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The Wesleyan Connection: Campus Snapshot

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COOKIN’ IT UP AFTER WWII: An exhibition titled “Cookbooks and Gender in Postwar America,” is on display at Olin Memorial Library through March 31. The exhibit brings together 30 cookbooks and printed ephemera that document cooking and gender in midcentury America, and explores the changing social conditions under which Americans lived and worked after the war.

Professor’s Book to Kick-off Reading Celebration

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Matthew Sharpe, assistant professor of English, is the author of “The Sleeping Father,” which will be part of Norwalk’s “One Book, One Community” celebration.
 
Posted 02/23/05
More than 20 publishers rejected the manuscript for “The Sleeping Father.” But one small independent publisher, Soft Skull Press, decided to take a chance. Since then, “The Sleeping Father” has earned critical praise, won the 2004 Independent Publishers Award for fiction in 2004 and been part of the “The Today Show Book Club.”
  In April it will receive one more distinction: the town of Norwalk will kick off its first “One Book, One Community” celebration with “The Sleeping Father.”   “The success of my book is almost making me revise my glass-is-half-full-of-air outlook on life,” says Sharpe, assistant professor of English.   This is Sharpe’s third published book and, so far, his most successful. More than 30,000 copies have been sold since its release in October 2003.   The “Sleeping Father” is a dark comedy about Bernard, a divorced father of two teenage children, who accidentally takes two incompatible antidepressant medications and lapses into a coma. When he comes out of it, his son and daughter attempt to rehabilitate him.   “The Sleeping Father combines family drama and social satire with elements of the wacky teen caper, all couched in finely-tuned language that is a pleasure to read,” says William Stowe, the Benjamin Waite Professor of English Language in the English Department. “It stands out for its clarity, and it’s up-to-date and playfully postmodern without being self-important or obscure.”
  When writing “The Sleeping Father,” Sharpe wanted to understand the enormous change in American mental healthcare, which he says now relies much more heavily on psychopharmaceuticals than it did even ten years ago.
  Sharpe adds that a The New York Times report indicated 120 million Americans took antidepressants in 2002.   “I know a lot of people who have been substantially helped by antidepressants, and even therapist friends of mine who favor the talking cure say some of their patients are too depressed to talk without the pills,” Sharpe says. “But still, if half the country’s taking them, I think we can safely say they’re over prescribed.”   Characters in “The Sleeping Father” have a comic bent, but Sharpe says they are decidedly realistic.
  “The book is always humane,” he says. “The characters may sometimes behave like figures out of a comic book or a laugh-track sitcom, but they are fully developed and elicit caring not just amusement.”   Sharpe, who joined the English Department last September, said some of his most profound influences have not been writers but people working in other fields. James Ensor, Julius Hemphill, Marlon Brando, and Violeta Parra, among others, have inspired him.
  Sharpe wrote his first story when he was 10 years old about a bulldog who was a construction worker.   “It was hard to write that first story and it’s been hard to write every story since then,” he says. “So why do I still do this? Because the career as an international supermodel didn’t pan out.”   Sharpe will also make a presentation about “The Sleeping Father” during a luncheon at the Norwalk “Festival of Words” on April 9 at Norwalk Community College.   Sharpe’s first book, “Stories from the Tube” is a collection of 10 short stories based on TV advertisements. His first novel, “Nothing is Terrible,” is loosely based on “Jane Eyre” and set in the late 20th century in New York City.
By Olivia Drake, The Wesleyan Connection editor

New Faculty, Renovated Classrooms, Scholarships, Financial Aid all Outcomes of $281M Wesleyan Campaign

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Money from the Wesleyan Campaign helped to fund a variety of initiatives, including new facilities and refurbished facilities like this computer resource center in The Exley Science Center.
Posted 02/23/05

In October 2000, Board of Trustees Chairman Alan M. Dachs ’70 made a pledge to the Wesleyan community:

“I promise you that when you contribute to the Wesleyan Campaign, your gift will produce results and ensure Wesleyan’s legacy for the next generation and generations to come,” he said.

His promise is already being fulfilled.

Five years and $281 million dollars later, Wesleyan has renovated dozens of classrooms, added 20 new faculty positions across the curriculum, offered 140 additional scholarships and rejuvenated Clark Hall, Memorial Chapel and The Patricelli ’92 Theater and Ring Family Stage with the Zelnick Pavilion connecting the buildings. The Rosenbaum squash center with nine courts and the Andersen Fitness Center have also made a presence on campus.

