Olivia DrakeSenator Barack Obama delivered the 176th commencement speech May 25. Posted 06/03/08 When a pinch hitter comes into a game, it's usually a crucial moment hope balanced against uncertainty. At Wesleyan's 176th Commencement May 25, the hope shone through, and by all accounts, the pinch hitter sent a grand slam far over the fences. "I have the distinct honor today of pinch-hitting for one of my personal heroes and a hero to this country, Senator Edward Kennedy," said U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "He called me up a few days ago and I said that Id be happy to…
Ian Renner '08 will observe, assist and run theater activities for child laborers in Egypt as a 2008-09 Fulbright scholar. Posted 06/03/08 In Egypt, about 300,000 children spend their days laboring six days a week to help support their families and shoulder significant responsibilities at home. As a recent Fulbright scholar, Ian Renner 08 will spend the 2008-09 academic year helping some of these children regain their childhood through theater. He is one of 13 Wesleyan students and recent graduates to receive scholarships under the auspices of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Administered by the Institute for International Education,…
Doug Allen, assistant facilities manager in chemistry, fills a powerful spectroscopic instrument with liquid nitrogen in the basement of Hall-Atwater Laboratory. The spectrometer is used by chemistry and molecular biology and biophysics students for nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. Posted 06/03/08 Q: Doug, when did you begin your Wesleyan career?A: I came to Wesleyan in 2002.Q: Youre currently the assistant to the facilities manager, Donald Albert. Together, what are your job objectives?A: Im very grateful that I can work with some one as generous with their time and talent as Don is. We are responsible for the Hall-Atwater/Shanklin Laboratory buildings.…
CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL: Adam Black '09 leads a Japanese song titled "Sakura" during the Cherry Blossom Festival April 29 in the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies. In Japan, "Hanami" is the traditional custom of celebrating the beauty of cherry blossoms with food, song and parties. Some celebrate the event by taking walks near the trees and renewing their spirits. Students, such as Elizabeth Goldgar '11, took turn reading poems during the festival, which was attended by more than 50 students from several majors. The students read poems in Japanese and translated them into English. Chia-Wei "Wade" Hsu '10…
Andrea Ray's Désire is on exhibit in the Center for the Arts' Zilkha Gallery. The dinner table is embedded with speakers, playing a dinner conversation. Posted 05/15/08 May 2 marks the 40th anniversary of a student strike in France that led to a shift to the eventual the end of the De Gaullle government in France. This historic event is the topic of a new exhibition in Wesleyans Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery. Titled Désire by Andrea Ray, the three-part installation revisits May 1968 to pose a question about the present: Could the Paris model of social and political agency…
Posted 05/15/08 Students who received academic prizes, fellowships and scholarships were honored at a reception May 6 in Beckham Hall. The awards and the student recipients are: George H. Acheson and Grass Foundation Prize in Neuroscience Established in 1992 by a gift from the Grass Foundation, this prize is awarded to an outstanding undergraduate in the Neuroscience and Behavior Program who demonstrates excellence in the program and who also shows promise for future contributions in the field of neuroscience. Jacob Mirsky '08 Alumni Prize in the History of Art Established by Wesleyan alumni and awarded to a senior who has…
Wesleyan's softball team hosted the NESCAC Tournament May 3-5. Posted 05/15/08 Coming off a team-record 21-15 season in 2007, one that featured a first-ever trip to the NESCAC tournament, Wesleyan's softball team came into the 2008 campaign with realistic hopes of repeating last year's success. Our goal this season was to get better every day, said seventh-year head coach Jen Shea. We knew we had a lot of talent but we needed to see how it would come together. Come together was just what the team did, equaling the team record for wins, three of those coming during…
Posted 05/15/08 Associate Professor of History Magda Teter has received a $14,000 grant from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University to help with the operating costs of the sixth annual Early Modern Workshop (EWM) in summer 2009. The workshop will explore the topic of History of Reading across Cultures: The Jewish Book and Its Readers in Early Modern Europe. The workshop seeks to form collaborative interaction between scholars of Jewish history, early modern history and literature and to facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas between them. Workshop participants will be examining how Jewish readers coped with the advent of…
Posted 05/15/08 Robert H. Whitman, professor of Russian emeritus, died recently in Berkeley, Calif. He was 78 years old. Professor Whitman was trained as a linguist. He earned a bachelor of arts from Hamilton College and a Ph.D from Harvard University and joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1959. He left Wesleyan in 1963 and spent a year in the USSR, then returned to teach and continue his research at Cornell University, the University of Indiana, and the University of California at Berkeley, before returning to Wesleyan in 1971. He was a visiting professor at Yale for one semester, served as…
Posted 05/15/08 A Navajo sacred ceremony recording by the late David McAllester, professor of music and anthropology, emeritus, was accepted into the 2007 National Recording Registry. The recording, titled Navajo Shootingway Ceremony Field Recordings representing the David McAllester Collection (Recorded by David McAllester 1957-1958), was one of 25 new additions to the registry, announced May 14. The registry is online at http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/. McAllesters recording is listed among such luminaries as Fiorello LaGuardia, Michael Jackson, Ronald Reagan, and Kitty Wells, says Alec McLane, music librarian and director of Wesleyans World Music Archives. It may be the only record of a deeply…
Karen Hook, associate director of financial aid, says her office helps 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students find Financial Aid programs. Posted 05/15/08 Q: Karen, when did you come to Wesleyan? A: Ten years ago I relocated from Burlington, Vermont to work at the Financial Aid Office. I started as the assistant director of loans and student employment. Five years ago I became associate director.Q: What is your main role as associate director of financial aid?A: Im the keeper of the calendar." In that capacity, I work with everybody to be sure we are where we need to be at…
Posted 05/15/08 For 25 years, Elizabeth Betty Muir, has provided gentle care and thoughtful instruction for the children of many Wesleyan employees and Middletown community members. On May 29, Muir will retire from her role at Wesleyans Neighborhood Preschool and will be celebrated at a potluck party at 5 p.m. at 115 High Street in Middletown. Betty is better than Mary Poppins, says parent Stephan Angle, associate professor and chair of philosophy, associate professor of East Asian studies. Angles daughters, Samantha, now 12, and Rachel, now 9, both spent ages 3 and 4 at the preschool under Bettys care. She…