Olivia DrakeAt 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…
Posted 07/13/05 When it comes to fund-raising, Wesleyan is right on the money. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has awarded Wesleyan the CASE-Wealth ID Award for Educational Fund Raising: Overall Performance. Wesleyan competed in the Private Liberal Arts Institutions category. Wesleyan shared this distinction with eight other institutions, including Wellesley College and Williams College. Wesleyan is already ranked highly for academic excellence, but now it demonstrates exemplary support of private education through its fund-raising performance, says Mark Bailey, director of development communications. CASE, a nonprofit education association, supports educational institutions by enhancing the effectiveness of the…
Alex Dupuy, professor of sociology, is a native of Haiti and has traced the country's turmoil back to its revolution. Posted 07/13/05 It started out as one of the most inspiring stories in human history: slaves rebelled against their masters, fought a long, bloody revolution and took control of an oppressive nation. But since that auspicious beginning, the history of Haiti and its people has been fraught with turmoil and division. During the last few decades, Alex Dupuy, professor of sociology, has been searching for reasons why, and sharing his insight not just with his students but the world.…
Wesleyan has partnered with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange for several fall events. Posted 07/13/05 For the past three years, the Center for the Arts and Wesleyan faculty have partnered with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange to explore the ethical and social repercussions of genetic research. The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, led by MacArthur Fellow Liz Lerman, has been creating dance works that are metaphorical and powerfully visceral about the issues of the time. The Wesleyan-Dance Exchange partnership has resulted in Wesleyan serving as a lead commissioner of Ferocious Beauty: Genome, which will premiere at the CFA on February…
Posted 07/12/05 Updated 07.25.05 Olympic Champion Otylia Jedrzejczak, who also holds the world record in the 200-meter butterfly (2:05.78), was one of 17 athletes on the Polish National Swimming Team who trained at Wesleyan July 15 through July 21. The Polish squad was preparing for the World Championships to be held in Montreal, Quebec from July 24-31. It is customary for international teams to do time-zone acclimation training, according to Brad Flood, head women's swimming coach at the University of Bridgeport. Flood has been working with the Polish National team for more than a dozen years and recruited a number…
Posted 06/15/05 In the year ending March 31, 2005, Wesleyan's endowment has performed in the top quartile of schools with similar-sized portfolios, according to data collected by the Office of Finance and Administration. Wesleyans return of 11.7 percent was not only 2.2 percentage points above the 25th percentile for peer schools, it was almost twice the S&P 500 return for the same period. These results reflect a series of improvements in Wesleyan's portfolio management, according to Vice President for Finance and Administration Marcia Bromberg. In 1997 the university developed new endowment guidelines that divided the activities of the Wesleyan Board of…
Posted 06/15/05 Wesleyan's trustees formally adopted a new strategic plan for the university at their meeting on May 20. "Engaged with the World: A Strategic Plan for Wesleyan University, 2005-2010" (www.wesleyan.edu/wesleyanplanning/) sets ambitious goals for academic and student life programming and for campus renewal, according to President Doug Bennet. The new plan is the product of almost two years' dialogue among faculty, students, staff, alumni and trustees. It notes institutional advances that resulted from the implementation of its 1998 precursor, "Strategy for Wesleyan," and the success of the $281 million Wesleyan Campaign, including the addition of 20 faculty across the…
Wesleyan has launched a new virtual tour for the campus community and prospective students. Above, an interactive Wesleyan campus map highlights 50 campus buildings. At right, a part of a guided tour by a Wesleyan student. Posted 06/15/05 Take a trip from Freeman Athletic Center to the Center for Fine Arts, locate all the wi-fi sites in between, find a place to eat, learn a little Wesleyan trivia and even see whats happening on campus all without ever leaving your computer. A new Web site called The Wesleyan Experience http://www.wesleyan.edu/virtualtour/ gives users a chance to do all this…
This photograph of a West Bengal wedding altar by Ákos Östör, professor of anthropology and film studies, and Lina Fruzzetti of Brown University, is on display in The Museum of Cultures in Helsinki, Finland. It is part of an exhibit titled Divine Gifts: Marriage and ritual in rural West Bengal. Posted 06/15/05 In India, marriage carries great social and cultural meanings. It ensures the continuity of the male line and it is vital to the maintenance of caste status. Ákos Östör, professor of anthropology and professor of film studies, has spent the past three years traveling to Bishnupur, West…
In July, South College will receive eight new bells. Scaffolding will surround parts of the building, as crews install the bells and remodel the belfry. Sections of the white panels will be removed, however the copper-top will stay in tact. Posted 06/15/05 The South College belfry will receive eight new bells and a facelift during the next several months. This renovation will add eight new bells to the current 16-bell array. This will upgrade the status of the Wesleyan bells from a chime (10-22 bells) to that of a carillon (23 or more). Now well have more notes, so…
Summer Hughes Fellows Maiko Kondo '07 (top) and Brandon Stein '07 (left) work on their research projects in Wesleyan labs. Hughes Fellows have 10 weeks to finish a research project of their choice. Faculty members provide guidance and instruction. Posted 06/15/05 In Wesleyans Mukerji Lab, Maiko Kondo 07 studies peptides modeled after those found in Alzheimers plaques. Nearby in the Flory Lab, Brandon Stein 07 examines nuclear functions of telomere-associated proteins. As Wesleyan University Summer Hughes Fellows, Kondo and Stein have 10 weeks to complete their research, work one-on-one with a faculty advisor and participate in a variety of…
It's hammer time. Starting this month, construction for the new Suzanne Lemberg Usdan University Center begins. Alan Rubacha, project manager, is setting up an 8-foot chain-link fence that will surround the old Alumni Athletic Building and Fayerweather Gymnasium. The driveway and cement walkway that currently provide access from Wyllys Avenue to the lot behind South and North College will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians as of Monday, June 13. The lot itself will be closed except for handicap access and service. Parking has been reassigned to the lot adjacent to the Office of Admission and to the lot behind…