MEN’S BASKETBALL 5 SPORTS, PAGE COMPLIMENT GUYS 6 SCENE, PAGE the independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 Monday, January 31, 2011 Vol. 132, No. 46 www.studlife.com Washington University in St. Louis Lunar New Year fi res up Einstein Bros. opens in Simon JOSH GOLDMAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR The Einstein Bros. Bagels franchise in Simon Hall was scheduled to open at 8:15 a.m. according to a news release from Brian Bannister, associate dean for finance and administration of the Olin Business School. The grand opening was scheduled to feature a ribbon-cutting cer- emony featuring Mahendra Gupta, dean of the business school, Mark Soczek, director of the Center for Experiential Learning, and mem- bers of the student practicum team that recommended installing an Einstein Bros. franchise in the business school. Complimentary coffee and bagel poppers are scheduled to be served until 11 a.m. The new eatery is not run by the Bon Appétit Management Company and will not accept meal plans. The franchise will accept Campus Card points. New fellowship and minor PAUL GOEDEKE | STUDENT LIFE delve into growing fi eld Students look on as fireworks light up the sky on Washington University’s campus for the first time in 10 years. The 10-minute firework display on Mudd Field was part of the annual Lunar New Year celebration, of nanotechnology which also featured free food and dance performances in the Danforth University Center. CHLOE ROSENBERG SADIE SMECK & for through appeals to Student Union there. NEWS EDITOR MICHELLE MERLIN and the Congress of the South 40. “The fireworks set off a good NEWS EDITORS AMC received $3,500 of the requested mood, and I hope [AMC] does this The engineering school is introducing a new nanotechnology program $5,000 from an SU Treasury appeal every year,” Zhao said. that will feature a minor and a fellowship. Hundreds of students gathered at made on Jan. 25. The remaining Yang headed a committee of six to Both students and faculty are excited to participate in an undergraduate Mudd Field Sunday night to kick off $1,500 from CS40. All of the money plan and execute the fireworks display, program in what many call an up-and-coming field. the Lunar New Year with a bang. went to pay the fireworks company, which involved collecting signatures “Nanotech has been a very active area of research and also a new field For the first time in 10 years, fire- J&M Displays. The company has from about 25 University and city offi- that has only been around for one decade or so. The future will just be nan- works crackled over Washington supplied shows throughout the U.S., cials to ensure that the event would be otechnology because everything goes down to a small scale, so it is very University, and students applauded China and the Bahamas. safe and legal. They also had to send important for students to have this knowledge,” said Younan Xia, the James throughout the entire 10-minute “Our goal is to really create a spirit out postcards alerting approximately M. McKelvey Professor of Biomedical Engineering. show. and culture that is inherent behind the 900 households about the event. A two-year grant from the National Science Foundation, worth about The Asian Multicultural Council, Lunar New Year since it is the biggest Students packed the Tisch $200,000, will help fund the laboratories that are necessary to run such a in conjunction with the Lunar New celebration for the majority of East Commons in the Danforth University program. Year Festival (LNYF) committee, Asian countries,” said sophomore Center on Sunday evening to enjoy a Nanotechnology refers to technology on the scale of a nanometer (one-bil- has been planning the event since David Yang, a member of the Asian variety of Asian cuisine and dance lionth of a meter). Its uses are wide-ranging, including nanotech transistors November and has put hours of plan- Multicultural Council. performances that previewed the big in laptops and forms of biotechnology, such as cancer diagnostics. ning into the display. International students in particular show. The program will accept its first round of applicants in the fall of 2011 And the planning paid off to the have missed this tradition, according “We really wanted to create the big- and is open to students majoring in any of the engineering disciplines, as students who went. to Annie Cai, the LNYF president. gest event possible since it is the first well as biology, physics and chemistry. “It was awesome and colorful,” Junior Becky Zhao felt that the year,” Yang said. “We really want the freshman Luke Qiu said. “This is a fireworks kicked off the new year event to go even bigger in the future SEE NANOTECHNOLOGY, PAGE 2 cross-cultural event, and there is a positively. and to stay strong.” lot of diversity here, and