Olivia DrakeDecember 4, 20065min
The men's cross country team encountered a muddy course at the Division III NCAA National Championships Nov. 18, however finished in the top half. (Photos by Steve Maheu) Posted 12/04/06 The Wesleyan Men’s Cross Country team overcame an uneven season of performances to finish in the top half of the field at the Division III NCAA National Championships in Ohio on Nov 18. “We started off running instead of racing,” Men’s Head Coach John Crooke says about the early part of the season. “It’s quite simply competing. Cross country is not about time, it’s about place. When you race, you…

Olivia DrakeDecember 4, 20066min
Laura Grabel, the Fisk Professor of Natural Sciences and professor of biology, received $878,348 for her study on embryonic stem cells. Posted 12/04/06 Wesleyan and one of its researchers were major beneficiaries of the State of Connecticut’s initial round of nearly $20 million in grants to fund non-federally-sanctioned stem cell research. The awarding of the grants was announced on November 22 in Hartford. Wesleyan was a co-recipient with the University of Connecticut of $2.5 million dedicated for the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Core Facility, which will be located in Farmington. Laura Grabel, the Fisk Professor of Natural Sciences and professor…

Olivia DrakeDecember 4, 20067min
Gloster Aaron, Janice Naegele and Laura Grabel will study if stem cell-based treatment in mice brains could possibly control epileptic seizures in human brains. Posted 12/04/06 A $300,000 grant from the McKnight Foundation will help a Wesleyan University researcher investigate the possibility of using brain transplants of embryonic stem (ES) cells to control epileptic seizures in mice. If successful the study could lay the early groundwork for using similar therapy in human beings. Janice Naegele, chair and professor of biology and professor of neuroscience and behavior at Wesleyan, is the principle investigator in the study that will bring together the…

Olivia DrakeDecember 4, 20065min
Posted 12/04/06 Scott Plous, professor of psychology, was named the Connecticut Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). This designation means he is among only 43 professors working in the United States, the District of Columbia and Guam to be considered a 2006 U.S. Professor of the Year. “It was quite a surprise, as you can imagine," Plous says, modestly. The goal of the U.S. Professors of the Year Program is to increase awareness of the importance of undergraduate instruction. In recognizing faculty members…

Olivia DrakeDecember 4, 200614min
Janis Astor del Valle, director of the Green Street Arts Center, says the center's people, young and old, keep her job interesting. She relies on the help of Wesleyan students to create a invigorating artsy environment at the center.   Posted 12/04/06 Q: When did you come to the Green Street Arts Center?A: I first came on board in February 2006 as assistant director; then, when the director resigned in March, I became the interim director. I was promoted to director in June.Q: How did you find out about the GSAC initially? What drew you towards working there?A: About a…

Olivia DrakeDecember 4, 20068min
Benjamin Michael, general manager of WESU 88.1 FM spearheads the Second Annual WESU Holiday Pledge Drive.   Posted 12/04/06 As the only full-time employee and sole general manager of Wesleyan’s college and community radio station, Benjamin Michael says the station wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of the station’s volunteers. It takes Michael and 115 student and community volunteers to broadcast 88.1 FM WESU 24 hours a day. "It's a real partnership and labor of love for all of our volunteers,” Michael says, noting that some programs have been broadcasting for more than 25 years. But, like any other non-commercial…

Olivia DrakeNovember 28, 20061min
A MAP QUEST: Lena Bui '07 and Gil Hasty '10 find their academic building locations on a newly-installed campus map near South College. Physical Plant's Facilities Department installed five new maps at key locations on campus. Additional campus maps are located near Clark Hall, pictured, and the Center for the Arts, near Parking Lot "T" and on the sidewalk along Wyllys Avenue. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett)

Olivia DrakeNovember 17, 20065min
Posted 11/17/06 Daniella Gandolfo has joined the Department of Archeology as an assistant professor.   Her research areas of interest include urban anthropology; urbanization and urban social movements; social and cultural theory; anthropological writing. She has done fieldwork research in Latin America and the United States.    Gandolfo comes to Wesleyan from the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University where she completed her doctoral degree and taught a course on cultural anthropology. Prior to that, she taught in the Department of Anthropology at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. She has gained additional teaching and professional experience from Barnard College…

Olivia DrakeNovember 17, 20067min
Posted 11/17/06 Digital images are changing the way professors teach at colleges and universities, but often only after the huge expense of personal time and resources, according to a new study titled “Using Digital Images in Teaching and Learning,” published on Academic Commons, a Web journal that Wesleyan’s Michael Roy helps to edit. The study, commissioned by Wesleyan University and the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE), suggests ways of how the teaching profession as a whole can harness these new resources in a more efficient manner. “The big story here is that we’ve still got a long…

Olivia DrakeNovember 17, 20063min
Sam Griswold, 2nd-team all-NESCAC, drives a ball past a Montclair opponent Nov. 11. The men's soccer team had a heart-breaking 1-0 loss to end their National Championship run. (Photos by Peter Stein '84) Posted 11/17/06 A goal by Montclair State's Bill Anthes in the game’s 18th minute held up as the home team Red Hawks, ranked eighth nationally, improved to 20-1 with a 1-0 victory over Wesleyan on Nov. 11 in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament. The loss to the New Jersey school ended the Cardinals' season at 11-3-3. It was the second year in a…

Olivia DrakeNovember 17, 20063min
From left, Stephen Angle, associate professor of philosophy; Ronald Jenkins, professor of theater; and Jeff Rider, professor of romance languages and literature, received Fulbright grants for the 2006-07 year. Posted 11/17/06 Three members of the Wesleyan faculty have been awarded Fulbright Scholar grants for the 2006-2007 academic year: Stephen Angle, associate professor of philosophy; Ronald Jenkins, professor of theater; and Jeff Rider, professor of romance languages and literature. They join approximately 800 other U.S. faculty and professional who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Scholar program, which is sponsored by the U.S. department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural…

Olivia DrakeNovember 17, 20065min
The Goldsmith Family Cinema was formally dedicated and celebrated Nov. 17 with the family. Posted 11/17/06. Revised 11.20.06 When he was student at Wesleyan University, John Goldsmith envisioned his college having premier facilities for the burgeoning film studies major. On Nov. 17, Goldsmith returned to Wesleyan with his family to dedicate the Goldsmith Family Cinema, which is housed in the new, award-winning film studies building on Wesleyan's campus."This is just the latest addition to a long-standing labor of love in honor of Jeanine Basinger and the film studies program," says Goldsmith, the CEO of Metropolis, a Los Angeles-based talent firm…