Olivia DrakePosted 01/31/05 A forum on January 25 engaged more than 300 students, faculty and staff in a discussion of the administrative response to issues raised at a student-organized forum in December. The forum followed by a week the distribution of a report detailing student participation in University governance, itself a response to complaints from some students that they felt excluded from decisions that affect their lives on campus. At the forum, held in the Chapel, senior administrators were joined onstage by leaders of the faculty and the Wesleyan Student Assembly. Professor of Philosophy Brian Fay moderated the session, during which…
Robert Lane, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, co-authored a study that indicates scientists may have overestimated the use of the vomeronasal organ in pheromone perception by animals. Posted 01/31/05 A new study co-authored by Robert Lane, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, suggests that human pheromone detection may occur right under our own noses - literally. In an article due out in the February issue of "Genome Research," Lane provided new evidence that scientists may have overestimated the use of the vomeronasal organ, or VNO, in pheromone perception in animals. The VNO has been described as the…
Vera Schwarcz, professor of History and East Asian studies, collaborated with artist Chava Pressburger for the book, "In the Garden of Memory," published by March Street Press. The publication features 18 poems with accompanying paper-art images. Posted 01/31/05 How does memory speak? Not with words in this small country of silenced song. Winter is the native tongue of children without food. -words from Vera Schwarczs "In the Garden of Memory" When visiting Jerusalem in 1991, a striking oil painting caught Vera Schwarczs attention. The Romanian-born daughter of Holocaust survivors instantly felt a connection with the artwork titled Memories. I…
Mike Sciola, Career Resource Center director, helps Talya Marshall, '07, find photography career opportunities. Posted 01/31/05 Q: The Career Resource Center (CRC) aims to establish relationships with students and help them find jobs. If a student approaches you, how would you go about helping him or her? A: We take a three step approach: self assessment, career exploration, and job search. Most people, and not just students, think the first step to finding a meaningful career is to write a resume and start sending it out to job sites on the Internet. The problem with this approach is that…
Eric Williams, systems and facilities manager of the Astronomy Department and Van Vleck Observatory, stands outside the observatory's 24-inch Perkin research reflector, where he often hosts weekly open houses and star gazings. "What's beautiful about astronomy is that there are always unanswered questions, and when you answer one, that will open up five more questions," said Eric Williams, the systems and facility manager for the Astronomy Department and Van Vleck Observatory. "I'm always curious." An interest in astronomy, physics and computers led Williams to Wesleyan in 1996. "I've always wanted a job like this," Williams said, "I get to experiment…
NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON'T: Fred Ellis, professor of physics, pours liquid nitrogen onto a stool during a lab demonstration January 13 in the Physics Department. About 90 students visiting from the Thomas Edison Middle School in Meriden attended six demonstrations, led by Wesleyan physics faculty and graduate students. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett) LASER LIGHT: Graduate student Paula Matei teaches seventh grade students from Thomas Edison Middle School about lasers inside the Physics Department's Molecular Collision Laboratory. Matei works under the supervision of Associate Professor of Physics Brian Stewart and studies the different kinds of few-body dynamics that…