Olivia DrakeNovember 17, 20066min
Residential Life student-staff members for the Butterfields and 156 High Street and 200 Church Street are among those trained by Residential Life's award-winning Social Justice Training Program. Posted 11/17/06 A program developed by Wesleyan’s Residential Life received the Program of the Year Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), based in Washington DC. The Social Justice Training Program, spearheaded by Residential Life’s area coordinators, teaches and trains about 100 student-staff members on the topics of social justice, the cycle of socialization, dominant and subordinate group dynamics, privilege and power and the action continuum. It also stresses liberation…

Olivia DrakeNovember 17, 20063min
Wesleyan is raising awareness and support for the Middlesex United Way. Posted 11/17/06 Each fall, Wesleyan employees have an opportunity to demonstrate an enduring connection with the greater Middletown community by simply making a donation to the Middlesex United Way. By giving to the Middlesex United Way, Wesleyan employees are insuring that the local community has greater access to essential health and human services. Contributions to United Way have translated into disaster relief, support services for the homebound and disabled, emergency food and shelter and after school programs. Middlesex United Way is working to fight the root causes of chronic…

Olivia DrakeNovember 17, 200611min
Lea Carlson, administrative assistant for the Film Studies Department and Cinema Archives, interacts with faculty and students on a daily basis.   Posted 11/17/06 Q: Lea, when did you begin working at Wesleyan as the administrative assistant for Cinema Archives and the Film Studies Department? A: August 20, 2001, and this is the first department that I’ve worked in at Wesleyan.Q: Where was your office located when you started, and what are your thoughts on the new Center for Film Studies building?A: My office was located in the Cinema Archives building when I first started here. I was so lucky…

Olivia DrakeNovember 1, 20067min
Gil Skillman, professor of economics and Joyce Jacobsen, the Andrews Professor of Economics are the co-editors of the Eastern Economics Journal. Posted 11/01/06 Two Wesleyan professors are devoted to making one of the country’s leading economic journals even better. Joyce Jacobsen, the Andrews Professor of Economics and Gil Skillman, professor of economics, are the co-editors of the Eastern Economics Journal. Jacobsen and Skillman volunteered to assume editorship of thee publication in July 2005. They will complete their term in 2010. “This is a rewarding opportunity as well as an important service to the profession,” Skillman says. “Helping authors turn a…

Olivia DrakeNovember 1, 20062min
Posted 11/01/06 Walter Grockowski, a former Wesleyan trainer and trainer for the 1972 Winter Olympics, has died at the age of 86. Grockowski died Oct. 25 at High View Health Care Center in Middletown. He began his 39-year tenure in the Athletic Department in 1947. He became the school's head athletic trainer in 1973, a position he held until retirement in 1986. His involvement in athletics went beyond the university. For many years, Grockowski helped with athletic events around Middletown, where he made his home, especially events organized by the city parks department and the American Legion. A native of…

Olivia DrakeNovember 1, 20064min
Dana Royer, assistant professor of earth and environmental science, presented his research on leaf economics at the Geological Society of America in October. Posted 1./1./6/font> Many scientists have long believed a major clue to rapid global warming is locked in leaf fossils that are millions of years old. Dana Royer, assistant professor of earth and environmental science, has just found a key. Royer and colleagues have generated a reliable method to ascertain from fossils from the Eocene period, 34 million to 56 million years ago, the leaf mass per unit of leaf area, an important trait that is related to…

Olivia DrakeNovember 1, 20065min
Wesleyan Fulbright Program Advisor Krishna Winston helps students apply for the Fulbright grants. Six students received the award this fall. Posted 11/01/06 For the second year in a row, the Chronicle of Higher Education named Wesleyan as one of the “Top Producers of Fulbright Awards for U.S. Students.” The report was published in the Oct. 20 edition. Under the “Bachelor’s Institutions” category, Wesleyan tied for 9th place with St. Olaf College of Northfield, Minn. and Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. In 2006-07, Wesleyan had 23 Fulbright applicants, with six students receiving awards. The students who were awarded Fulbrights are: Cara…

Olivia DrakeNovember 1, 20066min
Posted 11/01/06 When it comes to global warming, where on earth are we going? That is the question scholars hope to answer during the 3rd Annual Robert Schumann Environmental Studies Symposium titled: “Where on Earth Are We Going? Global Climate Change and Vulnerabilities: A Perspective for the Future.” The event is open to the public and takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 11 at Exley Science Center Room 150. “Given the trend of global warming, we need to think about these issues and prepare for them and adapt,” says Barry Chernoff, the Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental…

Olivia DrakeNovember 1, 200612min
Lisa Currie, director of health education at WesWELL, promotes mindfulness and responsibility in all areas of health and wellness in order to prevent disease, injury and other health problems.   Posted 11/01/06 Q: Lisa, the Davison Health Center is home to three health-related offices, WesWELL, Health Services and the Office of Behavioral Health. How do these divisions differ?A: WesWELL is the health education office so we focus on prevention education on health issues relevant to college students. Health Services is our medical clinic, which provides treatment and preventative care for illness, injury, sexual health, travel consults and such, while the…

Olivia DrakeNovember 1, 20067min
David Meyer, director of Public Safety, oversees two captains, four supervisors and 20 officers and patrol people that work around the clock.   Posted 11/01/06 Though David Meyer wears plain clothes to work every day, he still has the approach and sensibilities of an officer in uniform. In the past 27 years, Meyer has worked his way up the ranks from patrol person to officer to supervisor to captain. In October 2005 he was named interim director and in May 2006, he was promoted to director of Public Safety. “It’s a unique position to be in because as the director,…

Olivia DrakeOctober 28, 20063min
A SPECIAL COLLECTION: Kendall Hobbs, reference librarian, and Suzy Taraba, university archivist and head of Special Collections, flip through the pages of Secret City of Broken Scams. This book, written by Fred Rinne and illustrated by Scott Williams, was one of 30 artists books on display during the Artists' Books Open House hosted by Special Collections and Archives Oct. 12. The open house display featured a pop-out three-dimensional book titled The Veil, written by Julie Chen and published by Flying Fish Press of Berkley, Calif. Books owned by Special Collections & Archives cannot be checked out, but they are all…

Olivia DrakeOctober 16, 20065min
Shengqing Wu, assistant professor of East Asian languages and literatures, is an expert on modern Chinese literature and culture.   Posted 10/16/06 Shengqing Wu has joined the Asian Languages and Literatures Department and East Asian Studies Program as an assistant professor. Wu, a native of Hangzhou, China specializes in modern Chinese literature and intellectual history. “Wesleyan’s commitment to the excellence of liberal arts education, its top-notch faculty, the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, and its convenient geographical location were all big attractions for me,” she says. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in Chinese literature at Fudan…