Olivia DrakeFebruary 28, 20072min
DAY FOR GRADUATES: Yonatan Malin, assistant professor of music; Barbara Juhasz, assistant professor of psychology; and Eric Aaron, assistant professor of computer science and mathematics, speak to Ph.D candidates at a workshop titled Tenure Track Tango during Graduate Career Day Jan. 23 in Exley Science Center. The day-long program offered advice to graduate students on how to prepare for a career after Wesleyan. Michael Sciola, director of the Career Resource Center, speaks on job searching and networking. From left, graduate students Hiram Navarrete Ramirez, music; Daniel Bravo Vivallo, mathematics; and Elikem Nyamuame, music, gather during the Graduate Career Day reception.…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20077min
Casey Brown, building supervisor/manager, welcomes people to the Freeman Athletic Center and helps answer any questions they may have.   Posted 02/16/07 Q: Casey, what various roles do you have at the Freeman Athletic Center?A: As a building supervisor/manager, I try to ensure that users of the facility are safe, welcomed, and as content as possible. I try to answer as many questions as possible, and create a friendly environment.Q: You’re the friendly face that greets everyone when they come into the Freeman Athletic Center during the late afternoon hours. What do you like about this role?A: You mean the…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20075min
This image by Ben Rowland '08 will be on display at the Brooklyn Artists Gym Gallery. Posted 02/16/07 During winter break, Ben Rowland ’08 traveled to Istanbul for a vacation with his cousins. A hobbyist photographer, he took several photographs. One of these has found a place in a New York gallery. That image, titled, “The Man and the Mosque,” is now part of a group gallery show called: “Look See: Photographs on Reflection” at the Brooklyn Artists Gym (B.A.G) Gallery in Brooklyn. The opening is from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 24. In “Man and the Mosque” Rowland captured…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20079min
Andrew Moreno, a graduate student in chemistry, teaches a lesson on probability to his peers during a Molecular Biophysics Journal Club class Feb. 7. Posted 02/16/07 Alicia Every, a graduate student in chemistry, went to class last week not only to learn, but to teach. She and the other 20 students taking the course, Molecular Biophysics Journal Club II, are expected to prepare a lesson on relevant course material and present a micro-lecture to their peers. For 20 minutes she spoke, jotting equations on the chalkboard while explaining that heat is in random motion. She drew a gas molecule inside…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20075min
Posted 02/16/07 Members of the Wesleyan Cluster Computing Committee have listed the impacts on research from the newly-installed computer cluster. The Cluster Computing Committee members are Eric Aaron, assistant professor of computer science; David Beveridge, the University Professor of the Science and Mathematics; Tsampikos Kottos, assistant professor pf physics; George Petersson, professor of chemistry; and Francis Starr, assistant professor of physics. The committee is supported by the Information Technology Services staff, who made commitments of space, personnel resources, and developed an upgrade program so that the facility does not become rapidly obsolete. ITS staff involved include Henk Meij, applications technology…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20075min
Mike Sciola, standing, director of Wesleyan’s Career Resource Center, speaks during an Academic (Technology) Roundtable meeting Feb. 8. Posted 02/16/07 Intellectual property issues, using visual images in the classroom and rock and roll memories are all upcoming topics for the Academic (Technology) Roundtable. The weekly roundtable meetings aim to promote conversation, cooperation, and the sharing of information and resources among Wesleyan's faculty and staff. "This is an informal way for faculty, librarians and staff members to get together and talk about technologies, academic issues and student life," explains Andy Szegedy-Maszak, director of the Center for Faculty Career Development, the Jane…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20078min
Adrian Cooke, Web administrator for University Relations, is working on content for WesNet, the alumni Electronic Portfolio.   Posted 02/16/07 The first time Adrian Cooke built a Web site, he used it to share photographs with his family. As University Relation’s new Web administrator, Cooke now builds Web sites used by thousands of Wesleyan alumni. He oversees all nodes under http://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/, pages for the Wesleyan Fund, and works with other departments such as ITS and the Office of Public Affairs’ New Media Services on special event pages for Reunion & Commencement and Homecoming/Family Weekend. WesNet, a site designed to facilitate…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20073min
Used electronics, including computers, can be placed at the Exley Science Center's loading dock on Pine Street for recycling. Posted 02/16/07 The Wesleyan Recycling Program is increasing their efforts to make Wesleyan a leader in waste reduction and environmental responsibility. "Recycling is required by law in Connecticut, and is the obligation of every member of the Wesleyan community," explains Bill Nelligan, Wesleyan recycling coordinator. Mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, metal and plastic are already picked up from sites all over campus and from Wesleyan housing. Wesleyan also collects aerosol cans, batteries, CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, cell phones, motor oil, rubber-soled…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20072min
Posted 02/16/07 Nelson Polsby, renowned political scientist, died on February 6 at the age of 72. Polsby was a member of the Wesleyan faculty from 1961 through 1968, rising meteorically from the rank of assistant professor to full professor. According to Karl Scheibe, professor emeritus of psychology, “Nelson left an indelible mark on Wesleyan, even though he was only here for seven years.” Polsby was a prolific author of books and articles and editor of The American Political Science Review, the premier political science journal. Perspectives on Politics noted that Polsby ranked in the top ten of most frequently cited…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 16, 20077min
From left, Henk Meij, applications technology specialist; Francis Starr, assistant professor of physics; and James Taft, assistant director of technology support services, look over the newly-installed 10-terabyte computer cluster at Information Technology Services. Posted 02/16/07 It takes 10, 250-volt plugs to power up. It takes 9,000 BTUs to keep it cool. It can communicate 14 times faster than high-speed internet, and it has the potential to store more than 2.5 million MP3s. But most important, this state-of-the-art high-performance computer cluster will offer both education and research opportunities for the university on a level which has never before been available. The…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 1, 20077min
Angel Gil-Ordóñez, Wesleyan orchestra music director, directed Virgil Thomson’s original soundtracks that accompany a newly-released version of The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River.   Posted 02/01/07 Wesleyan Orchestra Music Director Angel Gil-Ordóñez addresses the impact of humanity on the environment and chronicles the settlement of the Great Plains through music on a newly-released DVD. His Washington D.C.-based orchestra, Post-Classical Ensemble, provides the soundtrack for director Pare Lorentz’s landmark New Deal-Era Classics documentaries The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1938). The dual-film DVD, released Jan. 30 by classical music label Naxos, features the first…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 1, 20075min
Daniel Stern, former fellow in the Wesleyan Center for the Humanities, the Boynton Visiting Professor in Creative Writing in the College of Letters and a visiting professor in Letters and English, died on Jan. 24 at the age of 79. He was living in Houston, Texas. According to the Houston Chronicle, Stern had taught in the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program, where he was a Cullen Distinguished Professor of English since 1992. Wesleyan Professor of Letters Paul Schwaber has shared the following tribute to Professor Stern, which he wrote in 1991 when Stern was given the Cullen Professorship at…