These projects are all made possible through the Wesleyan Campaign, which capped its $250 million goal by $31 million on December 31, 2004.

“With the success of this campaign, we have learned that our alumni, parents and friends are incredibly generous and they know their gifts can help shape the university,” said Barbara-Jan Wilson, vice president for University Relations. “People had a wonderful time when they were students and that’s why they give. They want students to have the same opportunities that they had.”

The priorities of the Campaign came directly from the Strategy for Wesleyan and, of the funds raised, $47,160,000 went towards Endowment for Financial Aid; $48,700,000 to the Freeman Asian Scholars Program; $19,900,000 into the Fund for Excellence; $40,300,000 was directed toward Faculty and Academic Programs; $46,100,000 to support new facilities and the Campus Renewal Fund; $57,000,000 into the Wesleyan Annual Fund. An additional $21,800,000 pledged is currently undesignated.

Because of generous gifts to support financial aid, students are borrowing on average $8,000 less over their four years at Wesleyan.

“The students are the life blood of this institution, and lowering their post Wesleyan loans was one of our biggest priorities,” Wilson said. “The students are already seeing the effects of the campaign in their scholarship packages and through the physical environment.”

A record-setting 68 percent of alumni participated in the campaign, along with 3,472 parents, 219 corporations and foundations and more than half of the senior faculty.

This was Wesleyan’s second official campaign drive, built on the foundation of the Campaign for Liberal Learning, which raised $67 million by 1987. In 1995, a firm advised Wesleyan to set a $100 million goal for the Wesleyan Campaign. Wesleyan continued to set the bar higher. They decided to aim for a quarter of a billion dollars, a number that appealed to John Woodhouse ’53, chair of the Wesleyan Campaign.

“Some donors give $25 a year and 56 individuals or families made commitments of $1 million or more,” said Ann Goodwin, assistant vice president for university relations. “Each and every gift is incredibly important as Wesleyan continues to provide an excellent education for our students. We asked people to stretch for Wesleyan and they did!”

Although the campaign is over, University Relations is building on the momentum of the campaign to focus on the Wesleyan Annual Fund, further increasing the endowment for financial aid and emerging facility priorities, including support for the Usdan University Center and a new Life Sciences building.

The campaign has brought Wesleyan to a new level and it has given us the building blocks to maintain our level of excellence,” Wilson said. “But we can’t rest on our laurels. Excellence is dynamic. It doesn’t just stop.”

A “Thank You” in sound and photos from President Bennet on behalf of Wesleyan can be viewed at http://www.wesleyan.edu/campaign/thankyou/.

By Olivia Drake, The Wesleyan Connection editor

 Campaign Contributions

$281 million was raised through the Wesleyan Campaign, which ended December 31, 2004. As a result, Wesleyan has been able to:

  • Hire 20 new faculty members, improving the student-faculty ratio from 1:11 to 9:1

  • Offer 140 new endowed and current scholarships to students

  • Secure the Freeman Asian Scholars Program, which enrolls 22 top-level Asian students in each class from 11 Pacific Rim countries

  • Create more than 40 multimedia classrooms

  • Build and open the Andersen Fitness Center and Rosenbaum Squash Court

  • Launch a new Center for Faculty Development

  • Design the Usdan University Center. Groundbreaking is planned for March

  • Establish six new professorships

  • Encourage more than 60 science students to participate in summer research each year

  • Convert a former Middletown school into the Green Streets Arts Center

  • Initiate new programs in areas such as environmental studies, genomics and bioinformatics, computational biology and bioethics

  • Develop a Center for Community Partnerships

  • Provide generous financial aid packages, reducing student borrowing by 25 percent

  • Create a visiting scholar-in-residence, an endowment for speakers in Jewish Studies and an endowment to benefit Jewish life activities

  • Build the Zelnick Pavilion and Center for Film Studies

  • Launch an endowment for the College of Social Sciences

  • Renovate the Center for the Americas, the Stewart M. Reid Admission Center, Clark Hall, Memorial Chapel, the Patricelli ’92 Theater and Ring Family Stage, Downey House

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    Study May Affect Future Land Use in Middlesex County

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    Jessica Pfund, ’05 and Phillip Resor, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, observe one of Middletown’s few remaining agricultural sites.
     
    Posted 02/23/05

    It started out with little more than an idea, some old aerial photos and a handmade map. Several months and a lot of hard work by three dedicated people later the result may provide a whole new way to evaluate and influence the look and growth of towns in Middlesex County for years to come.

    Not bad considering it all started out as a question from an inquisitive undergraduate.

