Olivia DrakeRing in the new year with a night of entertainment, dancing, music, laughing, fireworks and crafts in downtown Middletown. Starting at 3 p.m. Dec. 31, the City of Middletown will host its second Middnight on Main 2013, an alcohol-free celebration with unique activities for revelers of all ages, centered in the city's historic downtown. More than 10,000 people attended the 2012 event. Since Wesleyan is co-sponsoring the event, Wesleyan students, employees and their families are encouraged to attend. More than 100 events are packed into bank lobbies, performance halls, storefronts, churches and galleries, spanning four blocks in Middletown. Activities include a…
Influential experimental music composer, writer and artist John Cage (1912-1992), famous for his avant-garde music, was affiliated with Wesleyan from the 1950s until his death in 1992. During his 37-year relationship with Wesleyan, Cage collaborated with members of the Wesleyan music faculty, composed and performed on campus, and was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in 1960–61 and 1969–70. Wesleyan University Press published several of his books. To honor Cage's time and achievements at Wesleyan, the university is celebrating the centenary of Cage by focusing on his understanding of music as a social process through a collection of events.…
Lauren RubensteinIn the first presidential election since the Citizens United case transformed the campaign finance landscape, the number of ads airing in the presidential race alone surpassed one million by late October. While 2012 saw a sharp increase in the number of outside interest group players in the election, and corresponding increases in the amount of spending from groups who do not have to disclose their donors, there remained one consistent source of transparency in advertising—the Wesleyan Media Project. A political ad tracking project headed by Assistant Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler and colleagues at Bowdoin College and Washington State…
(Story contributed by Jim H. Smith) A recent discovery made by Michael McAlear, chair and associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and four of his students helps explain the function of ribosomes and sheds light on genetic processes scientists have been trying to decode for more than half a century. A paper authored by McAlear and his laboratory team, describing the discovery, was published last month in the distinguished journal BMC Genomics. The discovery resulted from long-term research into the regulation of ribosomes, often described as molecular “machines,” the organelles of all living cells in which protein synthesis occurs. Guided…
In honor of University Press Week Nov. 11-17, Wesleyan University Press released an Influence Map highlighting the scope of its work in the state, nation and world. University Press Week highlights the extraordinary work of university presses and their many contributions to culture, the academy, and an informed society. Wesleyan University Press's editorial program focuses on poetry, music, dance, science fiction studies, film-TV, and Connecticut history and culture. The map, hosted by Google, displays many of the locations of where the press is carrying the name of Wesleyan University. Click on a "pin" in Connecticut, and the map displays a poetry anthology,…
This year, Wesleyan employees can "do something big" by participating in the annual Middlesex United Way Campaign. The campaign supports education, income, health and housing issues in Middlesex County through more than 30 agencies in the area. These include YMCA of Northern Middlesex County, Women and Families Center, Shoreline Soup, Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater, Middletown Adult Education, the John J. Driscoll United Labor Agency, Inc., Habitat for Humanity, MARC Community Resources, Community Health Center Mobile Dental Program and more. Last year, United Way helped Amazing Grace serve 10,986 hungry neighbors. This year’s theme is "Do Something Big" and the Wesleyan…
Recognizing the importance of sustainability and commitments set forth in the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), Wesleyan has become a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). AASHE is a national organization that enables higher education institutions to meet their sustainability goals by providing specialized resources, professional development, and a network of peer support. Wesleyan also has become a charter participant in AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). Created by the higher education community, STARS is a comprehensive system that enables colleges and universities to gauge their progress toward sustainability.…
The Wesleyan Weather Station recorded a strong drop in local air pressure during Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29. According to the weather report, the local sea-level barometric pressure was a normal 760 mmHg (millimeters of Mercury) on Oct. 28. When Hurricane Sandy passed through Wesleyan's campus on Oct. 29, the pressure dropped to a low of 733 mmHg during the storm's peak. "Low pressure generally indicates stormy conditions whereas high pressure is associated with fair weather," explains Johan "Joop" Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science. "We tend to only see the barometer drop this low in the…
For Robert Nelson P'16 and Jean Fujisaki P'16, nothing means more to them than time with their son, Ryden '16. During Wesleyan's Homecoming/Family Weekend Oct. 19-21, the parents, who visited from La Jolla, Calif. caught a glimpse of Ryden's new home-away-from-home. During their short visit, Nelson and Fujisaki attended Ryden's Japanese class, a general physics lecture, a comedy show, mingled with his new friends and watched bits of the Homecoming football game Oct. 20. "Family Weekend has given us a better sense of what Wes is about," Nelson said, sitting with his family outside Fayerweather on Saturday morning. "We've enjoyed…
(Story contributed by Jim H. Smith) Senior thesis research conducted last spring by Audrey Haynes '12 at Costa Rica’s National University, under the tutorship of Johan “Joop” Varekamp, has shown that many residents of the Central American nation have levels of mercury in their hair that far exceed those recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Varekamp, whose student made the discovery as part of a broad evaluation of environmental mercury in Costa Rica, says the elevated mercury levels are probably a consequence of over-consumption of large ocean fish, not exposure to mercury in the air emitted by volcanoes, as…
Nadja Aksamija, associate professor of art history, is spending her 2012-13 year abroad in Florence, Italy as a Robert Lehman Fellow at the Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. She is one of 15 scholars to receive the fellowship. I Tatti Fellows are selected by an international and interdisciplinary committee that welcomes applications from Italian Renaissance scholars from all nations. While abroad, Aksamija is researching the Bolognese villa in the age of Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti. "My project investigates the Bolognese villa culture at the end of the 16th century, a period marked by Catholic reform…
Hannah Norman '16It’s that time of year: crunchy fall leaves and the long awaited end to the summer harvesting season. Long Lane Farm’s ninth annual Pumpkin Fest, held on Oct. 6, celebrated this culmination with free vegetarian food, face painting, live music from student bands, farm tours, yoga, and more. Middletown residents and Wesleyan students and faculty alike came together in what farm enthusiast Josh Krugman '14 called “a celebration of the farm as a student-run project that makes amazing things happen, and also the farm as a community and the possibility the farm has of creating community even outside of the…