Wesleyan's new turf field, located behind Physical Plant on Long Lane, was dedicated April 29 during a ribbon cutting ceremony. It is expected to be available for use later this month. Posted 05/04/06 Wesleyan athletes will be breaking new ground this month on their new synthetic turf field. The field, dedicated April 29 during a ribbon cutting ceremony, will be put to use in May. Men’s and women’s soccer, lacrosse and field hockey teams will use the outdoor field regularly, and it will be available for several other activities, as well. John Biddiscombe, director of athletics and chair of physical…

Posted 05/04/06 Wesleyan President Doug Bennet will conclude his presidency at the end of the 2006-07 academic year, he informed faculty, students and staff on May 4.Bennet, who became president in April 1995, led Wesleyan's historic $281 million capital campaign, expanded the size of the faculty, launched an ambitious campus building program, and shaped the university’s first comprehensive strategic plan. "Wesleyan is doing well, both institutionally and in its daily pursuit of excellence," Bennet said to members of the campus community gathered at the steps of North College. "The university is prepared well to engage new leadership, and the time…

Posted 05/04/06 Professor of Chemistry Joseph Bruno will become Wesleyan's vice president for Academic Affairs, effective July 1. Bruno has served as dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics since 2003. Bruno will serve as chief academic officer for the university, responsible for attracting and retaining faculty and for supporting their research and teaching activities. In February, after Vice President for Academic Affairs Judith Brown announced her intention to step down, Wesleyan President Doug Bennet began extensive consultations with faculty on the characteristics to seek in her successor, as well as nominations. Bennet decided to seek a Wesleyan faculty member…

Posted 04/17/06 The Wesleyan community will celebrate Earth Week April 16-April 22 with a series of activities, lectures and observations. Events include:  Lecture on "The Purpose of Nature" Verlyn Klinkenborg, a writer and professor of literature and creative writing at Fordham University and Harvard University, will deliver the Earth Day address “The Purpose of Nature” at 8 p.m. April 20 in Memorial Chapel. A reception and book signing immediately follow in the Zelnick Pavilion. Verlyn Klinkenborg is the author of Making Hay, The Last Fine Time, The Rural Life, and Timothy: Or, Notes of an Abject Reptile, and many magazine…

Rachel Ostlund ‘08 sprinkles seedlings inside a shelter at Long Lane Farm. The farm is expanding this spring to a full acre. Pictured below are vegetables grown last year by the Long Lane Farming Club. Posted 04/17/06 Although Wesleyan’s Long Lane Farm Club uses organic methods to grow its produce, a little “Miracle Grow “ has been sprinkled on one aspect of their garden: its progress. The Long Lane Farm Club was created in 2004 so students would have a place to come together and learn about food security issues. What began as a 50-foot plot of flowers and vegetables…

Baseball player Jeff Maier '06 has received national media attention this month for breaking Wesleyan's career hits record. Posted 04/17/06 Jeff Maier '06 a government major and third baseman on the varsity baseball team set the all-time record for most hits in a career against Bates College on April 12. During the game he finished 2-for-3, doubling twice, to give him 170 career hits. Prior to the game he posted four of the Cardinals' 13 hits during a double-header with Middlebury at home April 9 to tie Bill Robinson '03 for the team lead in career hits with 168. Maier's…

All alumni of color are invited to a reunion April 21-23 on campus. The reunion will coincide with WesFest so alumni have the opportunity to mingle with prospective students. Posted 04/17/06 Wesleyan's alumni of color will have the opportunity to reconnect with each other and meet the newest generation of students of color during a reunion on campus on April 21-23. "We Are Family: Wesleyan through the Years" will allow fellow alumni of color to reminisce about five decades of Wesleyan's distinctive history. It will also provide an insider's glimpse of Wesleyan today and all of the renovations, enhancements and…

Above, Midge Bennet chats with men's basketball coach Gerry McDowell during the Winter Athlete Reception April 13 in the Freeman Athletic Center. At right, President Doug Bennet speaks to winter athletes during the reception. Below, wrestling coach Drew Black, pictured on left, shakes hands with John Biddiscomb, director of Athletics. Posted 04/17/06 President Doug Bennet, Midge Bennet and John Biddiscombe, director of Athletics and chair of Physical Education, honored winter athletes at a reception in the Freeman Athletic Center's Bridge Lobby April 13.   “The positive spirit and enthusiasm of the teams seemed very strong this winter,” President Bennet said.…

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…