    The undergraduate, earth and environmental sciences major Jessica T. Pfund `05, was a student Earth and Environmental Science 322: “Introduction to GIS (Geographical Information Systems),” in the spring of 2004. The class’s instructor, Phillip Resor, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, had brought in a guest speaker, Sandy Prisloe, a geospatial extension specialist from the University of Connecticut’s Center for Land-use Education and Research (CLEAR).

    Prisloe’s presentation included a discussion of how satellite data were being used to quantitatively measure changes in Connecticut’s landscape and to infer the impacts of these changes on the quality of life and the environment.

    “Sandy mentioned that he had a map from the 1970s that showed the areas that were farmland at that time,” says Resor. “He also mentioned that, if someone was motivated to use data that was recently created by a the group at the University of Connecticut showing the land cover in 2002 and compare what was found to the data from 1970, it would be interesting to see how things had changed.”

    Pfund was intrigued, and she was looking for a possible research project.

    “Many of my classmates were doing studies that were more theoretical and scientific,” she says. “This seemed to have scientific and social implications for the local area that could have a relatively immediate impact.”

    After discussing the idea further with Resor, Pfund decided: this would be her project. 

    Aided by a $2,500 grant from the Middlesex County Community Foundation and additional support from the Mellon Foundation and The University of Connecticut, Jessica, who was responsible for the bulk of the data collection, got to work.

    “I don’t think when I started I had an idea of exactly what I was getting into,” Pfund says, now almost a year into the project. “It’s been very interesting and exciting, but it’s also been a lot of work.”

    Much of this was linked to the differences in how the information being examined was generated. The images from the 1970 study were based on a hand-made mylar map that was in turn based on aerial photographs of the county. The information this would be contracted with was generated by images derived from satellite images of the same area in 2002.

    “The images and data didn’t match up,” says Resor. “The satellite images are way precisely located, but can’t image anything smaller than 30 meters. By contrast, the 1970s map was generated by aerial photographs and on the ground surveys that could capture small details, but weren’t necessarily as well located. So we had to find ways to account for the differences.”

    There were some other challenges too. For instance, the old maps identified the land as: “active agricultural,” “inactive agricultural” or “nonagricultural.” GIS images provided more than a dozen different characterizations, including assessments of soil viability for agricultural use and disposition of wetlands.

    Translating the GIS data also had some interpretive challenges that were produced because of how things have been done in the state over the years.

    “Because of the way small plots of land are often used in Connecticut, what LandSat (the satellite) may identify as a large lawn area may actually be an active or inactive cultivated field,” Pfund says. “This meant we had to visit some locations in person to verify exactly what the use was.”

    Currently there is still a substantial amount of data to crunch and quantify, but Resor and Pfund anticipate having the study done sometime in the spring. They will publish a report with Prisloe detailing their findings. There will be public presentations and discussions of the data at town meetings in Middlesex County. The towns can then use the data to better plan new housing and business construction.

    “A lot of towns in Middlesex County are proud of their rural atmosphere,” Resor says. “This information can help them maintain that atmosphere as they move forward with new developments.”

    However, the study has already generated a result that will be producing more benefits for the county. Resor received a service-learning grant from Wesleyan to expand his efforts in these types of studies. This spring, his students are working on similar projects for The Nature Conservancy, The Connecticut River Costal Conservation Commission, The Middlesex Land Trust and the Town of Portland.

    “It’s been pretty interesting to do a scientific study that actually has social implications and affects local issues,” says Pfund. “People don’t often think of scientists working that way.  It’s been a very rewarding project.”
     
    By David Pesci, director of Media Relations

    New Book Features Photos, Recollections of Wesleyan

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    “Wesleyan University: In a New Light” is photographed by William Mercer, a 1964 alumnus. The book is for sale at Broad Street Books.
     
    Posted 02/23/05
    Wesleyan as it appears every day, Wesleyan as you remember it, and Wesleyan as you’ve never seen it before.

    Those are the images and words that fill “Wesleyan University: In a New Light,” a new book produced by University Relations and the Office of Communications.

    Rich with the colors, activities, and faces that populate the campus, the book features 150 high quality images taken during the 2003-2004 academic year by photographer William Mercer ’64. Mercer specializes in “on location photography” and images for specialty books. His images in this volume provide a fresh perspective to Wesleyan’s grand and familiar landmarks, as well as views on the smaller more intimate events that occur throughout the campus community during an academic year.
      President Douglas Bennet ’59 wrote the book’s introductory essay while Joseph F. Siry, professor of art, contributed a piece on Wesleyan’s distinctive architecture. Alumni, faculty from the present and past, and current students also provided short, insightful, personal impressions and recollections about the campus and its people.
    David Low, ’76, associate director of publications, was the book’s editor; Anne Bergen, director of development communications and stewardship was the project manager; Suzy Taraba ’77, the university archivist and head of special collections at Olin Library, served as archival consultant.

