Kate CarlisleA new state grant will support the creation of an Intel Math Institute for local teachers at Wesleyan starting this summer. The Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science (PIMMS), a partner of the Green Street Arts Center, will develop the course for Middletown and Meriden teachers, supported by the Connecticut State Mathematics and Science Partnership grant of $158,483. The Institute will pair an intensive, 80-hour math course with ongoing academic-year professional development and arts integration workshops, to help teachers link Common Core concepts to classroom instruction. Artists from Wesleyan’s Green Street Arts Center will take the math course…
Lauren RubensteinGov. Dannel Malloy, Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew, and other state and local officials were on hand March 6 to help Wesleyan celebrate and power up its new microgrid project, the first project to come online under the inaugural round of Connecticut’s first-in-the-nation statewide microgrid pilot program. The group gathered in the lobby of the Freeman Athletic Center, near the site of Wesleyan’s 676 kW natural gas Combined Heat and Power (CHP) reciprocating engines. Using oversized shears, they cut a red ribbon, and Malloy used a computer to start the engines. The generator package will deliver 4,700 mWh annually. In the…
Boylan '80 says the problems with the test are well known. It measures memorization, not intelligence
Rutland explores competing explanations for Russia's show of force in the Crimea region of Ukraine
A curious mix of dust and gas surrounding a distant star presents a unique mystery – and possibly a front-row seat to planet formation, according to Assistant Professor of Astronomy Meredith Hughes and colleagues, whose paper on the star appears in the March 6 edition of the journal Science. The group of astronomers, including Hughes and 13 others, were the first to identify the asymmetry and “lumpy” quality of the gas surrounding beta Pictoris, using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. The discovery leads to two possible explanations: There may be a giant "exoplanet" lurking nearby…
Bill HolderTheodore M. Shaw ’76, one of the nation’s leading proponents of civil rights, will present Wesleyan’s Commencement address on May 25, the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s address here. Wesleyan also will award honorary degrees to Helena Chmura Kraemer, whose work in biostatistics has had a transformative impact on medicine and psychiatry, and to Hayden White, a distinguished theorist of history. Theodore Shaw ’76 For decades Ted Shaw has been one of the nation’s strongest advocates for equity and inclusion in our society. In courts throughout the nation, including the U.S. Supreme Court, he has argued cases involving voting…
Grossman argues that bitcoin is as good as the gold standard...and that's pretty bad
Olivia DrakeBy 2050, the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment is requiring that Wesleyan become carbon neutral. To meet this goal, the university needs to reduce its emissions 1,000 tons annually for the next 36 years — the equivalent of the carbon sequestered by 860 trees each year. To help the university meet this goal, Wesleyan's Sustainability Office and the Sustainability Advisory Group for Environmental Stewardship (SAGES) hosted a Sustainability Action Planning Workshop on Feb. 21. More than 50 faculty, administrators, staff and students gathered to brainstorm and develop creative new ideas for Wesleyan’s next Sustainability Action Plan. "In order…
Ishita Mukerji, dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics division, is one of 50 local scientists to be elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Mukerji also is professor of molecular biology and biochemistry and is an expert on fluorescence and vibrational spectroscopy. Mukerji is the 10th Wesleyan faculty to be elected into the academy. She will be introduced at CASE's 39th annual meeting and dinner on June 5 at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, Conn. Election to the Academy is on the basis of scientific and engineering distinction achieved through significant contributions in theory or applications, as…
Mike SembosThe Dance Department now has a studio/office space of its own, having opened new digs in a converted church at 160 Cross Street Feb. 28 with a grand opening gala. Artist-in-residence, African dancer/drummer Iddi Saaka gave the inaugural performance at an intimate reception attended by dance majors and some early alumni from the program (which first took shape in the late '60s and early '70s as an extension of the Theater Department). “We finally have our own space, our own building, our own entity,” said Hari Krishnan, assistant professor of dance. “Statistically, more than 40 percent of students at Wesleyan have…
Registration is now open for the 58th annual Wesleyan Writers Conference, one of the nation's leading programs, to be held on campus June 11-15. Both experienced writers and new writers are welcome. This is a time to start a new project or develop your current work with the help of the conference's faculty, distinguished writers who work closely with participants. Manuscript consultations and publishing advice are key parts of the program. Participants may attend daily seminars in the novel, short story, poetry, and nonfiction (including memoir and literary journalism), and the program also includes guest speakers, readings, workshops, panel discussions and…
At its meeting on March 1, Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition and residential comprehensive fees by 2.2 percent for the 2014–15 year, reflecting the second year of a new policy to link tuition increases to inflation. The increase is based on the three-year national CPI average of June 30, 2013, the latest full fiscal year available. The Board adopted a three-year average in order to reduce year-to-year fluctuations in tuition increases. “We’re committed to keeping Wesleyan affordable for all our students,” said President Michael Roth. “We’re holding down our tuition increases, ensuring that our students graduate not burdened…