The Wesleyan Connection

Max Nussenbaum '12 was a contestant on the Oct. 7-8 episodes of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? He answered nine of the 15 questions correctly and walked away with $15,000.

Under beaming spotlights and surrounded by video cameras and an audience holding their breath in anticipation, Max Nussenbaum ’12 pondered a single question: “What is the one-word title of the 2009 book whose subtitle is “A History of the Propitious Esculent“?

A. Nitrogen, B. Penicillin, C. Potato or D. Gold.

“Obviously I have no idea … I feel like it would be something kind of funny, like a potato. That would be a clever title to a book,” said Nussenbaum during a recent episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

After using two “lifelines” on the popular television quiz show, Nussenbaum, of Newtown, Mass., went with his gut: “C. Potato. Final answer.”

“He got it right! Max took a big chance, a big, big chance. He’s is the top dog right now,” shouted show host Meredith Vieira. “You’re a gambler and boy did it pay off.”

Trivia buff Nussenbaum, an undeclared major exploring degree options in English and government, received $15,000 in total prize money from answering nine of the 15 questions correctly. His show was taped on Sept. 6 and aired Oct. 7 and 8.

Nussenbaum confidently buzzed through the game’s first four questions on Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Wacky Wafers alarm clocks, the expression “kit and caboodle,” and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. He won $5,000 after using the ask-the-audience lifeline, on (more…)

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.

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/

Planned Parenthood volunteer Zak Kirwood '12 used a condom-stuffed backpack pocket as a way to recruit fellow students to talk to him about sexual health issues.

Zak Kirwood ’12, a volunteer with Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, was awarded the 2009 Planned Parenthood Federation of America Young Volunteer of the Year award.

During his senior year at Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge, Conn., Kirwood volunteered for Planned Parenthood and was recruited for the organization’s Students Teaching About Responsible Sexuality (S.T.A.R.S.) peer education program. S.T.A.R.S. educators speak to members of their communities about sexual health issues.

“I would act as a resource in my high school – handing out condoms, and information about sexual health and rights,” Kirwood said during his award acceptance speech in Houston, Texas.

In attempt to reach the 1,600 students in his high school, Kirwood used his backpack as a advertisement, stuffing the side mesh pockets with condoms. He pinned an “ask” sign to the backpack.

“I handed out hundreds of condoms that year. People could come to me and ask me about anything,” he recalls.

Kirwood continues these efforts at Wesleyan, where he is a campus action intern. He works independently to plan events related to reproductive and sexual rights, and collaborates with other sexual health groups on campus.

“I’ve always been politically interested in a variety of causes. Planned Parenthood had a ton of opportunities for me to get involved,” he said.

A video of Kirwood’s acceptance speech is online below:

Nathaniel Draper '12 and his friend Matt Firpo (NYU '12) stand in front of Festival de Cannes emblem in the Grand Lumiere Theater. Draper was an intern at the Cannes Film Festival in southern France.

For 15 days, Nathaniel Draper ’12 mingled with top filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival while participating in educational workshops, seminars, pitch sessions, roundtable discussions and screenings. He also happened to pick up an award for a film of his own while he was there.

As a student intern at the 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival, held May 13-24 in southern France, Draper had a hands-on opportunity to explore the film industry through the prism of perhaps it most prestigious international event.

“It was, to put it lightly, a surreal experience,” Draper recalls. “I was able to meet iconic directors such as Martin Scorcese and Francis Ford Coppola, and found myself interacting with actors and directors such as Inglorious Basterds’ Eli Roth.”

Draper applied for the internship though the American Pavilion Student Filmmaker Program at Cannes, which is the festival’s center for American film and filmmakers.

Draper spent a week with avant garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas in Paris.

The internship program included a three-day pre-Festival orientation and tour of Cannes, including workshops and seminars on the business of filmmaking; nightly festival premiers; roundtable discussions with industry professionals; and an opportunity to network with industry insiders and observe the business of filmmaking firsthand.

“I was granted full festival accreditation–basically a carte blanche to go anywhere in the festival, which allowed me to interact with filmmakers, explore the Cannes film market, and essentially network with the incredibly array of industry professionals that were there,” Draper says. “I took part in panel discussions ranging from screenwriters to the screen actors guild to premier directors.” (more…)

WesSukkah, designed and built by Wesleyan's Architecture II research-design-build studio, is constructed with 1,600 culms of bamboo, measuring a combined 19,200 linear feet. The Wesleyan community is invited to the WesSukkah dedication at 1 p.m. Oct. 3 on Foss Hill.

Every October, Wesleyan’s Jewish community dwells in a temporary structure built for the festival of Sukkot. For eight days, students study, socialize, mediate, eat, host events and occasionally sleep in the religious building.

This holiday, the Jewish students will celebrate the Israelites 40-year journey to the Holy Land inside an airy, five-mound curving structure of carbon-steel clad in bamboo. Designed by 15 students enrolled in Architecture II, a research-design-build studio, the “WesSukkah” provides a sacred space that adheres to a complex, medieval Rabbinic building code.

“The students have crafted something which is both compelling and meaningful for Wesleyan’s campus,” explains the studio’s instructor, Elijah Huge, assistant professor of art. “The structure maintains its symbolic and literal connection to the broader landscape through its materiality and permeability.”

WesSukkah was honored with a 2009 "Faith and Form" Award for art and architecture from the American Institute of Architects. (Photo by Gideon Finck '11)

The students designed WesSukkah with 1,600 culms of bamboo, 46 high carbon steel pipes, six steel rods, five spools of monofilament test line and steel rebar. The structure will be dedicated at 1 p.m. Oct. 3 on the top of Foss Hill.

The final design is a result of an intensive sequence of research, design, fabrication phases and client presentations.

Initially, the project clients, (more…)