    Copies of “Wesleyan University: In a New Light,” are available for $39.95 through Broad Street Books at 860-685-7323 or at www.wes.bkstr.com. Faculty and staff receive a 10 percent discount; departments receive 20 percent off.

    Director of Community Relations Focused on Wesleyan as a Partner with the Community

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    Frank Kuan, director of community relations, stands outside the Center for Community Partnerships.
    Posted 02/23/05
    Q: Community Relations collaborates initiatives between the university and the greater Middletown community. How does this benefit Wesleyan and the community?A: I would echo President Bennet’s sentiment: what is good for Middletown is good for Wesleyan, and vice versa. Wesleyan is a key employer and economic generator in Middletown. Under President Bennet’s leadership, Wesleyan has taken a proactive approach to town-gown relations – of course, the leadership of the City of Middletown has also reciprocated on this positive connection. One of our most recent efforts has been the establishment of the Center for Community Partnerships. The Center is comprised of the Service-Learning Center with Professor Rob Rosenthal, the Office of Community Service and Volunteerism with Cathy Crimmins Lechowicz, our administrative assistant is Migdalia Pinkney and the Office of Community Relations. Our goal is to look for opportunities that further collaborative relationships between Wesleyan and greater Middletown.

    Another key contribution of Wesleyan to the community is in the form of employee contribution to the Middlesex United Way annual community campaign. This past year, I have the pleasure of serving as chair. Because of everyone’s diligence and effort, we raised a record amount of $140,018.18. This money stays in the local community to help with critical needs. Wesleyan University is one of the top three contributors in the County to the Middlesex United Way Community Campaign.

    Q: What are some of your personal goals to strengthen partnerships with the city?

    A: One of my goals is to be visible in the community and to actively participate in local events. Building partnerships between the city and Wesleyan University requires strong collaboration. I try to foster relationships with a diverse constituency. Working with my colleagues in the Center for Community Partnerships will also be a goal. There’s a great deal of synergy in this operation, and it will have a positive impact on strengthening town-gown partnerships. I work for Peter Patton, vice president and secretary of the university, and I look to support the work of his office as well in any way I can.

    Q: How would you describe Wesleyan’s image in the city of Middletown?

    A: I would say that our current relationship and image are generally positive. Folks in town are aware of the myriad of work with which Wesleyan is involved. Main Street Middletown, Inc., The Inn at Middletown, the Green Street Arts Center, Community and University Service for Education, and our work with Macdonough School are just a few of the many community collaborations of Wesleyan. The volunteer involvement of our students and faculty, staff and administration is also significant and appreciated by the local community. Not to say that everything is perfect; town-gown relations are not static. There are always issues to work on, and improvements could always be made. It takes all of us to work together to maintain communication and connection.

    Q: How does Wesleyan help the local economy?

    A: Because of Wesleyan, Middletown receives PILOT funding (Payment in Lieu of Taxes); in 2001, this was $3.6 million. The indirect economic impact of Wesleyan is estimated at $107.3 million this past year. The Center for the Arts brings world-class artists to Middletown, and this certainly enriches the cultural landscape locally. The CFA has increased its community audience by 60 percent over the past four years. Through the Admission Office, we have 15,000 visitors a year to Middletown, and this certainly adds to the vitality of Middletown.

    Q: When did you come to come to Wesleyan, and were you hired in as director of community relations?

    A: I began my work at Wesleyan as the director of community services in June 1998 and worked in this position until June 2002. On a temporary basis, I worked with the Green Street Arts Center. In November 2002, I was appointed to be the director of community relations.

    Q: What is your education background, or what led you to this position?

    A: I have an undergraduate degree in biology with minors in Asian-American Studies and chemistry from California State University, Fresno. I also earned a master’s degree from CSUF in counseling, with an emphasis in career counseling. I would say that having the scientific education helps me to be more analytical with my work. I feel that the counseling background has been helpful in my previous work in community service and now in community relations.

    Q: Are you involved in any community service, personally?

