Whiz Kid

U City Student Receives Award from UMSL

University City's Gianni Cook was honored for his foreign language skills.

A student from University City High School was honored recently for his achievement in studying a foreign language. Gianni Cook was among 24 St. Louis-area high school students who received a Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Languages during a ceremony on March 21, according to a news release from University of Missouri–St. Louis.  This is the first year for the event, which is held by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. “The goal of our event is to celebrate the study of foreign languages and encourage students to continue this pursuit at the university level,” stated Ron Yasbin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, in the release. 

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U City Resident, UMSL Professor Wins Princeton Fellowship

John Brunero, associate professor of philosophy and a University City resident, has been awarded a Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellowship.

UMSL Offers Free Viewing of Pan-STARRS Comet

The first viewing of the season is Saturday, March 16.

Sky gazers can catch a glimpse of the comet Pan-STARRS as it treks across the night sky during a free public viewing at 7:30 p.m. on March 16 at the Richard D. Schwartz Observatory at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. According to NASA, the comet will appear as a bright point of light with its diffuse tail pointing nearly straight up from the horizon like an exclamation point. The viewing also offers the opportunity to spot Jupiter, Orion Nebula and Pleiades. The Schwartz Observatory offers a monthly open house in the evenings from March through November. All open houses include a viewing of the first quarter moon, along with additional nebulae and galaxies. The viewings are free and open to the public. The sessions are presented by …

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Part II: An interview With Local Michael Costello, A Key Figure in Local Soccer Circles

After enjoying a local international legal career, Olivette resident turns to teaching at UMSL.

This is Part 2 of an interview with St. Louis native, former U. City resident now Olivette dweller who teaches in semi-retirement at UMSL. Yesterday, Costello talked about the particulars of his international business and legal career for several Fortune 500 countries. Today, he talks about how soccer fits neatly into his life. Patch: Lets switch subjects. How in the world did you get involved in soccer. Costello:  I started after I finished law school, I did post-graduate study in Europe. You can’t be there very long without being exposed to soccer.  (They call it football). The first time I got to London, all these people were wearing hideous scarves in the bars.Turns out, they were wearing the colors of their favorite soccer teams. When…

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Michael Costello: Local International Attorney Now Teaches Business at UMSL

Olivette resident fluent in various languages and puts that skill to good use. Part 1.

This is part 1 of a two-part interview with Michael Costello, University City resident who moved recently to Olivette. Costello talks about his teaching duties in the business school at UMSL. Michael J. Costello is a life-long St. Louisan who has made his mark in international business. A graduate of St. Louis U. High, he holds a Juris Doctorate (law degree) from Saint Louis University, and has served s general counsel for Agribrands business and was international counsel for Monsanto Co and Ralston Purina. Costello, age 60 moved with his family from Ames Place in University City to Covington Lane in Olivette three years ago. In semi-retirement, he is an assistant teaching professor at UMSL in the College of Business Administration, and is…

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Excellent Educators

STARS Student Has Science in Her Genes

MICDS student is mentored by University City resident.

At 15, with college right around the corner, Preethi UmaShanker has been giving a lot of thought to the universal question that plagues most teenagers, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Fortunately for UmaShanker, she has a jump on the answer. “Science is definitely a path I want to take,” said the resident of St. Charles, Mo., who is entering her junior year at Mary Institute and Country Day School in Ladue. This summer, UmaShanker joined more than 80 students from 33 high schools taking part in the 2012 STARS program at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. STARS stands for Students and Teachers as Research Scientists. The program pairs students with top research mentors from UMSL, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Saint …

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Students to Work With Scientists During STARS Program

Annual summer program begins June 11 at UMSL.

Academically talented high school juniors and seniors will get a chance this summer to research everything from plant responses to environmental stress, to a protein important for nervous system differentiation and cancer, during the 2012 STARS program at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. STARS stands for Students and Teachers as Research Scientists. The program pairs students with top research mentors from UMSL, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis and the Solae Company. This year’s program will run June 11 through July 20 at UMSL. Besides conducting research and presenting papers, students will be introduced to information and skills needed for applications to colleges …

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Encore: U City High School’s Class of 2012 Exits Stage Right

University City High School acknowledges the efforts of its 2012 senior class one last time.

The University of Missouri St Louis’s Mark Twain building was host to a celebration May 29. Friends and family members of University City High School’s 2012 senior class watched as their loved ones took a step into adulthood through graduation. With the National Anthem performed by Luke Babich, Joshua Thames, and Demetrious Clayton, the ceremony was underway. The evening’s student speakers took the form of class president Shayla Jackson, salutatorian Joseph Egan, valedictorian Conner Crowe and YWCA Future Leader Emma Mutrux.  In his commencement address, Conner declares “It is better to take risks than to never accomplish anything.”  Likewise, Mutrux also encouraged her classmates to look beyond even their college aspirations.  …

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University City High School Graduation Is Tonight

The class of 2012 will hold commencement exercises at UMSL.

12 pm. Update: There was an error in the graduation program. The class valedictorian is Conner Crowe and the salutatorian is Joseph Egan. University City High School will celebrate the class of 2012 tonight. Graduation ceremonies begin at 6:30 p.m. at the University of Missouri - St. Louis in the Mark Twain Athletic Center. The welcome address will be given by Senior Class President Shayla Jackson. Salutatorian Emma Mutrux and co-valedictorians Conner Crowe and Joseph Egan will also speak. Interim High School Principal Dayle Burgdorf and Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt are slated for remarks as well. Are you the proud parent of a member of the Class of 2012. Shout about it on Patch!

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Thinking Out Loud With the Intellectually Curious

Why do we think about certain things? Why do we do certain things?

A three-day conference for the thinking person gets under way May 20 at the Moonrise Hotel in St. Louis. The St. Louis Annual Conference on Reasons and Rationality or SLACRR is sponsored by the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis. It runs through May 22.  The conference provides a forum for new work on practical and theoretical reason. The keynote speaker is Jonathan Dancy. He is a philosophy professor at the University of Texas at Austin. But non-philosophy folks may know him as the father of actor Hugh Dancy and father-in-law to actress Claire Danes. He’s even made a guest appearance on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Dancy’s main area of expertise is moral philosophy. His keynote address is …

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