Olivia DrakeOctober 5, 20065min
Erhard Konerding, Olin Library documents librarian, flips through the pages of Survey for the Transcontinental Railroad, dated 1860, located in Wesleyan's Congress Serial Set in Olin Library. In 1906 Wesleyan became a designated depository for U.S. government documents. Posted 10/05/06 In October 1906, United States Representative George Lilley allowed Wesleyan’s libraries to receive publications of congress, the president, federal courts and federal agencies, at no cost. Wesleyan was designated as one of the nation’s few depository libraries, under the auspices of the U.S. Government Printing Office. In October 2006, Wesleyan libraries are celebrating their centennial as a Depository Library for…

Olivia DrakeOctober 5, 20066min
  Gloster Aaron, assistant professor of biology, speaks on "Neurons looking back before firing: the timing of action potentials" during the Molecular Biophysics Retreat Sept. 21. Posted 10/05/06 Established and budding scientists attended the Seventh Annual Wesleyan University Molecular Biophysics Retreat at the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown on Sept. 21. The retreat is an annual celebration of the Molecular Biophysics Program, which is co-directed by David Beveridge, professor of chemistry and Ishita Mukerji, associate professor and chair of molecular biology and biochemistry. Organized this year by Beveridge and Manju Hingorani, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, the event was…

Olivia DrakeOctober 5, 20067min
Jennifer Bol, a consultant from Spencer Stuart, the agency selected to assist the Presidential Search Committee in recruiting Wesleyan's new president, asks the Wesleyan audience what they are seeking in the university's new president. Posted 10/05/06 Pam Tatge wants a university president who has traveled or studied abroad. Michael Whitcomb wants a president who respects a diverse staff and student body. Suzy Taraba wants a president who values a liberal arts education. These were all suggestions presented during a presidential search open forum Sept. 29 in Russell House. Wesleyan President Douglas Bennet '59, P'87, P'94 announced his decision that the…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20062min
Posted 09/15/06 Wesleyan celebrated the 10th anniversary of Constitution Day. According to Federal law, Wesleyan and other federally-funded institutions are required to offer programs commemorating the Constitution. “We want to take something that is required by law, and turn it into something meaningful for the Wesleyan community,” says the Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian Barbara Jones. Jones, whose primary professional interests include intellectual freedom, presented a talk titled “Libraries and the Constitution After 9/11” in recognition of Constitution Day 2006 Sept. 19 in the Smith Reading Room in Olin Library. R Jones has served one term as chair of the…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 200610min
Ron Jenkins, professor of theater, reads a Sanskrit prayer during a Sept. 11 Memorial Service in the Memorial Chapel while Jason Harris '09, left, listens. Posted 09/15/06 On Sept. 11, 2001, Marc Arena ’07 was in class when his high school principal announced over the P.A. that the World Trade Center towers were struck by two planes. He and his classmates at Pelham Memorial High School in Pelham, N.Y. gathered around a radio, listening in awe. With an ear on the broadcast, and a pencil at hand, Arena wrote a poem. “Bodies leaping from 61 floors. Like roaches in the…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20067min
Posted 09/15/06 The Center for African American Studies is hosting a fall lecture series titled "Revisiting Slavery." The schedule includes:“Slavery and the United States Constitution” 4:15 Sept. 27 in the CAAS lounge by Lawrence Goldstone. Goldstone holds a Ph.D in American constitutional studies. He is the author of Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the U.S. Constitution.“Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery” 4:15 p.m. Oct. 19 in the CAAS lounge by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang and Jenifer Frank. Farrow, Wesleyan alumnus Joel Lang and Frank are veteran journalists for The Hartford Courant. Farrow and…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20066min
Posted 09/15/06 Each year, the Office of University Communications collects objective and comparative measures of Wesleyan's strengths from data compiled by outside sources. Following is a brief list of recent findings:No. 1 in National Science Foundation (NSF) Funding among Liberal Arts Peers This is an objective ranking based on available NSF funding data. Between 2001 and 2003 Wesleyan received $14.49 million in NSF funding (this reflects the most recent data available – Wesleyan was also No. 1 in the previous survey that ran up to 2001). Next closest was Mt. Holyoke at $5.31 million. Carleton was 3rd, Barnard 4th and…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20066min
Science teachers in Connecticut teachers take classes at Wesleyan through the Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science Program (PIMMS). PIMMS is teaming up with the Connecticut Science Center to provide science and math education techniques to K-12 teachers. Posted 09/15/06 A new partnership between Wesleyan University and The Connecticut Science Center in Hartford will be designed to engage more students across the state to the sciences than ever before. Specifically, The Connecticut Science Center will be partnering with Wesleyan's Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Sciences (PIMMS). Together they will train Connecticut middle school science teachers how…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20064min
Posted 09/15/06 On May 4, 2006, Doug Bennet '59, P'87, P'94, Wesleyan's 15th president, announced his decision that the 2006-07 academic year will be the 12th and final year of his presidency. The Wesleyan Board of Trustees is in the process of convening an 18-person search committee composed of alumni, trustees, faculty, staff and students to undertake a comprehensive search to identify and successfully recruit Bennet's successor. The alumni and trustee members of the search committee are Kofi Appenteng '81 and chair, Stephen Daniel '82, Jim Dresser '63, Joe Fins '82, Ellen Jewett '81, Michael McPherson P'98, Megan Norris '83,…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20066min
Drew Black, wrestling coach and strength and conditioning coach, explains how to use a medicine ball for strength training via video on a new Strength and Conditioning Web Site. Posted 09/15/06 With moves like the spider lunge, chest fly, sumo squat, wood chop, push jerk and the inch worm, strength and conditioning lessons have never been so easy – and entertaining.   Through a series of online videos and written training plans, Drew Black, Wesleyan wrestling coach and strength and conditioning coach, shows how to properly execute 241 movements in the weight room. Some can be applied in the workplace…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20062min
Posted 09/15/06 David Titus, Professor Emeritus of Government, died on June 13, 2006. Professor Titus taught at Wesleyan from 1966 until his retirement in 2004, serving as chair of the Government Department, the College of Social Studies and the East Asian Studies Program. He played a crucial role in establishing East Asian Studies at Wesleyan; he served as Resident Director of the Kyoto Program three times, and was a member and frequent chair of its Executive Board. His masterwork was his Palace and Politics in Prewar Japan, which established his reputation as a leading scholar of Japanese politics; it was…

Olivia DrakeAugust 24, 20064min
Posted 08/24/06 Wesleyan’s Music Department will sponsor a memorial service for David McAllester, professor of music and anthropology, emeritus, at 2 p.m. in the Memorial Chapel Sept. 24. McAllester, a founder of the Society for Ethnomusicology, died April 29, 2006, after suffering a stroke. He was 89. “David had a huge impact on generations of Wesleyan students, many of them not music majors or grad students,” says Mark Slobin, professor of music, who worked with McAllester for 15 years. “When I was hired at Wesleyan in 1971 and looked at a college guide, the only course singled out was McAllester’s…