    A: I do my share of volunteering and am involved with a few boards locally – Girl Scouts Connecticut Trails Council, Inc., Northern Middlesex YMCA, North End Action Team, Main Street Middletown, and Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce – Central Business Bureau Executive Board. Over the years I have been active with the Chamber’s Holiday on Main Street and Annual Business After-work Auction. For the past few years, I have also worked with the Friends of Long Hill Estate on a dinner/dance gala to fundraise for the annual summer concert series at Wadsworth Mansion, which is free to the public.

    Q: Why do you feel as though you should volunteer in the Middletown community?

    A: Middletown has been a great place for me over the past twelve years. Being able to give back a little through my volunteer work is one way I can contribute to making Middletown a better community in which to live, work and play.

    Q: On a personal note, let’s be ‘Frank.’ You sound very busy. Do you have any free time?

    A: My life is fairly ordinary, actually. During our free time, my partner, Mike Sciola, and I enjoy going to the movies – Mike would say that this is one of two foundations of our relationship – the other being dining out. Our taste runs the gamut – independent films, blockbusters, B-movies, and horror flicks. We’re not too discriminatory but just enjoy movies in general. It’s a great escape. I also enjoy shopping – Mike would say that I am a “clothes-horse.” I do have a fun tie and watch collection.
    By Olivia Drake, The Wesleyan Connection editor

    Diversity Seminar and Training Scheduled for Faculty and Staff

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    Posted 02/23/05

    Are traditional teaching methods keeping pace with the increasingly diverse population of college students nationwide? Or worse are college faculty shying away from balanced teaching or research on race and ethnicity issues altogether because of the incendiary nature of the topics? 

    These are just some of the issues that were discussed at a seminar titled “Effective Teaching in Racially Diverse Classrooms,” February 28 in the Admission Office’s McKelvey Room.

    The presenter, Franklin A. Tuitt, Ph.D., has done many seminars on the subject of race in the college classroom, as well as extensive research in the subject. This includes a recent stint as a Cabot Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning where he conducted a study on student evaluations on courses taught by black and white faculty. While at Harvard, Tuitt has also developed instructional resources for teaching effectively in racially diverse college classrooms. He also worked as director of residential life and housing at Wesleyan from 1991 to 1994.

    “This program was a wonderful and timely opportunity for faculty to discuss important and complicated issues,” says Judith Brown, Vice President for Academic Affairs. “All of us have a lot to learn about this subject from conversations with each other and with experts in the field.”

    Tuitt’s presentation for Wesleyan faculty will focus on methods for addressing situations that can emerge in racially diverse classrooms, as well as discussing issues that arise when teaching race-related content. There will be opportunity for faculty in attendance to discuss strategies, techniques and case studies related to their own classroom experiences.

    The presentation is the latest installment of the Race in the Classroom Series that is being offered this academic year by the Center for Faculty Career Development and the Office of Affirmative Action.  Other presentations have included: “Stereotype Threat,” presented by Geoffrey Cohen assistant professor of psychology from Yale University and “The History of Whiteness,” presented by Nell Irvin Painter, Edwards Professor of American History, Princeton University.

    “The presentations have been well attended, although there is always room for more,” says Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, professor of classical studies, Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek, and director of the Center for Faculty Career Development. 

    Wesleyan staff will also be attending mandatory specialized diversity training workshops in the coming weeks presented by representatives from the A World of Difference Institute. The training will be called “A Campus of Difference” and will focus on practical skills to challenge prejudice and discrimination and foster inter-group understanding.

    By David Pesci, Director of Media Relations

    New Residences Building Campus Community

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    The Fauver Field Residence Complex, due to open in September, will house up to 269 students.
     
    Posted 02/23/05
    This September, when Wesleyan begins its new academic year, students will move into a new living facility: The Fauver Field Residence Complex. The residences will mark a new step in Wesleyan’s recent history; specifically, the university will be able to accommodate close to 100 percent of its students in university-owned housing.
    The Fauver Field Residence Complex consists of two buildings that together will house up to 269 students including 165 frosh, which will allow virtually all frosh to live in proximity on Foss Hill. Modern apartments in the complex will house 104 upperclass students and will permit the university to sell the out-of-date In-Town apartment complex.
          The design and location of the facilities is the product of a year-long planning process by Wesleyan students, faculty and administration and are part of the university’s long range facilities master plan.   “We have been planning and looking forward to this for a while,” says Marcia Bromberg, Wesleyan’s vice president for Finance and Administration. “It provides the opportunity to strengthen the student community in our central campus while relieving the neighborhoods of the pressures associated with accommodating student housing.”
          University administrators believe that this will improve student-community relations as well as create opportunities for more families in Middletown to rent or buy the homes that were formerly rented by Wesleyan students. The neighborhood close to the university has become very attractive for homeowners and the university has worked closely with area neighborhood associations to further this process.    
          “We see the new plan as a great way to be a better neighbor and strengthen the community on several levels,” Bromberg says. “It really is a win-win for everybody.”

