Olivia DrakeMary Schreck Glynn, application technology specialist, created the telephone directory database, media database and the student summer registration system. Posted 09/09/05 Q: What does it mean to be an applications technology specialist?A: Basically, an applications technology specialist evaluates new technologies and creates and supports academic and administrative applications using new and proven technologies. All the applications are database related.Q: What is the purpose of these applications? A: The general purpose is to service the Wesleyan community by automating tasks and sharing information.Q: Can you give me a few examples of some of the tasks and information that have undergone…
Academic Commons, a Web site developed by two Wesleyan staff members and a staff member from Alma College launched in August. Posted 09/09/05 Colleagues from liberal arts colleges interested in technology-related issues can read original articles on the topic, share their own ideas and even collaborate with their peers on a Web site launched this month called Academic Commons (http://www.academiccommons.org). The site offers a forum for investigating and defining the role that technology can play in liberal arts education. The idea for the project came out of a series of meetings that took place at the Center of Inquiry…
Posted 09/09/05 Wesleyan University will offer Connecticut residents enrolled at colleges and universities in areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina the opportunity to take fall semester classes at Wesleyan, and Wesleyan students, faculty and staff have begun to coordinate other efforts for relief opportunities. The university has reached out to students from Connecticut who attend colleges in areas affected by the storm. These students may apply for status as visiting students and enroll in classes on a space-available basis. Wesleyan will work with families to ensure that their total costs do not exceed their existing commitments to the schools in which…
Posted 09/09/05 The University Recycling Committee has implemented a new campus-wide recycling system. Mixed paper, glass, metal, plastic, corrugated cardboard, batteries, printer cartridges and even old furniture can now be collected and recycled. Recycling is required by law in Connecticut, and is the obligation of every member of the Wesleyan community, says Bill Nelligan, the Wesleyan recycling coordinator and associate director of Environmental Health and Safety. We hope that the Wesleyan community will join this effort to make Wesleyan a leader in waste reduction and environmental responsibility. Nelligan says recycling saves resources, energy, reduces pollution, cuts generation of greenhouse gases…
Going . . . Construction crews demolished sections of the old Alumni Gym, also known as "the Cage" July 20 through Aug. 5. The new Suzanne Lemberg Usdan University Center building will be constructed in this location. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett) Going . . . Going . . . Going . . . Going . . . GONE.
Michael Singer, assistant professor of biology, discovered that the wolly bear caterpillar, Grammia geneura, ingests medicinal plants when sick. Posted 08/17/05 When tiger moth caterpillars get a bug, they do what a lot of us do - ingest some medicine and hope it provides a cure. These findings by co-investigators Michael Singer, assistant professor of biology, and Elizabeth Bernays, regents professor emerita of entomology at the University of Arizona, appear in the July 27 issue of Nature. During a study of the caterpillars of two types of tiger moths, known as Grammia geneura and Estigmene acrea, Singer and Bernays…
Posted 08/17/05 A picture may be a worth a thousands words, but what is its value in the college classroom, especially if the picture is digital? This will be among the issues considered by a new digital image study spearheaded by Wesleyan University and the Center for Educational Technology. The six-month study will examine how digitized images of all sorts are used by faculty at 34 elite teaching and research institutions. The hope is that by assessing current practices in the classrooms, methods for more effective use of these images can be identified and implemented. "There is also an opportunity…
Members of the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) met at Woodhead Lounge July 20-22. Martha Gilmore, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, (pictured second from left in the first row) coordinated the meeting. Posted 08/17/05 Martian oceans, solar system exploration and telescopic studies of Neptune were all topics of discussion during a planetary committee meeting at Wesleyan.The Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) met at Wesleyans Woodhead Lounge July 20-22. COMPLEX advises the National Academies Space Studies Board on the entire range of planetary system studies that can be conducted from space as well as on…
Olga Bookas, procurement specialist, negotiates prices and purchases mailing equipment, furniture, paint, light bulbs, and even window shades for the university. Posted 08/17/05 Q: When were you hired in Financial Services as a procurement specialist? A: I started working at Wesleyan in January 2005.Q: Please explain what a procurement specialist means.A: I am responsible for negotiating and developing contracts with vendors. Some of my purchasing duties include processing purchase orders for furniture, lease copiers, cell phones. I also meet with Wesleyan colleagues to determine their purchasing requirements and then I meet with vendors to ensure that they are reliable…
At top, Ricardo Morris, director of the Green Street Arts Center, is developing classes for the centers fall semester. At right, Morris enjoys a snack with participants of the Free Lunch Program inside the center in Middletowns North End. Posted 08/17/05 When Ricardo Morris taught English in public schools, he refused to let his students simply read Beowolf. The class would feast, dance and listen to 10th century music all before opening the epic narrative. His unconventional teaching methods, however, werent appreciated beyond the classroom. I was sent to the principals office far more than any of…
Steven Stemler, a new assistant professor of psychology, will teach Psychological Statistics this fall. Posted 08/17/05 Steve Stemler has joined the Psychology Department as an assistant professor. In an era of increasing specialization, Stemler says he admires Wesleyan for recognizing the importance of training undergraduate students to value the diversity of knowledge accumulated across different fields of study. There is a tremendous value to studying such topics as classical languages, hard sciences, social sciences and the arts simultaneously, he says. I believe that a liberal arts education results in a well-rounded person who will be capable of seeing broad…
At left, Hughes Associate, Mellon Fellow and Earth and Environmental Sciences Major Maya Gomes '06 discusses her research with interested onlookers during the 17th annual Hughes Summer Research Program Poster Session Aug. 5. Gomes' poster was titled "Understanding the Genesis of Jarosite in Qualibou Caldera, Saint Lucia as an Analogue for Mars." Posted 08/17/05 Chimpanzee studies, eating behaviors, mice brains and even sperm banks were topics of research presented at the 17th annual Hughes Summer Research Program Poster Session Aug. 5 at the Exley Science Center. After 10 weeks of intense research, 49 Hughes Fellows presented their projects. Hughes…