David LowNovember 30, 20092min
Brooklyn, N.Y. resident Bridget Palardy ’05 has received the inaugural JT3 Artist Award of Distinction for emerging filmmakers for her short film Middletown B-Boys, a compelling dance-filled documentary that was shot in Middletown, Conn. Palardy and four other innovative young filmmakers from Brooklyn were honored at the first-ever JT3 Artist Awards at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Oct. 22 in a celebration with director Adam Brooks (Definitely, Maybe) and hosted by Tony-award nominated actor Brandon Victor Dixon. A nonprofit foundation created in memory of the dynamic young writer/director/producer Jesse Thompkins III, who died in a tragic traffic accident last year,…

David LowNovember 30, 20093min
In his third poetry collection, Tourist (NYQ Books, 2009), Sanford Fraser ’54 reveals a mastery of the lyric form and plainspoken language. The collection is divided into three sections: Strangers, Roles and Connections. In the first section, the narrator and/or characters in the poems are strangers isolated from and emotionally detached from others; in the second, they play various roles in the world beyond themselves; and finally in the last section, they experience emotional attachments with others. Frasier shares the following observations about his new book: “The busloads of tourists who ride and walk through the streets of my neighborhood…

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20091min
John Bonin, the Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics and Social Science, tutor in the College of Social Studies, delivered the keynote address titled "From Reputation Amidst Uncertainty to Commitment Under Stress: A Decade of Foreign-Owned Banking in Transitioning Economies" at the conference 20 Years of Transition in Central and Eastern Europe: Money, Banking and Financial Markets at London Metropolitan University sponsored by the Center for International Capital Markets at London Metropolitan Business School on Sept. 18.

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20091min
John Bonin, the Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics and Social Science, tutor in the College of Social Studies, is the author of two book reviews.  The first review is of Malcolm Cook's  “ Banking  in Southeast Asia: The Region’s Decisive Decade,” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 3 (Fall) 2009, pp. 555 – 557. The other review is of Janos Kornai's “From Socialism to Capitalism: Eight Essays,” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XLVII, No. 3 (September) 2009, pp. 853 – 856. The journal is published by the American Economics Association.

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20092min
Ernest Heau P’12 and his son, Noah Heau ’12, are the authors of a  novel-length fantasy adventure for young teens called The Lost Rubies of Fennwann. Ernest and Noah wrote the book together while Noah was in middle and high school. The father and son self-published the 268-page book through iUniverse, Inc. in 2009. According to the website, "Co-authors Ernest and Noah Heau are father and son. Their story-telling career began when Noah was 4, when they made up stories on the spot. Over the years they created many hand-written and hand-illustrated stories. The Lost Rubies of Fennwann is their…

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20091min
Norm Shapiro, professor of romance languages and literatures, is the author and translator of the book Labiche & Co: Fourteen One-Acts by a French Comic Master, published by Performing Books. The book will be released in December 2009. Among the plays included are Bosom Friends, The Brat, A Bee or Not a Bee, It's All Relative, The Unshakeable Suitor, A Nest-Egg Well Scrambled, and A Slap in the Farce, which is currently being performed at Harvard University. In addition, Yale University Press has accepted Shapiro's recent collection of translations from the poetry of French Romantic poet Théophile Gautier to appear in…

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20091min
Wesleyan University Press received a $50,000 grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, to support publication of five books in 2010, as part of a new series. The grant includes fuding for four distinct types of poetry book, including second books and translations, and for a book in any genre by a Connecticut author. Together the books will be known as the “The Driftless Series.” Driftless books for 2010 will include: Exposition Park by Roberto Tejada, Rococo and Other Worlds by Afzal Ahmed Syed, translated by Musharraf Farooqi, Elegguas by Kamau Brathwaite, A Spicing of Birds: Poems by Emily Dickinson,…

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20091min
Johan Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor in Earth Science, and Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, presented papers at the Estuaries and Coasts in a Changing World conference of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation in Portland, Ore. Nov. 1-5. Their talks were titled "Proxies for Eutrophication in Long Island Sound" and " Hypoxia in Long Island Sound - Since When and Why."

Olivia DrakeNovember 30, 20091min
Wesleyan University was named the 2009 Most Vegetarian-Friendly College in the United States by Peta2. According to the Peta2 website, “the acclaimed liberal arts college, which has a history of social justice activism, lives up to the hype when it comes to vegan options. Some of the creative choices offered include veggie chicken red curry with steamed broccolini and organic jasmine rice, three-mushroom vegan ragu with penne pasta, and barbecue seitan. Following last year’s second-place finish, Dining Services officials pulled out all of the stops in 2009, even setting up voting stations around campus to rally support from their well-fed…