    For more information, please go to: http://www.wesleyan.edu/masterplan/fauver.html
     
    By David Pesci, director of Media Relations

    Stamp of Approval: Assistant Post Office Manager Celebrates 40 Years

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    Assistant post office manager Jerry Winzer hand sorts mail inside Wesleyan Station.
     
    Posted 02/23/05
    After working 28 years at Middletown’s U.S. Postal Service, Gerard “Jerry” Winzer decided to it was time to retire. Winter, he learned, is not the ideal time to call it quits.

    “November was a bad time to retire,” the 62-year-old says. “I wasn’t too crazy about just hanging around. I needed to keep busy.”

    To beat the winter blues, Winzer took up a part-time position at Wesleyan Station delivering mail. Part-time evolved into full-time work, and, this year, the assistant post office manager will celebrate 12 years working at Wesleyan, and his 40th year in the postal services profession.

    Winzer’s workday begins at 7 a.m. when he’s greeted by heaps of unsorted mail. A mail messenger picks up the parcels an hour later to deliver.

    “By 8, I’ve already sorted a lot of mail,” he says noting the dozens of wood shelves he packs with envelopes, papers, publications and packages. “You can’t be a slacker in the post office.”

    Lisa Davis, the post office’s manager deals with budgets, equipment and bill paying. That leaves Winzer to oversee 20 student workers, two full-time office clerks and two full-time mail messengers, who each cover a specified route twice a day. They make approximately 80 stops per route, delivering and collecting mail at more than 100 departments.

    Every letter or publication that comes through Wesleyan Station is hand sorted. With no mail delivery on the weekends, the postal workers have to deal with twice as much mail on Mondays.

    “You should see it in here on a Monday. It’s crazy,” he says.

    Campus mail used to be sorted alphabetically, but Winzer has since developed his own sorting system. Now, mail is bundled up inside Wesleyan Station in order of the carriers’ routes.

    “It runs in order,” he says, glancing over the mail shelves. “If the carrier is in North College, he’ll go to the cashier’s office, then to the top floor for payroll, the trustees, academic affairs, then to the dean’s office, and then he’ll go over to where you’re at, in South College, to communications, to the president’s office, public information, and administration. He just follows that route, so it’s a pretty good system. It’s easy to follow.”

    In addition to mail sorting, rerouting letters, managing the staff and working the window, Winzer spends a portion of his day on a postage metering machine.

    Winzer examines the machine’s counter. It reads “337,062.”

    “Three-hundred-thirty-seven thousand,” he says. “That’s how much money Wesleyan has spent on mailing through this machine, since we’ve got this machine. And the machine is going on its third year,” he said, while metering two envelopes from the Psychology Department.

    Before any letter goes through the metering machine, Winzer types in a department code, to assure proper billing. Each department has its own six-digit code, but Winzer rarely sneaks a peek. He usually types in the codes by memory.

    “I know a lot of them. I guess they’re just in my subconscious,” he says.

    His good memory also is put to the test when he meets customers at the transaction counter.

    “Somebody will say their name, and I just know what box number they have, and they are just amazed,” Winzer says. “It just becomes a habit.”

    The post office has moved to different locations throughout campus. First in the Downey House, and then Fisk Hall, Wesleyan Station now occupies space in the Davenport Campus Center, formerly the John Bell Scott building’s science laboratory.

    With barely enough room to pass a mail cart through, Winzer is eagerly awaiting the much larger mailroom that will be housed in the Usdan University Center. Construction will begin early this year.

    According to Alan Rubacha of Construction Services, a mail receiving, sorting, distributing and package handling area in the basement will occupy 1,230 square feet. Another 1,700 square feet of space will accommodate 3,000 post boxes, two transaction counters and additional mail sorting space.

    The postal workers can use the space. In the 2002-03 academic year, Wesleyan Station received and sorted more than 3.5 million pieces of mail and packages. Winzer and his staff handle approximately 8,000 pieces of campus mail every week.

    The current facility is about 1,000 square feet.

    “I wish more people from the departments would come over here and see what we do,” Winzer says. “We do a lot.”

