Olivia DrakeApril 6, 20102min
Q: Michelle, when did you come to Wesleyan? A: I arrived on campus in August, 2007 to work as a development officer in University Relations. Q: What department are you part of? A: Major gifts. We solicit financial gifts of $100,000 and higher. Q: How many alumni do you generally work with? A: Around 225 alumni and parents. For the most part, we do maintain relationships with the same individuals. Q:  How do you encourage alumni to support Wesleyan during these economically difficult times? A: I think last year was more of a challenge than this year appears to be.…

Olivia DrakeApril 6, 20101min
Melanye Price, adjunct associate professor of government, coordinator of internships, is the author of the book Dreaming Blackness: Black Nationalism and African American Public Opinion, published by New York University Press in 2009. In Dreaming Blackness, Price explores the current understandings of Black Nationalism among African Americans, providing a balanced and critical view of today’s black political agenda. She argues that Black Nationalism continues to enjoy moderate levels of support by most black citizens but has a more difficult time gaining a larger stronghold because of increasing diversity among blacks and a growing emphasis on individualism over collective struggle. She…

Olivia DrakeApril 6, 20102min
James McGuire, professor of government, professor of Latin American studies, is the author of the book, Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America, published by Cambridge University Press, 2010. Why do some societies fare well, and others poorly, at reducing the risk of early death? Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America examines this question and finds that the public provision of basic health care and other inexpensive social services has reduced mortality rapidly even in tough economic circumstances, and that political democracy has contributed to the provision and utilization of such social services,…

Olivia DrakeApril 6, 20101min
Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, and Seth Redfield, assistant professor astronomy, are co-authors of the article, "Gas Absorption in the KH 15D System: Further Evidence for Dust Settling in the Circumbinary Disk," published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 711, Issue 2, pp. 1297-1305 in March 2010. Their data supports a picture of a particular circumbinary disk as being composed of a very thin particulate grain layer composed of millimeter-sized or larger objects that are settled within whatever remaining gas may be present. Herbst also is the author of "Periodic variability in the emission spectrum of…

Olivia DrakeApril 6, 20103min
Articles in Newsweek and the Cleveland Plain Dealer both tackle the topic of the country’s increasing obesity rate with Newsweek calling it a “Culture of Corpulence” and the Plain Dealer worrying that “Cutting Childhood Obesity Could Involve Controversial Measures.” Both turn to William Dietz ’66, M.D., Ph.D and the director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for his insight. “If you want people to make the right choices, they need to have the right choices to make," Dietz tells Newsweek, suggesting that the availability of nutritious, low-cost food choices…