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Olivia DrakeAugust 27, 20141min
Students from 30 different countries joined the Class of 2018 during International Student Orientation, held Aug. 24-26. This fall, 109 undergraduate students come from international countries, including students who are U.S. citizens but live abroad. Three students are visiting from Germany, two from Spain and one from France. This year, Wesleyan has students who hail from Guatemala, (more…)

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Olivia DrakeAugust 26, 20143min
Graduate Student Services welcomed 64 graduate students to Wesleyan on Aug. 26. Of the students, 19 are part of Wesleyan's BA/MA program; 12 are MA students; 20 are Ph.D. candidates; eight are Foreign Language Teaching Assistants; three are Wesleyan Writing Fellows and one is an exchange student from Germany. Twelve are studying music and ethnomusicology; 37 are pursing degrees in science and mathematics; three are studying psychology and 12 are non-degree seeking students. Of the 64 graduate students, 43 are from the United States. The other 21 are from France, Ghana, India, Greece, Spain, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Singapore, United Kingdom,…

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Olivia DrakeAugust 26, 20143min
Amy Bloom, the Distinguished University Writer-in-Residence and director of the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing, is the author of a novel, Lucky Us, published in July 2014 by Random House. Disappointed by their families, Iris, a hopeful star and Eva the sidekick, journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris’s ambitions take the pair across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, and to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island. With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine…

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Olivia DrakeAugust 21, 20142min
Two graduate students and two faculty attended the 248th national meeting of the American Chemical Society Aug. 10-14 in San Francisco, Calif. Chemistry graduate students Duminda Ranasinghe delivered a poster presentation on her research titled "Efficient extrapolation to the (T)/CBS limit" and an oral presentation on "Density functional for core-valence correlation energy." Chemistry graduate student Kyle Throssell presented two poster presentations on "Potential curves of selected radical thiol double additions to alkynes" and "Assessing weak interactions in small dimer systems with PM7." The students were accompanied by George Petersson, the Fisk Professor of Natural Science, professor of chemistry; and Michael…

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Olivia DrakeAugust 21, 20143min
Mathematics Ph.D. candidate Alicia Marino recently attended a four-day workshop in Portland, Ore. studying various aspects of computational number theory. The workshop focused on Sage, a mathematics software package, developed by and for the mathematical community. The event included talks, tutorials, and time spent in small project groups developing Sage code. Participants worked to enhance the Sage library and discussed ways to increase the number of women in Sage development. The workshop ran July 28-Aug. 1. Marino, who holds a bachelor's degree in computer science, attended the conference to sharpen her programming skills. "My initial desire to attend the workshop…

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Olivia DrakeAugust 20, 20143min
A figure created by Katherine Kaus, graduate student in the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department, was selected to run as the featured cover graphic in the Sept. 9 Journal of Molecular Biology. The graphic is related to her article, titled "Glycan Specificity of the Vibrio vulnificus Hemolysin Lectin Outlines Evolutionary History of Membrane Targeting by a Toxin Family," which was published in the journal on July 29. It is co-authored by Rich Olson, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and researchers at the University of Connecticut. The abstract appears online here. Vibrio vulnificus is an emerging human pathogen that causes severe food poisoning…

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Olivia DrakeJuly 15, 20142min
John Frazer, professor of art, emeritus, died July 7 at the age of 82. "Generations of Wesleyan students knew John as a gifted teacher of students at all levels of artistic ability," said Ruth Striegel Weissman, provost and vice president for academic affairs. Throughout his career on the Wesleyan faculty, from 1959 to 2001, Frazer introduced hundreds of Wesleyan students to the art of drawing, painting and film. He taught the first filmmaking courses at Wesleyan and continued this teaching until the Film Program, which he helped found, became independent of the Art Department. His influence lives on through his endowment…

Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20141min
The Office of Human Resources reported the following new hires and departures for June 2014: Newly hired Maureen Zimmer was hired as the Academic Affairs coordinator on June 2. Felicia Harrsch was hired as a research assistant on June 2. Kendrick Wiggins was hired as a residential operations coordinator on June 2. Lauren Davis was hired as a human resources coordinator/generalist on June 16. Hira Jafri ’13, MA’14 was hired as an evaluation fellow/assistant on June 18. Deborah Colucci was hired as the equity compliance director and Title IX coordinator on June 23. Jeanne McNeff was hired as an administrative assistant for the College of East…

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Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20143min
Long Lane Farm is Wesleyan’s student run organic farm devoted to allowing students a place to experiment and learn about sustainable agriculture. This summer, seven students are tending the two-acre farm full-time. New to this year's farm are Rhode Island red hens, who reside in the farm's chicken coop. The coop was designed and built by Wesleyan's Architecture II class in 2013. Throughout the summer, other students and community members help out around the farm with planting, watering and weeding. Food harvested from the farm is sold at the North End Farmers’ Market throughout the summer, and at the Wesleyan…