The Wesleyan Connection

Neely Bruce, professor of music, directed The Mitchell College Singers & Friends Oct. 20 in New London, Conn. The Mitchell College Singers performed The Bill of Rights: Ten Amendments in Eight Motets, one of the more notable musical works created within Connecticut in the past decade. This unique program was presented in New London’s historic Pequot Chapel. Prior to the concert, Bruce spoke on “Why I Set the Bill of Rights to Music,” and led a recitation of the Preamble to the Bill of Rights.

This was the fourth complete performance of The Bill of Rights. The song’s premiere was at Wesleyan in 2005. More information on Bruce and the Bill of Rights event are posted in the Oct. 8 edition of the Wesleyan Connection, online here.

Tags: music

Tsampikos Kottos, assistant professor of physics, and physics and mathematics major Gim Seng Ng ‘08 are co-authors of “Avalanches of Bose-Einstein condensates in leaking optical lattices,” published in New Journal of Physics, 11, 073045 in 2009. The paper is about novel properties of Bose-Einstein condensates (ultra-cold atoms) in open systems. This project constituted a large part of Ng’s senior honors thesis in physics.

Tags: Kottos, physics

Wesleyan University Press published the award-winning book.

A book published by Wesleyan University Press is a 2009 National Book Award Finalist in the poetry category.

Versed, by Rae Armantrout, offers readers an expanded view of the arc of the author’s writing. The poems in the first section, “Versed,” play with vice and versa, the perversity of human consciousness. They flirt with error and delusion, skating on a thin ice that inevitably cracks. In the second section, “Dark Matter,” the invisible and unknowable are confronted directly as Armantrout’s experience with cancer marks these poems with a new austerity shot through with her signature wit and stark unsentimental thinking.

Together, the poems of Versed part us from our assumptions about reality, revealing the gaps and fissures in our emotional and linguistic constructs, showing us ourselves where we are most exposed.

Rae Armantrout is a professor of writing and literature at the University of California, San Diego.

Tags: Wesleyan University Press

Book edited by Leo Lensing.

Leo Lensing, chair and professor of German studies, professor of film studies, is the editor of the book, Peter Altenberg: The Self-Invention of a Poet. Letters and Documents 1892-1896, published by the Wallstein Verlag (Goettingen) in Germany.

The 210-page book, published in September, documents the beginning of the literary career of the Viennese writer Peter Altenberg (1859-1919).

The book received positive reviews in a Sept. 28 issue of The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, whose arts pages are the most prestigious in the German-speaking world.

Tags: German Studies, Lensing

Kit Reed

Kit Reed, resident writer in the English Department, participated in the 17th Annual Festival of Reading in St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 24.  Reed was one of dozens of authors who spoke to the community about a particular book.

According to the St. Petersburg Times Festival author biography, Reed is ”One of our brightest cultural commentators. ” Often anthologized, her short stories appear in venues ranging from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Asimov’s SF and Omni to The Yale Review, The Kenyon Review and The Norton Anthology of American Literature.

During the festival, Reed spoke about her book, Enclave.

Tags: English Department, writers

Team co-captain Nick Whipple '10 and the Wesleyan Cardinals men's soccer team, have remained in the top spot among New England Division III squads for four weeks, as well as maintaining a top-10 position nationally. (Photos by Peter Stein '84)

Wesleyan men’s soccer has accomplished two feats never before witnessed by Cardinal faithful: they have yet to lose after 15 games, and have set a school record for shutouts in a season.

Now they are looking for a NESCAC title, something that has only been done once before (in 2005) by Wesleyan Men’s Soccer.

Their campaign has in no way been easy. They opened the year on Sept. 12 facing perennial power and Little Three rival Williams College on the road. In that match the Cardinals came back after being down 1-0 to forge a 1-1 tie. Over the eight weeks that have followed the squad has pushed its NESCAC-best overall record to 11-0-4 and 6-0-3 in league play, earning Wesleyan the top seed in the NESCAC Tournament. The Cardinals are one of only two unbeaten Division III teams in the country.

Keisuke Yamashita '10 goes for a goal against Colby College.

The 15-game unbeaten streak has eclipsed the previous school mark set in 2006 when the team opened the year 9-0-3 before falling to Williams in game 13. With 11 shutouts so far this year, the 2009 squad has broken the record set by the 1980 Cardinal team, which collected eight shutouts on its way to a 12-2 record and an ECAC New England Division III title.

It’s been quite a rebound for a team that finished at 5-8-2 last year.

What has made the difference in 2009?

Co-captain Mark Murphy '10.

“I think it was a question of taking a step backward in order to take two steps forward,” says 11-year head coach Geoff Wheeler. “Last year was a learning experience and a chance for the upperclassmen to reflect on the disappointment and use it as a positive.”

Mixing 21 returnees, seven of them seniors, with a very capable crop of nine newcomers, Wesleyan has gelled into a national force, one that has held the number-one spot in New England for four straight weeks, debuted on the national rankings at No. 15 on Oct. 6, then climbed to No. 6 on Oct. 13 and continued its ascent to No. 5, a position it has held since Oct. 20. A new poll is coming out Nov. 3 and Wesleyan is expecting a rise to No. 4 nationally.

