Posted 11/20/07 The university has been awarded a TRIO Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The McNair program will provide financial support, mentoring, research opportunities, and academic guidance to eligible students who want pursue Ph.D. study. Laurel F. Appel, visiting associate professor of biology, is the McNair program's director. She's excited that Wesleyan is part of the federal program. It is presently the only Connecticut institution that is part of the program. "This program fits in with the goals of Wesleyan by broadening access to research to all students," Appel says. “The focus…

Posted 11/20/07 Two Wesleyan alumni each have made substantial gifts to create need-based scholarships for former servicemen and women for four years of full-time baccalaureate study. These new gifts will fund as many as 10 scholarships at any given time. One of the donors, Frank Sica '73, hopes he can enable young men and women who have performed a service for the U.S. to attend a premier liberal arts university. "The government-provided college aid and pay scales for enlisted personnel are such that, unless these people received substantial aid, they could not pay the expenses associated with attending a place…

Nadeem Modan ‘10 and Adina Teibloom ‘10 attended interactive workshops, panel conversations with leading think tanks and foundations at the Interfaith Youth Conference Oct. 28-30 in Chicago, Ill. They are sharing what they have learned with their Wesleyan peers. Posted 11/05/07 Two Wesleyan sophomores met with renowned religious scholars, interfaith activists and peers from around the world recently to promote peaceful relations between different religious groups. Nadeem Modan ‘10, who is Muslim, and Adina Teibloom ‘10, who is Jewish, attended interactive workshops, panel conversations with leading think tanks and foundations, and an interfaith concert at the Interfaith Youth Conference Oct.…

Skye LoGuidice '09 is on the ballot for three Grammy awards. She write songs on life, tackling love, life and loss. Posted 11/05/07 Skye LoGuidice ’09 is working toward graduating with a degree from the College of Letters, but first she may receive a Grammy Award – or two, or even three. LoGuidice, who musically goes by Skye Claire, is listed on the 50th Annual Grammy Awards official ballot in three categories. The singer-songwriter was chosen among thousands of artists and bands nation-wide. “I haven’t told that many people yet, because I don’t know how to react to this, or…

Alfredo Jaar is displaying three of his exhibits inside Zilhka Gallery. Posted 11/05/07 Is a media giant like Newsweek able to shape public opinion by defining what is newsworthy? This is one question internationally acclaimed artist Alfredo Jaar leaves for his audience to answer in a current exhibition in Zilkha Gallery. Jaar’s exhibition is on display in Zilkha Gallery through Dec. 2. He will present an art seminar at 4:15 p.m. Nov. 6 in Zilkha 106 and a music colloquium at 4:15 Nov. 7 in the Music Department. Through a straightforward photography installation that addresses the media coverage of the…

Posted 11/05/07 Wesleyan University will eliminate loans for its neediest undergraduates and replace these with additional grants, President Michael S. Roth has announced. The policy will be part of a new initiative to reduce overall student indebtedness by 35 percent to make Wesleyan even more accessible to students regardless of their financial capacity. "Access to a Wesleyan education for students from all backgrounds has long been one of the core values of this community," Roth says. "It remains one of our highest priorities. As I begin my presidency, I see this new effort as a down payment on our goal…

Posted 11/05/07 In the 1930s, Hollywood unveiled a new way of watching film with the introduction of three-color Technicolor. Scott Higgins, left, associate professor of film studies, will speak on the 75-year-old color film process technique during a three-weekend retrospective of Technicolor films at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. His lecture, which begins at 2 p.m. Nov. 17, will be held in conjunction with the publication of his book Harnessing the Technicolor Rainbow: Color Design in the 1930s (University of Texas Press). “Filmmakers had already mastered the art of monochrome, of translating stories into a…