Olivia DrakeGale Lackey, head women's volleyball coach, has coached at Wesleyan 29 years. Posted 10/16/06 Q: How many years have you worked here, and how many years here have you coached volleyball?A: I think I have outlasted most of the coaches in NESCAC. This is my 29th year at Wesleyan, and my 22nd term coaching the volleyball team. Q: In your opinion, why is Volleyball so exciting to play and watch?A: Volleyball is one of the most popular team sports in the world. It requires efficient movement because, unlike many other popular team sports in our country, it is a…
Shengqing Wu, assistant professor of East Asian languages and literatures, is an expert on modern Chinese literature and culture. Posted 10/16/06 Shengqing Wu has joined the Asian Languages and Literatures Department and East Asian Studies Program as an assistant professor. Wu, a native of Hangzhou, China specializes in modern Chinese literature and intellectual history. Wesleyans commitment to the excellence of liberal arts education, its top-notch faculty, the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, and its convenient geographical location were all big attractions for me, she says. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in Chinese literature at Fudan…
Posted 10/05/06 Q: Evelyn, when did you come to Wesleyan and what were you hired in as? A: I was hired June 2003 as a payroll coordinator.Q: What is the purpose of the Payroll Office and where are you located?A: We direct the timely and accurate payment and labor distribution for faculty, staff and students. The Payroll Office is located in the Office of Human Resources on College Street. Q: Who do you work with in the Payroll Services Office?A: Katy Wichlac is the payroll manager and Gladys Fountain is the other payroll administrator. The Payroll Department is now…
Posted 10/05/06 Wesleyan's Presidential Search Committee is fully constituted. The search committee is composed of alumni, trustees, faculty, staff and students and is undertaking a comprehensive search to identify and successfully recruit President Douglas Bennet's successor. The charge of the search committee is to review candidates and recommend a slate of finalists to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees will select Wesleyan Universitys 16th president. The search committee is staffed by Joan Adams, special assistant, and search firm consultants Jennifer Bol, Michele Haertel and Kristine Johnson from Spencer Stuart. The full description of the search committee can also…
Posted 10/05/06 Wesleyan is pushing for its payroll to go paperless. All faculty, staff and students who receive a Wesleyan payroll check now have the option of receiving their pay stub online. This will eliminate all paper-processing. By going all-electronic, this is going to save more than the 25 cents it costs to pay for the paper, says John Meerts, vice president for Finance and Administration. Were going to save on distribution costs we well. And if youre like me, I end up just tossing it aside, losing it or disposing of it. It will be more convenient not to…
Neely Bruce, professor of music, plays the new, seven-foot August Foerster piano inside the Memorial Chapel Sept. 29. Posted 10/05/06 The secret is in the strings. Thats how Professor of Music Neely Bruce defends the exceptionally clear sounds of Wesleyans new chapel piano. This piano is extraordinarily beautiful, and quite different from the Steinway sound you may associate with a grand piano, Bruce explains. It is clearer, more agile, more evenly balanced and is the perfect size for the chapel. It is the best piano of its size on campus.The new August Foerster is a brand thats legendary in Europe,…
Barbara Jones, the Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian, is the author of two books on intellectual freedom. Posted 10/05/06 If a Wesleyan professor wanted to know what books students have read in the past, the staff at Olin Library would not be allowed or able to give him an answer. By law, we cannot report to anyone what anyone else has been reading, asking or viewing on the Internet, explains Barbara Jones, the Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian. We have the right to provide people with information, but we do not have the right to share what information they…
Elijah Huge, assistant professor of art, works from his office in the Art Studios. This fall, Elijah Huge joins the Art and Art History Department as an assistant professor of art. Huge comes to Wesleyan after four-years working for a large architectural office in New Haven, Conn. At Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Huge worked on the design team for the Minneapolis Public Library, which opened to the public in May 2006. While working there, he also pursued a series of academic and speculative projects. As the library neared completion, it was increasingly clear to me that rather than move…
Barbara Spalding, associate director of Campus Fire Safety, teaches housemates Sally Smyth '07 and Kara Brodgesell '07 how to plunge a toilet and shut off a water valve at their student residence as part of the WesHome Program. Posted 10/05/06 Home sweet home. Or is it? If a students residence is too hot, has a broken toilet, a burned-out entrance light, sticky windows or drafty doors, his or her home may not be more sour than sweet. WesHome, a new program spearheaded by Physical Plant and the Campus Fire Safety Office, teaches students how to use, maintain and be safe…
Posted 10/05/06 Poetry, slavery, monks and dialects are among several topics of this years Voices of Liberal Learning seminars. Voices of Liberal Learning is a series of stimulating educational programs and presentations available to the Wesleyan community. The Voices of Liberal Learning programs enrich the intellectual exchange among members of the community and offer the kind of substantive, outside-the-classroom learning experience treasured by all of us, says Linda Secord, director of alumni education and university lectures. We have a remarkable selection of educational programs throughout the year which will foster the evolution of knowledge and understanding at Wesleyan and challenge…
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…
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…