An executive branch Inspector General played a critical role in exposing the IRS's practice of targeting Tea Party groups, says Kathleen Clark, JD, anti-corruption expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “As we see with the IRS controversy, an Inspector General investigation can cause heads to roll. Perhaps that's why some government agencies have been without an Inspector General for a very long time - measured not in months, but in years.” Clark notes that the State Department has been without an Inspector General for more than five years.MORE

Renowned economists will gather Monday, May 20, at the university to pay tribute to Murray Weidenbaum, founder and honorary chairman of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, in a forum tailor-made to highlight his life-long accomplishments. A highly influential economist and policy adviser, Weidenbaum has a legacy in the academic and governmental realms that began in the early 1960s.MORE

Twitter is proving to be an effective tool for local health departments in disseminating health information — especially in promoting specific health behaviors. The latest study, led by Jenine K. Harris, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School, focused on diabetes, a disease that may affect an estimated one-third of U.S. adults by 2050. “We focused on diabetes first, both because of increasing diabetes rates,” Harris says, “and also because people living with diabetes tend to use online health-related resources at a fairly high rate and are an audience already online and on social media.”MORE

The Great Recession, characterized by devastating mortgage defaults, has challenged the conventional wisdom that home ownership is a good investment, particularly for those with low and moderate incomes. But the conventional wisdom on the benefits of owning vs. renting still holds when done right, according to a newly published study led by the Brown School’s Center for Social Development and Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD. Homeowners with low and moderate incomes who participated in this study conducted between 2005-08 achieved higher net worth than their counterparts who rent. This research provides new and important evidence for the current policy debate on low-income homeownership programs,” Grinstein-Weiss says.MORE

Over spring break, Room 37 in the Brown School's Goldfarb Hall was transformed. For the last eight weeks of the semester, Brown School students in 15 courses took part in an experiment in pedagogy that brings teaching — and learning — into a new era. This isn’t your parents’ lecture hall. Say hello to the wired world of interactive instruction — or active learning.MORE

Young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to never see friends, never get called by friends, never be invited to activities and be socially isolated. That’s the finding of new research released online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders that studies the social outcomes of young adults with an ASD. The study is part of a pioneering program of research on adolescents and adults with autism led by Paul T. Shattuck, PhD, associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Lead author is Gael I. Orsmond, PhD, associate professor at Boston University and an expert on the social development of adults with an ASD.

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Religion & Politics, the online journal of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, has been recognized as an official honoree at the 17th Annual Webby Awards in the category of Best Religion & Spirituality Website. MORE