In one of the team’s recent games Oct. 24, a 0-0 overtime deadlock at Little Three rival Amherst, 21 Cardinals saw action in the contest, seven of them first-years, including the team’s starting netminder Adam Purdy ’13.

Adam Purdy '13 at Trinity.

“He has been an extremely welcome addition to the team,” says Coach Wheeler. “There’s no doubt his presence has given us a big lift. While we came into the season with a concentration on defense because we gave up 27 goals in 2008, Adam has been called upon to make some big saves and he has really come through.”

Purdy leads the NESCAC in both save percentage (.926) and goals-against average (0.32). Both these figures rank him among the top-10 nationally in Division III. Wesleyan has given up just five goals in 15 games in 2009.

The Cardinals opened NESCAC Tournament play at home Sunday, Nov. 1 with a 5-0 shellacking of Colby. Wesleyan will now host the conference Final Four the weekend of Nov. 7-8, facing Middlebury in one semi-final Saturday while Williams takes on Bowdoin in the other. The winners meet in the championship game Sunday with an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament going to the victor.
“It’ll be something we shoot for and hope comes our way,” says Coach Wheeler.

Tags: athletics, students

The Chemistry Department received a $125,000 grant from the George I. Alden Trust of Worcester, Mass. on Oct. 21. The funds will be used to replace, reconfigure, and add fume hoods in a teaching lab used for introductory chemistry courses.

Tags: Chemistry

Ural Grant '13 was one of 28 Wesleyan students who participated in the Management Leadership Conference Oct. 23-26. During the conference's opening dinner and keynote address, students had the opportunity to network with alumni, student parents and Wesleyan faculty from a variety of industries and career fields. The MLC is designed for students who aspire to hold top management and leadership positions after graduation.

Michael Sciola, director of the Career Resource Center, spoke to students about program expectations and led a discussion on responsibility prior to the conference. The MLC program is a joint effort of the Career Resource Center, Career Advisory Council, and the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations.

ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Robert King '84 delivered the keynote address during the conference Oct. 23 in Beckham Hall. King explained how he worked his way up from an editorial assistant at the Washington Post to becoming a cartoonist, reporter, graphic designer, sports editor and deputy managing editor for visuals at other newspapers. After 22-years in the newspaper business, King joined ESPN in 2004.

Erwin Dwi Saputra '11 listens to King's address.

Dick Miller, the Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics, Emeritus, spoke to students during the conference.

Nam Anh Ta '12 was one of the student participants.

Gregory Rolland '95 spoke to students about his role as an accountant with Moriaty & Primack, PC in Springfield, Mass.

Taylor Sander '12 mingles with parents and alumni during the dinner. MLC participants spent the following days with business leaders in Middletown and in New York City. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett Drake)

More information on the Management Leadership Conference is online at http://www.wesleyan.edu/mlc/2009/

Tags: alumni, Career Resource Center, students

Dan Koepf, analyst programmer and project leader, was one of 26 Wesleyan employees who celebrated 20, 25, 30 or 40 years of service at the university during an Employee Service Recognition Luncheon on Oct. 20 in Beckham Hall. Koepf was honored for his 30 years of service in Information Technology Services.

From left, Pearlina Jackson, library assistant in Olin Library; celebrated 40 years of service with her husband, Bill. Second from right is Roberta Raczka, library assistant in the Science Library, who celebrates 20 years. At far right, is Robert Weber, journeyman electrician, who celebrates 40 years.

Cynthia Rockwell, associate editor of Wesleyan Magazine, was honored for her 20 years of service in the Office of University Communications.

Donna Thompson, director of the Upward Bound Program, celebrates 20 years of service.

Wesleyan President Michael Roth mingled with employees during the lunch.

Susan Lastrina, accounting specialist in the Biology Department, celebrates 40 years working at Wesleyan.

Nick David, working foreperson-material handling, celebrates 25 years in Physical Plant-Facilities.

Linda Shettleworth, administrative assistant in the Astronomy Department, attended the luncheon with Ed Moran, chair of the Astronomy Department, associate professor of astronomy and director of the Van Vleck Observatory. Shettleworth celebrates 25 years at Wesleyan.

Tags: employees

Peter Shumlin ’79

Vermont State Senator Peter Shumlin ’79 will be honored at the 8th Annual Human Rights Campaign New England Dinner, to be held in Boston on Nov. 14. HRC New England, the largest GLBT civil rights advocacy group in the country, is this year presenting the marriage equality award to “those who were heroes in our fight for equality.”

As President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Shumlin is considered instrumental on the April 15, 2009 Vermont legislature’s vote to override the governor’s veto and pass same sex marriage into law for the state.

Shumlin spoke about his reasons to support the bill last March on Vermont Public Radio. He called the passage “one of the proudest moments of my life” on the UK’s Guardian web site, where he traces his involvement in this historic legislation back to 2000.

“I owe a lot of my commitment to helping promote social justice to my Wesleyan experience,” he says.

It is expected that on Nov. 16, he will announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Vermont Governor.

Tags: alumni