    After Winzer leaves the office at 3:30 p.m., he returns to his home in Middletown. He spends his leisure time jogging or with his wife, Missy, and nine grandkids. He’s also the vice chairman of the Board of Education, and hosts two television shows on public access television titled “Today’s Issues” and “Spotlight on Education.”

    But Winzer never minds coming back to work — well, all but one day of the year.

    “Valentines Day. It’s by far the worst,” he says. “Worst than Christmas time. Grandmas and grandpas and everybody is sending tons of candy and flowers here. There’s those chocolate kisses all over the floor. There’s lots and lots of mail around then.”
     
    By Olivia Drake, The Wesleyan Connection editor

    Medical Aide Says Co-workers are Like Family

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    Robin Zup, a medical aide with the Health Services Department, is a Certified Medical Assistant and helps students seek medical care off campus.
     
    Posted 02/23/05

    Q: What does it mean to be a medical aide?

    A: I really do not like the title medical aide. My actual title that I have earned through schooling is a Certified Medical Assistant. I have been trained both in clinical and administrative areas.

    Q: What are your responsibilities?

    A: I have many responsibilities here at the health center. Since I really enjoy working with numbers, I have been given the role of handling all of the accounting for all of the students who come into the health center. I also help students who seek additional medical care outside of the Wesleyan campus when needed.  Many projects come my way every week. Most say that I am the guru of everything depending on the situation. So yes, I do deal with the students each and everyday.

    Q: What do you like most about your job?

    A: It would first have to be my co-workers. They are really like my family. Some of them know me better than I know myself. The second thing would have to be the students. They are great, a lot of fun to deal with on a daily basis. Some of the kids I get to know pretty well.  I treat them as if they were my own. 

    Q: Do you have kids of your own?

    A:  I have two really nice kids. My daughter is Kayleigh, and she is 14, and my son is Cody, and he is 13. 

    Q: How would you describe yourself? Your strengths?

    A: This one is a hard one to answer. I would have to say that I am very much a perfectionist who is very smart with a really great sense of humor.

    Q: When did you come to Wesleyan?

    A: I was hired to work part time as a medical aide for 15 hours per week back in September of 1998. Over time I have been given additional hours, now I work 27 hours per week. I work every day, but the hours are scattered.

    Q: Do you work anywhere else?

    A: I do have another job outside of Wesleyan. I am a property manager for commercial real estate. I find this job to be therapeutic for me. It is a different type of job and I have different types of people to deal with. I do the work from home.

    Q: You sound very busy. Do you have time for any hobbies?

    A: My kids right now are pretty much my full time hobby. When I am not doing for my kids, there are a few things that I do like to do such as read, draw, ceramics or just hang out and do nothing. But most of all, I enjoy traveling.

    Q: Where do travel? And when do you have time to travel?

    A: Well, it’s nice, because I get the summers off, so I like to spend a month in Florida with the kids. We also try to go in April. My parents have a place there, so when we can get there, we go. We don’t like to stay at home.
     
    By Olivia Drake, The Wesleyan Connection editor

    Michael Calter Joins Chemistry Department as Associate Professor

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    Michael Calter teaches organic chemistry and researches synthetic organic chemistry, which deals with making complex, useful organic molecules from simple starting materials.
     
    Posted 02/23/05
    Michael Calter joined the Chemistry Department as an associate professor of chemistry in June 2004. Calter completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Vermont and earned his Ph.D at Harvard University in the chemistry department. His dissertation was titled “First Total Synthesis of the Macrolide Antibiotic, Bafilomycin A1.”
    At Wesleyan, Calter teaches organic chemistry and researches synthetic organic chemistry, which deals with making complex, useful organic molecules from simple starting materials.
          “I’m interested in using the new molecules that my group synthesizes to study biological systems,” Calter said.   Calter chose Wesleyan based on the institutional commitment to education.
          “The high faculty to student ratios, the involvement of most undergraduates in cutting edge research, and the rigorous course work required of the graduate students were just some of the manifestations of this commitment that were obvious even during the interviewing process,” he said. “There is also a real feeling of community among the faculty that is lacking at larger institutions.”   Calter recently co-authored a paper titled “Catalytic, asymmetric synthesis and diastereoselective aldol reactions of dipropionate equivalents,” published in the “Journal of Organic Chemistry” in 2004. He is currently organizing a symposium for the Chemistry Department that will bring together presentations by representatives from academia and industry. The symposium will be held on May 5. 

