Olivia DrakeMarch 1, 20067min
Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, examines the fossils of sea creatures from her office in Exley Science Center. Thomas extracted her samples from the ocean's floor. She says they are more than 65 million years old. Posted 03/01/06 The largest habitat on Earth lies hundreds to thousands of feet beneath sea level, in a dark, near-freezing, high-pressure environment with little food. About 65 million years ago, the life forms living on the ocean-floor in this habitat survived the an asteroid impact, which probably wiped out the dinosaurs and many other forms of life on land and…

Olivia DrakeMarch 1, 20065min
Phil Cotharin, temperature controls mechanic/energy management specialist, is helping Wesleyan significantly reduce energy waste and save money. A new initiative, Project $AVE, will work with the campus community to implement energy-saving ideas. Posted 03/01/06 During the past two years:The Purchasing Office negotiated purchasing contracts, competitive bidding and individual purchasing negotiations, saving $800,000.Wesleyan Station contracted with a new vendor for handling first-class university mail services to save $4,000 annually.The Freeman Athletic Center added energy-efficient fixtures, automated light sensors and high efficiency pumps to provide a rebate of $18,300.Waste management efficiencies consolidated four dumpsters into one trash compactor at a central location,…

Olivia DrakeMarch 1, 20067min
Pictured at top, right, Yashan Zhou '09 and Mo Sarakun '07 teach seventh graders from Woodrow Wilson Junior High School how to make their own sushi rolls. Pictured at left, Ada Fung '06 teaches the students how to paint cherry blossoms on rice paper.Pictured below, Alex Weber '06 teaches martial arts and the history of the shaolin. Posted 03/01/06 Seventh-grader Liam Wolfram had tried sushi at Japanese restaurants, but he’s never attempted to make his own. Last month, Liam did just that as he and 25 of his classmates from Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Middletown experienced a taste of…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 28, 20061min
CHINESE PAINTING: Pictured at left, center, artist Zhang Hong, from the Art and Industrial Design College at Beijing Institute of Technology, teaches Chinese ink painting during a demonstration-workshop Feb. 2 at the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies. Hong presented a slide-show and history on the art form, and introduced the 20 participants to the tools and techniques of traditional Chinese painting. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett)

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20067min
Pictured left to right, front row: Gloster Aaron, assistant professor of biology; John Seamon, professor of psychology; Janice Naegele, associate professor of biology; John Dekker, candidate, department of neurobiology, Harvard Medical School; Megan Carey, postdoctoral fellow, neurobiology department, Harvard Medical School; Allan Berlind, professor of biology, emeritus; Joshua Gooley, postdoctoral fellow, Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital; David Bodznick, professor of biology; Harry Sinnamon, professor of psychology; John Kirn, chair, neuroscience and behavior program and associate professor, biology; Back row: Sam Sober, postdoctoral fellow, Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience, UCSF and Mauricio Delgado, assistant professor, department of psychology,…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 200610min
  David Beveridge, pictured at right, the University Professor of the Sciences and Mathematics and professor of chemistry studies molecular dynamics of biological molecules and systems with postdoctoral fellow Bethany Kormos and research associate Surjit Dixit. Posted 02/16/06   By simulating complex protein and polynucleotide structures on a supercomputer, a Wesleyan professor has been able to study one the fundamental events that lead to gene expression in biological systems. David Beveridge, University Professor of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics, professor of chemistry, has spent the past 20 years studying various aspects of the structures, molecular motions and binding properties of…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20069min
Ronald Ebrecht, university organist, plays Wesleyan's concert organ, which he designed for the Memorial Chapel. Below, the organ pipes are installed in the chapel. (Photos by Bill Burkhart)   Posted 02/16/06 Q: When did you become the Wesleyan organist and visiting instructor in music?A: I came to Wesleyan in 1988. Q: How did you begin playing the organ and where? A: I started as a young child, maybe around the age of 10. I loved the organ like kids love fire trucks.Q: Did you have an interest in piano that led to the organ?A: I didn’t want anything to do…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20064min
Posted 02/16/06 Wesleyan received a $200,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support an ongoing lecture series titled Ethics, Politics and Society. The award was given in honor of Douglas Bennet’s 10 years as president of Wesleyan University. “Wesleyan’s history of diversity, openness, and activism provides an environment that embraces the opportunity for scholarly discourse around issues of ethics, politics and society,” Bennet wrote in the endowment proposal. “As a liberal arts college, we have a responsibility to produce graduates who are able to think and act strategically within an ethical and moral framework. A permanent lecture fund,…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20068min
Pictured left to right, 9-year-old Monica gets homework help from Wesleyan basketball players Gabe Gonzalez-Kreisberg '09, Jared Ashe '07 and Nick Pelletier '08 during the Green Street Arts Center After School Program. Below, Gonzalez-Kreisberg, who helped launch an ongoing tutoring volunteer initiative goes over a book report with 7-year-old J.J. (Photos by Olivia Drake) Posted 02/16/06 Students involved in Middletown’s Green Street Arts Center After School Program look up to Wesleyan University’s basketball team in more ways than one. “They always tell me that I’m so tall!” exclaims Gabe Gonzalez-Kreisberg, a 6-ft. 8-inch tall Wesleyan freshman, recalling how students he…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20063min
Posted 02/16/06 Judith Brown, vice president for academic affairs and provost, will step down from her position June 30. She will spend a year on sabbatical, and return to Wesleyan as a professor of history in 2008.   Brown was recruited six years ago to help Wesleyan achieve its highest academic aspirations as a liberal arts university.    “Judith brought extraordinary intelligence and commitment to what is surely one of the most difficult jobs in university administration,” says President Doug Bennet. “I speak for the trustees and all of us in thanking her for her leadership and celebrating her plan…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 1, 20068min
Kate Mullen, head women's basketball coach, stands outside the Freeman Athletic Center. She has coached Wesleyan athletes for 14 years.   Posted 02/01/06 Q: When did you become the head women’s basketball coach at Wesleyan?A: The 1992-93 year was my first year at Wesleyan.Q: What is your record so far this year?A: As of Jan. 30, we are 13-5 overall and tied with Bates for first place in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with a 5-1 conference record, Q: In the last three seasons, you’ve had an exceptional 63-13 record. And in 2004-05, you led the team…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 1, 200610min
Mary Bolich, head of men's and women's swimming, wants her swimmers to be mentally strong in the pool and in the classroom.   Posted 02/01/06 Q: Mary, where did you grow up and when did you develop an interest in swimming?A: I grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, a town just outside of Philadelphia. The neighborhood I grew up in had a summer club pool just down the street from my home. My siblings and I lived at the pool each summer. I would say this is where my early interest in swimming started.Q: Where did you attend college and what…