Olivia DrakeDecember 17, 20082min
A group of Wesleyan students, led by Demian Pritchard, visiting assistant professor of Latina/o literature and culture in the English Department, attended a reading by Cherríe Moraga at Wellesley College Nov. 20. Moraga is an influential and prolific Chicana lesbian writer of poetry, drama and essays. She is known for mixing genre in her writing as she engages issues of sexuality, race, gender and class - alongside questions of nation and language. Her reading was titled "Still Loving in the Still War Years," a play on the title of one of her most widely read books: Loving in the War…

Olivia DrakeDecember 17, 20082min
After 42 years of teaching, and a lifetime of painting and drawing, John Frazer isn't ready to rinse his brushes clean just yet. Although the professor of art, emeritus, is wheelchair-bound after six knee surgeries, his art studio remains intact. Set-up easels, brushes and oil paints, a painter's palate and untouched cotton canvases await his return. "I haven't been able to paint in over a year, but I will return to painting. I am sure of that, but I prefer to work standing up," Frazer says. "It's the only way I've ever worked." Frazer, a Texas native, came to Wesleyan…

Olivia DrakeDecember 17, 20081min
Martha Gilmore, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, received a grant from NASA on Nov. 18. The award, worth $212,000, will fund a study titled "Mapping and Structure Analysis of Fold Belts in Tessera Terrain, Venus." Gilmore is conducting the study with Phil Resor, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences.

Olivia DrakeDecember 11, 20081min
Mark Slobin, professor of music, received honorable mention for the Fenia and Yaakov Leviant Memorial Prize in Yiddish Studies Dec. 2 by the Modern Language Association of America. Slobin and was honored for his work on Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, published by Wayne State University Press. The prize is awarded each even-numbered year and is awarded alternately to an outstanding translation of a Yiddish literary work or an outstanding scholarly work in English in the field of Yiddish. Slobin will receive a certificate for the achievement Dec. 28 during the Modern Language Association of America's annual convention…

Olivia DrakeDecember 2, 20081min
While the financial markets continue to decline, a group of Wesleyan students is proving that there's always a way to defy the current trend. This fall, the student-run Wesleyan Investment Group increased their portfolio from $27,500 up to $44,000. "We're very selective in our stock purchases, and we analyze each company very carefully," says Wesleyan Investment Group co-chair Ramanan Sivalingam '10. Sivalingam and the group's other two co-chairs Dan O'Brien '10 and Mike Levin '09 manage the group. It has about 20 active members and 40 subscribed to the club's list-serve. Participants are from all currently matriculated class years. "We're…

Olivia DrakeDecember 2, 20081min
In 2008, Lisa Drennan ’09 accomplished something never done by any Wesleyan athlete: she became a two-time New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Year. She was also named a second-team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). She was the only player from a New England College to be named to any of AVCA’s three All-America teams. “This season was by far Lisa’s best,” says 24-year Wesleyan head coach Gale Lackey. “Repeating as NESCAC Player of the Year is no surprise. (more…)

Olivia DrakeDecember 2, 20082min
Swedish sweet bread, Greek jam cookies, Iranian walnut puffs and Irish soda bread were just a few tasty treats sold recently to benefit a local food pantry. On Nov. 20, Wesleyan hosted an ethnic bake sale in the Usdan University Center. More than 70 bakers and volunteers contributed to the event, helping to raise almost $1,200 in two and a half hours. All proceeds were given directly to Middletown’s Amazing Grace Food Pantry. "It was so wonderful to see the Wesleyan community come together as one and see what we could do for the community during these tough economic times,"…