John Seamon, professor and chair of the Psychology Department, led a study titled the study, "Do you remember proposing marriage to the Pepsi Machine? False recollections from a campus walk," which appeared in a recent issue of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. Posted 04/17/07 Did you propose marriage to a Pepsi machine two weeks ago, or did you just imagine it? That's one of the questions John Seamon, professor and chair of the Psychology Department, asked participants in a study designed to determine if memories, and, in particular, bizarre false memories, could be implanted. "We were interested in seeing if merely…

Goaltender Mike Palladino '09 was named to the 2007 New England NESCAC All-Conference first-team. (Photo by Richard Orr) Posted 04/17/07 Seven Wesleyan athletes and one coach were named to the 2007 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) All-Conference Teams. Men’s hockey team members Will Bennett '07 and Mike Palladino '09 were first-team choices. Bennett, pictured at right, was the hockey team’s top scorer, and Palladino was the starting goaltender for the hockey Cardinals. Bennett, the 2004 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, is tied for second in the conference in scoring with 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points…

Members of the class of 1918, the last class to hold a "Cannon Scrap" on campus, serenade the Douglas Cannon at their 55th reunion in 1973. Rumors have it that the cannon may return this year during Reunion & Commencement Weekend. Below, the cannon makes an appearance in Paris, France in the mid 1980s. Posted 04/02/07 There are no promises, but rumors have been heard that the 139-year-old Douglas Cannon – a revered Wesleyan artifact – may make an appearance during the 175th Commencement this May. John Driscoll, director of alumni relations, says he's heard vague rumblings that the cannon…

Posted 04/02/07 Jacob Dorman, the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, has been awarded a research fellowship by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Dorman will conduct research at the Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library. His project title is “Everyday Life and the Harlem Renaissance.” Dorman received a bachelor’s of art from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in African American history. At Wesleyan, he teaches Black Urban Religious History. He will use his Gilder Lehrman Fellowship to research the social history of black life during the Harlem Renaissance. To support outstanding…

Jenna Gopilan '07 researches neural stem cells in mice brains, and presented her research at a recent StemCONN conference. Posted 04/02/07 Jenna Gopilan ’07 familiarized herself with the scientific research environment during her freshman year as a work study student. As a sophomore, she shadowed graduate students to learn their techniques. Now, as a senior, the neuroscience and behavior major had the opportunity to present her own research project to the Media and Legislative Briefing at the State Capitol in Hartford. The briefing took place during Connecticut's Stem Cell Research International Symposium, also known as StemCONN 07, March 27-28. Gopilan’s…

A study by Dana Royer, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, has established a calculable relationship between increases in CO2 and global surface temperatures. Posted 04/02/07 The connection between CO2 concentrations and increased global temperatures just gained a significant amount of evidence - about 420 million years worth of evidence, to be specific. In a paper published in the March 29 issue of Nature, Dana Royer, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, and two colleagues from Yale University have used nearly 500 data points to create the most comprehensive model of the relationship between CO2 and temperature to…

In center, Suzanne O’Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, teaches visiting 5th grade students about rocks. O'Connell was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to support building a community of women geoscience leaders. Posted 04/02/07 A three-year, $488,367 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to Suzanne O’Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, and Mary Anne Holmes, research associate professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, will help women from all academic levels take part in a community that stresses professional development in the geosciences. The project, titled, “Building a Community of Women Geoscience…

  At left, Marlon Bishop ’07 and Leigh Senderowicz ‘07 received Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowships, which facilitate independent projects abroad. Posted 04/02/07 Two Wesleyan students will have the opportunity to travel abroad and conduct independent studies as Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellows. Marlon Bishop ’07 and Leigh Senderowicz ‘07 each received the $25,000 award. The Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship provides graduating college seniors with a one year fellowship to explore an independent project outside of the United States, to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective participation in the…

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will speak April 18 on campus. Posted 03/16/07 Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will deliver a keynote address on Connecticut’s Role in the Fight Against Global Warming at Wesleyan University’s Earth Day celebration at 8 p.m. April 18 in Wesleyan’s Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public. A reception will be held afterward in the adjoining Zelnick Pavilion. The presentation is being sponsored by The Robert Schumann Lecture Series in the Environmental Studies Certificate Program. For more information, contact Valerie Marinelli at 860-685-3733 or vmarinelli@wesleyan.edu.

Wesleyan will keep its Internet services private. Posted 03/16/07 Wesleyan will adjust its computer network access protocols in order to remain exempt from an order by the Federal Communications Commission that requires facilities-based Internet service providers to engineer their networks to assist law enforcement agencies in executing wiretap orders. The changes, intended to ensure that the university's network is viewed as "private" and thus exempt, include requiring log-ins for access to the campus wireless network, kiosks and library computers. To facilitate guest use, each Wesleyan user will be able to request as many as five guest accounts through the electronic…

 Posted 03/16/07 This summer, Gaël Hagen ’09 will be doing something a little different than he’s used to. Specifically, he’ll have the opportunity to meet with such high-level government officials including Supreme Court Justices, the Secretary of State, U.S. Senators, U.S. Congressmen, as well as business leaders. Hagen, pictured at right, is a newly-selected scholar to the Institute for Responsible Citizenship, a leadership program centered at Georgetown University. Each year, 24 minority male students are selected to participate in the two-summer program in Washington, D.C. During the first summer, students take courses on campus while interning in the D.C. Metro…