Bryan Stascavage '18March 16, 20152min
Wesleyan's vegan fare continues to impress voters and critics: collegemagazine.org has named the school the ninth best vegan campus nationwide, and Wesleyan is looking to reach the final round in the People's Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) "March Madness"-style voting contest. According to collegemagazine.org: Wesleyan not only boasts its history of social justice activism, but also a wide range of mouth-watering vegan foods. Veggie chicken red curry is just one of these fine meals. Let your senses run wild with Bon Appétit, the campus’ food supplier. Their navy bean soup, garden burger and steamed parsnips will have you running back for more. Even…

Bryan Stascavage '18March 16, 20152min
Stephen Devoto, professor of neuroscience and behavior; Rosemary Doris, visiting assistant professor of biology; Ph.D. candidate Steffie Windner; and neuroscience and behavior major Chantal Ferguson ’13 are the co-authors of a paper that is the culmination of three years of research. The paper, titled "Tbx6, Mesp-b and Ripply1 Regulate the Onset of Skeletal Myogenesis in Zebrafish" is published in the March 2015 edition of Development, Vol. 142, No. 6, pages 1,159-1,168. The paper is a collaboration between Wesleyan, Kings College London and the National Institute for Medical Research (MRC). Devoto highlights the importance of the paper: The paper identifies three new regulators of muscle development,…

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Olivia DrakeMarch 10, 20152min
#THISISWHY In this News @ Wesleyan story, we speak with Brent Packer from the Class of 2015.  Q: Brent, where are you from and what are you majoring in? A: I was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Growing up nearby Amish farms and having tortoises, dogs and a semi-domesticated duck scampering around my house piqued my environmental interests. At Wesleyan, I’m a member of the College of the Environment with a double major in economics and environmental studies. Q: You are the founder of Potlux, an online community where collegiate sustainability initiatives are aggregated and shared. What is the…

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Lauren RubensteinMarch 10, 20151min
The Exley Science Center’s first level, which underwent renovations earlier this year, has been outfitted with all new furniture, offering a variety of seating options. According to Brandi Hood, senior project coordinator with Construction Services, the lobby boasts 34 new lounge seats with end tables (each with USB and power outlets); four tables with 15 low-top study seats; six tables with 24 high-top café seats; and nine standing countertop kiosks for those looking to charge a cell phone or take a quick break. “This seating was chosen to provide a variety of comfortable, single and group seats, (more…)

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Olivia DrakeMarch 10, 20152min
On Feb. 27, representatives from seven Wesleyan athletic teams visited Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Middletown to promote the anti-bullying message "if it's mean, then intervene" with about 300 seventh and eighth graders. The student-athletes worked with the school's RAM Pride Patrol program, which is run by seventh grade teacher and Wesleyan alumnus Anthony Albrech '08. Albrecht organized the participation by Wesleyan athletes with Jeff McDonald, assistant football coach. McDonald drafted 16 student athletes from the men's and women's lacrosse teams, men's hockey team, football, men’s tennis team, women’s basketball and men’s track to come to the school for two separate presentations.…

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Olivia DrakeMarch 9, 20151min
Mateusz “Matt” Burgunder ’15 recently competed in the 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Verbier, Switzerland where the U.S. National Ski Mountaineering Team finished in 10th place overall. This was Burgunder's fourth time competing for the U.S., participating in three events. Competitors race by climbing up and skiing down mountains at a rate of approximately 3,000 feet per hour. The 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships, hosted by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, were held Feb. 6–12. More information about the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association and the 2015 World Championships can be found online. See photos of Burgunder's events below: (more…)

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Lauren RubensteinMarch 6, 20152min
Writing in Tikkun Magazine, government major Rachel Unger '15 offers a first-hand account of Israeli-Palestinian relations she witnessed during her two trips to the region, and how these experiences shaped her views of a "two-state solution" to the ongoing conflict. Unger describes watching "religious Jews marching through the Muslim quarter of the Old City celebrating the 'reunification' of Jerusalem while the authorities blocked Palestinians from the streets with barricades and prevented an old man from taking the bus to his home. I witnessed police knocking a Palestinian man to the ground while hordes of young Yeshiva boys cheered and sang 'Am Yisrael Chai!'" She…

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Olivia DrakeMarch 5, 20152min
The student-run Wesleyan Local Food Co-op sources a large variety of fresh local foods, including Long Lane Farm produce, and distributes them on campus. Besides produce, the co-op distributes fresh dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt and butter), meat, eggs, tofu, seitan, granola, bread and coffee, all locally grown, roasted or made. The program began solely for students but is now open to staff and faculty participation in the wake of expressed interest. More than 500 members of the Wesleyan community are part of one or more co-ops. Participants pick up shares Wednesday evenings in Usdan and help once each semester…

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Olivia DrakeMarch 4, 20151min
Wesleyan's Slam Poetry Team, WeSlam, took first place at the Yale Regional Poetry Slam Feb. 28 in New Haven, Conn. Wesleyan competed against five other teams from Yale, Brown University, Columbia/Barnard, Middlebury College and Emerson College. "Our team brought important pieces about racial and religious identity, sexual violence across the gender binary, and gender roles," said former WeSlam member Mike Rosen '11, who serves as the team's advisor. Poets include Giorgia Peckman '18, Jon Logan-Rung '18, Hazem Fahmy '17, Rick Manayan '17 and Max Friedlich '17. Fahmy received a standing ovation for his poem about popular culture's portrayal of Islam. For more information on…

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Olivia DrakeMarch 3, 20152min
Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship announced the winners of the 2015 PCSE Seed Grant Challenge. These student-led social ventures will each receive $5,000 in unrestricted funds as well as training, advising, mentoring, incubator workspace and other resources from the Patricelli Center. Recipients were selected from a strong pool of finalists who submitted written business plans and pitched to a panel of expert judges comprised of alumni, students, faculty and staff. Applicants were assessed on their project design, leadership qualities and potential for social impact. The 2015 Seed Grant recipients are: (more…)

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Olivia DrakeMarch 3, 20152min
While walking back to his room from Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad, Iraq, Bryan Stascavage ’18 remembers telling a friend about his plans for the future. “When I get out of the military, I’m going back to college with a vengeance," Stascavage said. “A perfect 4.0 GPA or bust. I’m not messing around and wasting this opportunity like I did my first time around.” His first time in college, which he attended right after high school, had been an "unmitigated disaster," Stascavage recalls. He only lasted three semesters with a GPA hovering around a 2.0. After taking a wide array of…