everyone “It makes you more excited for the enjoyed it.” new year and reminds me of home,” Write to Michelle Merlin at The cost of bringing back this trea- Zhao said. At home, Zhao and her [email protected] From tiny worm, sured Chinese tradition was $5,000. family would go into Chinatown in Write to Sadie Smeck at The fireworks themselves were paid New York and watch the fireworks [email protected] a viral discovery JENNY LIU Watsky, WU-SLam pack Edison CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Scientists at Washington University have discovered the first naturally-occurring virus that can infect the nematode C. elegans, a 1-millimeter-long, transparent worm commonly used in the lab as a model to investigate complex biological processes. In the ongoing hunt for C. elegans’ natural enemies, this discov- ery is a major milestone. The thoroughly studied worm provides a wealth of genetic and biological tools for scientists to investigate the relationship between virus and host. The viruses are related to nodaviruses, which infect fish and insects but not humans. But the newly discovered viruses share genetic similarities with RNA viruses such as SARS, West Nile, and the common cold, which can infect humans. The study, which was published in the scientific journal PLoS Biology, involved Washington University School of Medicine sci- entists in David Wang’s lab collaborating with scientists in the Jacques Monod Institute in France and Cambridge University in England. Wang is an associate professor in microbiology and in pathology and immunology. The study began when French biologist Marie-Anne Felix found two species of sick worms with unusual intestinal cells in rotting fruit. LANE GOODMAN | STUDENT LIFE Wang, an associate professor in the Washington University Host George Watsky performs an original poem Friday night to open the third annual Grand Slam in Edison Theatre. The event, hosted by WU-SLam, packed the 627 seats of the Edison and drew over 1800 live view- SEE WORM, PAGE 3 ers around the world, according to Kuumba.tv, which hosted an online broadcast of the slam. HOUSING FAIR FEBRUARY 10 >>10 A.M. - 3 P.M. >>> DUC SECOND LEVEL STOP by the FAIR to REGISTER to WIN an iPod TOUCH CONTACT BY POST CONTACT BY EMAIL CONTACT BY PHONE ONE BROOKINGS DRIVE #1039 [email protected] NEWSROOM 314.935.5995 #330 DANFORTH UNIVERSITY CENTER [email protected] ADVERTISING 314.935.6713 ST. LOUIS, MO 63130-4899 [email protected] FAX 314.935.5938 2 STUDENT LIFE MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2011 theflipside MONDAY 31 MONDAY 31 TUESDAY 1 WINTRY MIX 34 / 28 Special Address to the WUSTL Performing Arts Department Dance Performance: Community. “A Vision for Innovation “Weaving Traditional Japanese Dance and American & Entrepreneurship at Washington Postmodern Dance.” University in St. Louis.” Annelise Mertz Dance Studio at Mallinckrodt Center, 7:30 pm Eric P. Newman Education Center, Medical Julie Alexander, the Margaret Marcus Artist-in-Residence, TUESDAY 1 Campus, 3 p.m. will present excerpts from Yasuko Yokoshi’s “Tyler Tyler.” Keynote speaker Mark S. Wrighton, The event will be free and open to the public. Alexander is in WINTRY MIX Chancellor, followed by additional residence Jan. 31 through Feb. 2 to conduct a series of master 29 / 19 speakers, presentations and an classes. She is a 2002 University graduate and a dance artist interactive panel discussion. There now based in New York. will be a reception at 5 p.m. RSVP to Mariellen Dennett at dennettm@wustl. Community Service Offi ce Blood Drive edu or (314) 362-7010. All day, campus wide Give your blood to those in need! There will be multiple Spring Activities Fair donor locations set up around campus. Danforth University Center, 4:30 p.m. NANOTECHNOLOGY Student groups will hand out information FROM PAGE 1 on how to become active on campus. Students who minor in nanotechnology will take an intro- ductory course, taught by Xia, where they will learn about the principles of the field. The course will feature nanotechnology experts as guest lecturers. Following this class, students will take nanotech lab courses. According to Xia, there is a great deal of interest in the pro- gram. Many students have already inquired into the details of Gephardt Institute program the minor. “I think that it is pretty cool that the school is providing so many different areas of study,” said sophomore Alex Padovano, targets public-service careers a biomedical engineering major. Freshman Joe McDonald is interested in taking some of the classes in the minor. “I think it shows that the school is very progressive ... they are benefit from this program,” said Jenni Harpring, pro- following the new technologies that are coming out so they can Training for sophomores in gram manager at the Gephardt Institute.