Rebecca Gordon ’06 and her thesis advisor, John Seamon, professor of psychology, professor of neuroscience and behavior, pose with brain scans used in a recent study. Posted 04/17/06 For psychology major Rebecca Gordon’ 06, developing a research project idea was practically a no-brainer. Well, except for the fact that she had to study brains. By examining functional magnetic resonance images, known as fMRIs, Rebecca Gordon ’06 was able to see how the brain reacted on a cognitive and emotional level with healthy subjects and subjects diagnosed with schizophrenia. Her study “The Mere Exposure Effect and Schizophrenia: An fMRI Study” was…

Pictured at top, Wesleyan students and staff  walk down a street in Istanbul on their way to the mosque during a trip to Turkey and Israel March 12-23. Pictured at right, the group takes a break in the Teldan Nature Preserve in Golan Heights, Israel with their tour guide. The Wesleyan students are Ben Sachs-Hamilton, Avi Smith, Phil Zegelbone, Jamal Ahmed, Mike Figura,  Kulsoom Hasan, Maggie Mitchell, Tussy Alam, Rachel Berkowitz, Aaron Tabek, Jessica Eber and Joel Bhuiyan. Wesleyan Rabbi David Leipziger Teva and Abdullah Antepli, pictured in center in purple and black shirts, coordinated the overseas trip. Posted 04/17/06…

Gary Yohe, the John E. Andrus Professor of Economics, suggests that the government place a growing tax on the cost of carbon during a hearing March 30 in Washington D.C. Posted 04/17/06 When Gary Yohe, the John E. Andrus Professor of Economics, received a call from Senator Joseph R. Biden's office to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., he didn't hesitate. In fact, he hurried. Yohe, who was the sole expert, recommended by both the Environmental Defense Fund and Pew Center on Global Climate Change to Senator Biden's office, had only a few days…

Wesleyan's Fauver Field Residences received a First Place Award in the 2006 Connecticut Building Congress (CBC) Project Team Awards competition. It placed in the New Construction category and competed against other buildings, of which construction costs exceeded $10 million. Fauver's construction began in August 2004 and the student residences were completed in September 2005. The CBC requests that projects submitted in the competition be located in Connecticut and substantially completed during 2005. "We're honored Fauver is setting a positive example for other new constructions in the state," said Joyce Topshe, associate vice president of facilities. "A great deal of time…

Posted 04/01/06 In an ongoing initiative to increase connections between science and film at Wesleyan, a series of programs will be presented in April. This part of the series, arranged by Film Studies and Natural Sciences and Mathematics, is the last in the "Celebrating the Liberal Arts Tradition Through Film" program in which over 18 departments have participated.This is the fifth semester the Film Studies Department has hosted the series of seminars, lectures, screenings and discussions.   “Film was born out of science, and now science is being reborn through film,” says Jeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies,…

Posted 04/01/06 Wesleyan will commemorate its 175th anniversary of its institutional charter during the 174th Commencement Ceremonies May 25-28. Wesleyan’s charter was granted on May 26, 1831. John Hope Franklin, professor of history, emeritus at Duke University will give the principal address at commencement and will be awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree during the ceremony. In addition, Wesleyan will award honorary doctors of letters to Mary O. McWilliams '71, president of Regence BlueShield, pioneering alumna and trustee emerita. Franklin is an internationally-renowned historian, intellectual leader and lifelong civil rights activist. He has served on the National Council on…

Dana Royer, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, researched why pointy-leafed plants are more common in colder climates. Posted 04/01/06 Smooth or pointy – is there a reason? If that question refers to a leaf, a study by a Wesleyan researcher may have an answer that includes some cold facts about sap flow and the weather. The study by Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Dana Royer and featured in a recent issue of the International Journal of Plant Sciences looks at the characteristics of plants with pointy leaves versus smooth-leafed plants and finds the difference is more…

At right, Jessica French Smith ’09, paints a mural with students from Nagarote, Nicaragua. She was one of more than 100 Wesleyan students who volunteered their spring break time to help others around the nation and world. Posted 04/01/06 Jane Maxson ’06 spent her spring break on the gulf coast; however she wasn’t sporting a sun hat and flip-flops on the beach. Equipped with a hammer, nails and tool belt, Maxson spent her time-off school volunteering for hurricane relief efforts. Maxon was one of over 100 Wesleyan students and faculty volunteering world-wide during break.Helping the Hurricane Victims Maxon and 50…