    Calter lives in Middletown with is wife, Kimberley and children, Rachel, 12 and Christopher, 9. He has an amateur interest in the history of science, particularly where it intersects with the development of geometry, and the visual arts.
    By Olivia Drake, The Wesleyan Connection editor

    Adjunct Professor of Music Helps Students Create Music Here and Online

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    Ronald Kuivila, ’77, adjunct professor of music, smiles from the Grand Teton in Wyoming.
     
    Posted 02/23/05

    Q: When did you join the Music Department at Wesleyan?

    A: I joined the department as an artist in residence in the early 80s and converted to adjunct associate professor in the early 90s. As an artist in residence, I was expected to teach three courses a year and maintain an active professional profile as an artist and composer. As an adjunct professor, I am expected to teach four courses a year, participate in committee work, and maintain an active professional profile. Most of the adjunct faculty in the Music Department began as artists in residence.

    Q:  What do you consider yourself, musically, to be an expert on?

    A: Live electronics, computer music systems, sound installation and American experimental music. I am also a mediocre pianist.

    Q: Can you tell me a bit about your educational background and what led you into teaching music?

    A: I was a Wesleyan undergraduate and I came to Wesleyan with an interest in experimental music. In fact, it was a video tape of Nam June Paik’s that featured Alvin Lucier that led me to apply to Wesleyan in the first place. After Wesleyan, I studied at Mills College, worked as a recorded engineer and was an artist in residence at Media Study/Buffalo and a creative associate at Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY Buffalo.

    Q: You came to Wesleyan with an interest in experimental music, and now you’re also director of the electronic music and recording studios. Tell me about the studio, and what you can produce here.

    A: There are two studios, a recording booth connected to two large recording studios that double as classrooms and rehearsal spaces and an electronic music studio. The studios are used for recording and producing student and faculty work. Much of the work we do in the electronic music studio takes the form of interactive systems and live electronics using various kinds of software and hardware.

    Q: Can you give me a project example?

    A: A particular focus is SuperCollider, a programming environment for computer music that is now distributed as free software. SuperCollider is being developed by a number of programmers located throughout the world through SourceForge, the largest open source software development site in the world.  My own work with SuperCollider has been primarily focused on my own work and making tools that enable students to be able to develop pieces quickly.  However, I recently provided a nerdier contribution by optimizing SuperCollider’s primary score library.

    Q: In addition to your work on SuperCollider, I understand that you’re an active composer and scholar?

    A:  This last year I have been doing more work as a scholar and curator. The most recent number of Leonardo Music Journal has an article of mine on the work of the composer and pianist David Tudor together with a CD of his work that I edited. Last spring I curated a group exhibition of sound works at the gallery Art in General in Tribeca. Most recently, a piece I made in collaboration with Ed Tomney was presented in New York City and a piece made while I was a composer in residence at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College was presented in Oakland, California.

    Q: Do you give presentations on your work and music?

    A: As anyone who knows me will verify, I like to talk. Over the last year, I have given talks and participated in panels at the Getty Research Institute, the art department at Stanford University, the music department at Harvard, the great hall at Cooper Union in New York City and at Columbia University.

    Q: How would you describe the musically-inclined students at Wesleyan. Where do these students end up working if they stick with a music degree?

    A: Music students at Wesleyan are an extremely varied group. The only attributes they all seem to share are keen interest and intelligence. Students of mine have gone to graduate programs at RPI, the Art Institute of Chicago, Cal Arts, Mills College, SUNY Stony Brook, the Baden-Wurttemburg exchange program. Some are teaching, some are in the media industry, some are in the music software industry, some are pursuing careers in Europe and the U.S.

    Q: What’s a typical day like for you here in the Music Department?

    A: Normally, I teach two classes, run a group tutorial and individual thesis tutorials with undergraduate and graduate students. I also organize an annual festival of new and experimental music. One project in last year’s festival involved replacing the light classical muzak that emanates from the parking garage near Main Street with projects developed by students in my class.

    Q: Outside of work, what do you like to do? Does it involve music?

    A: Along with music, I love cooking. Many composers are also good cooks! I also enjoy sports such as skiing, hiking, swimming and squash.  I am a particularly bad squash player. I do some mountain climbing. Two years ago I climbed the Grand Teton with a friend and a guide.

    Q: Is your family into music, too?

    A: Actually, this is my most important project. During Valentine’s Day 2003, my wife, Bobbi, and I returned from China with our newly adopted daughter, Cai. Cai is definitely musically oriented. In the grocery store, she managed to get a crowd staring up at the speaker in the ceiling by pointing at it and saying, ‘music.’
    By Olivia Drake, The Wesleyan Connection editor