David PesciMarch 16, 20091min
In an opinion piece in The Hartford Courant, Jonathan Cutler, associate professor of sociology, associate professor American studies, comments on the proposal by the Obama Administration to eliminate secret ballot union elections. While Cutler admits this may expose some employees to possible intimidation, he believes it can work if workers are also given the right to throw out ineffective unions.

David PesciMarch 13, 20091min
In a piece for The Moscow Times, Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, professor of government, points out that the initial treatment of Russia by the Obama Administration has begun with clumsy missteps and a perspective toward U.S.-Russian relations that offers nothing new compared to what Russia has seen from previous U.S. administrations.

David PesciMarch 9, 20091min
Laura Grabel, the Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, professor of biology, discussed the implications as President Barack Obama is poised to lift the ban on research using human embryonic stem cells. Grabel is a renowned stem cell researcher and co-director of of the University of Connecticut Human Embryonic Stem Cell Core Facility, part of a $100 million human stem cell research initiative created by the State of Connecticut in 2006.

David PesciMarch 6, 20091min
Norman Danner, mathematics and computer science, Fernando Degiovanni, romance languages and literatures, and Greg Voth, physics, were the lastest faculty members awarded tenure at the most recent Board of Trustees meeting. These appointments do not conclude tenure announcements for the 2008-2009 academic year, and more may be forthcoming.

David LowMarch 5, 20092min
Film director and screenwriter Mike White ’92 (Chuck & Buck, School of Rock, Year of the Dog) has teamed up with his 60-year-old father Mel as a team on the popular Emmy-winning reality competition, The Amazing Race. Mel White is a prize-winning documentary producer, a gay-rights Christian activist, and a best-selling author who ghostwrote books for Billy Graham and Pat Robertson. White and his father have been interviewed for their appearance on the show in such publications as Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, and Mel White’s hometown newspaper, The Lynchburg News and Advance in Virginia. In various interviews, Mike White…

Olivia DrakeMarch 5, 20092min
Randall Pinkston '72, P'05, a national correspondent for CBS News in New York City, credits Wesleyan's WESU 88.1 FM radio for launching his life-long career. "When I was a student, I heard about WESU installing a new transmitter and I wondered, how can I be on a radio station," Pinkston says. "I took the training required by the FCC at the time, passed a test, and was given a one-hour show, five days a week. I called it 'Soul Session.'" Pinkston recruited four other students, and replicated shows broadcasted in their hometowns including R&B and jazz. On the 55th minute…

David PesciMarch 5, 20091min
In November, 2008, when all the first round early decision applications were in, the Wesleyan admissions’ staff knew the initial numbers were not a fluke. Applications from high school students seeking admission during the first early decision period at Wesleyan were up 34 percent from the previous year, 2007. Still, the admissions staff maintained cautious enthusiasm. “We were elated, but we also remained a bit guarded because, quite frankly, we didn’t know if the early decision increase would be followed by a decrease in overall applications, especially with the economy taking such a dramatic downturn,” says Nancy Hargrave Meislahn, dean…