Wrighton: NSB appointment confirmed

Senate confirms Wrighton to National Science Board

By Tony Fitzpatrick

The U.S. Senate confirmed Dec. 15 the appointment of Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton to the National Science Board. Wrighton's term will run through May 10, 2006.

President Clinton nominated Wrighton to the position last May.

Congress established the National Science Board (NSB) in 1950 to serve as an independent national science policy adviser to the president and Congress, and to oversee and guide the activities of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The act that created the NSF stipulated that the foundation consist of a National Science Board and a director.

"I am pleased to be confirmed by the Senate to serve as a member of the National Science Board," Wrighton said. "I look forward to working with the other members to guide and develop the mission of the National Science Foundation and assist in the formulation of U.S. science policy."

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WU, Zoo, Botanical Garden and Science Center to collaborate

By Tony Fitzpatrick

The University has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that unites University scientists and education specialists with three St. Louis science institutions in an effort to create exciting biology curricula for area middle and secondary students.

The St. Louis Zoo, the Missouri Botanical Garden and the St. Louis Science Center will lend their personnel and resources to the University and to area schools, turning their famed institutions into "living laboratories" that will help inquiry-based science activities be developed in eight different study areas.

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Flanagan's 'Thinker on Rock' sculpture coming to campus

By Liam Otten

A new --and decidedly whimsical --figure will be making his mark on campus starting this semester. In fact, you won't be able to miss him. He'll be the 12-foot-tall bronze bunny rabbit.

"Thinker on Rock" (1997), by the internationally acclaimed Welsh sculptor Barry Flanagan, depicts a lanky hare seated on an upturned boulder, hand at chin in a pose of contemplation that recalls Rodin's famous "Thinker."

The Gateway Foundation, a private organization supporting cultural and artistic projects in the St. Louis metropolitan area, is loaning the work to the University. The piece will be installed in the grassy space immediately east of Mallinckrodt Center, as weather permits.

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Talent to bring congressional experience to WU as first Brookings Fellow

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Talent has been named to a two-year appointment as the University's first Robert S. Brookings Fellow.

In his new role, Talent will be associated with Arts & Sciences, the School of Law and the Olin School of Business.

Talent concluded four terms as Missouri's 2nd District representative in Congress and was the Republican Party's candidate for Missouri governor last fall.

"I am delighted that Jim Talent has agreed to become the University's first Robert S. Brookings Fellow," Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said. "His record of public service and his insider's knowledge of the U. S. Congress will provide our students with valuable insights into the political process, and he will be an excellent resource for our students who wish to pursue internships and careers in public service."

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Talent: To teach here in Arts & Sciences

Dred Scott documents now accessible on Web

By Jessica N. Roberts

An important piece of U.S. history is now available online.

The University, the St. Louis Circuit Court and the Missouri State Archives have collaborated to publish a Web site --hosted by the University --containing 170 pages of court documents chronicling Dred and Harriet Scott's unsuccessful fight to gain freedom from slavery.

The site's official release was announced in a Martin Luther King Day press conference at the Civil Courts Building downtown.

The Web site, www.library. wustl.edu/vlib/dredscott, is culled from months of preserving, scanning, archiving and transcribing documents from the cases concerning the Scotts that were tried in St. Louis courts between 1846 and 1852.

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