Olivia DrakePosted 02/16/07 Nelson Polsby, renowned political scientist, died on February 6 at the age of 72. Polsby was a member of the Wesleyan faculty from 1961 through 1968, rising meteorically from the rank of assistant professor to full professor. According to Karl Scheibe, professor emeritus of psychology, Nelson left an indelible mark on Wesleyan, even though he was only here for seven years. Polsby was a prolific author of books and articles and editor of The American Political Science Review, the premier political science journal. Perspectives on Politics noted that Polsby ranked in the top ten of most frequently cited…
From left, Henk Meij, applications technology specialist; Francis Starr, assistant professor of physics; and James Taft, assistant director of technology support services, look over the newly-installed 10-terabyte computer cluster at Information Technology Services. Posted 02/16/07 It takes 10, 250-volt plugs to power up. It takes 9,000 BTUs to keep it cool. It can communicate 14 times faster than high-speed internet, and it has the potential to store more than 2.5 million MP3s. But most important, this state-of-the-art high-performance computer cluster will offer both education and research opportunities for the university on a level which has never before been available. The…
Angel Gil-Ordóñez, Wesleyan orchestra music director, directed Virgil Thomsons original soundtracks that accompany a newly-released version of The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River. Posted 02/01/07 Wesleyan Orchestra Music Director Angel Gil-Ordóñez addresses the impact of humanity on the environment and chronicles the settlement of the Great Plains through music on a newly-released DVD. His Washington D.C.-based orchestra, Post-Classical Ensemble, provides the soundtrack for director Pare Lorentzs landmark New Deal-Era Classics documentaries The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1938). The dual-film DVD, released Jan. 30 by classical music label Naxos, features the first…
Daniel Stern, former fellow in the Wesleyan Center for the Humanities, the Boynton Visiting Professor in Creative Writing in the College of Letters and a visiting professor in Letters and English, died on Jan. 24 at the age of 79. He was living in Houston, Texas. According to the Houston Chronicle, Stern had taught in the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program, where he was a Cullen Distinguished Professor of English since 1992. Wesleyan Professor of Letters Paul Schwaber has shared the following tribute to Professor Stern, which he wrote in 1991 when Stern was given the Cullen Professorship at…
Ben Byers '07 wants to defend his title in the 1000 freestyle at NESCACs and also win the 1650. Posted 02/01/07 Q: How did a young man from Seattle, Wash. become interested in attending Wesleyan University?A: Both my parents grew up in New York, my dad in White Plains, my mom in Brooklyn, so when I decided I wanted to come to the East Coast for college they suggested, among others, Wesleyan. Once I'd begun the application process I started talking to the swimming coach Mary Bolich and realized the program was a good fit for me.Q: What did you…
Barbara Schukoske, administrative assistant for the Office of Graduate Student Services, is a lifelong Middletown resident and remembers sledding down Foss Hill as a child. Posted 02/01/07 Q: Barbara, when did you come to Wesleyan and what led you to the Office of Graduate Student Services?A: I was hired as a department assistant on Feb. 6, 1989 to the Physical Plant Department, where I worked for nine years. I then transitioned to my current position of administrative assistant for Graduate Student Services on Sept. 28, 1998.Q: Youve been acquainted with Wesleyan for many years. Why is that?A: Wesleyan is…
Robert Boyd's Xanadu is on display in Zilhka Gallery through March 4. Posted 02/01/07 A new exhibit at the Ezra and Cecile Zilhka Gallery tweaks, condenses, and re-frames contemporary events into montages of quick cuts, representing a history of apocalyptic thought as a series of MTV-style music videos within a setting reminiscent of a discotheque. Robert Boyd's Xanadu is a synchronized four-channel video installation that probes society's self-destructive impulse and parodies avenues of popular culture such as documentaries, news media, cartoons, and pop music. Xanadu takes its title from the 1980 American pop musical starring Olivia Newton-John. One of the…
Civil rights activist Sonia Sanchez speaks during Wesleyans Celebration of the Life of Martin Luther King Jr. event Jan. 30 in Memorial Chapel. Posted 02/01/07 Poet, author and civil rights activist Sonia Sanchez delivered the keynote address during Wesleyans Celebration of the Life of Martin Luther King Jr. event Jan. 30. She met King in 1957 and shared excerpts of Kings speeches with an over-flowing audience in Memorial Chapel. Often in poetic rhythm, Sanchez spoke about her own life and the troubles she and her family faced as being poor, black Americans. She emphasized her years in New York…
Posted 02/01/07 Jim Lehrer P85, anchor of Public Broadcasting Service's The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, will be the featured speaker at Wesleyan's 175th Commencement ceremony, which will be held on May 27, 2007. Lehrer began his career at PBS in 1972 and partnered with Robert MacNeil in 1973 to cover the Watergate hearings. In 1975, the two men began anchoring The MacNeil/Lehrer Report In 1983 the show became the nations first 60-minute television evening news program and was re-titled The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour. Lehrer has been honored with numerous journalism awards, including a Presidential National Humanities medal in 1999. During the…
Bon Appétit Management Company will provide the meals for the new university center. Posted 02/01/07 Wesleyan is finalizing an agreement with a new dining services provider, Bon Appétit Management Company, to begin a new dining contract as of July 1, 2007. The new company will provide campus dining in the new Suzanne Lemberg Usdan University Center, Summerfields, Pi Café, WEShop and campus catering. This was a difficult decision to make but also an exciting one, says John Meerts, vice president for Finance and Administration, and member of Wesleyans Dining Review Committee. Bon Appétit says it cooks food from scratch with…
Maria Cruz-Saco, dean of the college, will leave Wesleyan to conduct a study at the Universidad del Pacifico's Research Center in Peru. Posted 02/01/07 Maria Cruz-Saco, dean of the college, will leave Wesleyan at the end of her contract in June 2007. At the invitation of a United Nations office and Universidad del Pacifico, Lima, Peru, Cruz-Saco will lead a study on aging, equity and income security in Peru. While leading this study in 2007-08, she will be a Fulbright Scholar at Universidad del Pacifico's Research Center. In 2008-09, Cruz-Saco will resume teaching as professor of economics at Connecticut College.…
Posted 02/01/07 Howard Bernstein, a long-time visiting professor at Wesleyan, died Jan. 15, 2007 at the age of 63. Bernstein was a member of the Wesleyan faculty from 1979 to 2001, during which time he taught in the College of Letters, the History Department, the programs in Educational Studies and Science in Society, and in Wesleyans Graduate Liberal Studies Program. Bernstein also was a major contributor to the Masters of Arts in Teaching Program. In addition, he supervised a large number of senior honors theses. Bernstein earned a bachelors of arts from the City College of the City University of…