we are going to have a building that matches that greatness.”
EMILY TOBIAS
Mike Jozewicz, senior, studies in the newly opened leveltwoofOlinLibrary.Althoughleveltwoisopen, construction continues.
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