Wesleyan University Community Blog

Michael Bennet ’87 faces a tough fight to win a full term as a Democratic senator from Colorado. Writing in Denverpost.com, a political scientist from the University of Colorado says that, statistically, incumbent senators who were appointed by governors have won reelection less than half the time. A handful of states are likely to determine whether Democrats retain their supermajority in the Senate, so Bennet’s race will be watched closely.

Bill Holder ‘75, editor, Wesleyan magazine

You can now add videos to the Community Blog: How to embed video. If you have questions that aren’t answered there, please reply in the comments or contact us using the feedback form. Here’s Prometheus performing at WesFest in April:

Tags: community, features, howto, prometheus, video, weblog, YouTube

We are redesigning Wesleyan magazine into a standard-size format to save on printing costs and do our part to help Wesleyan reduce expenditures. We’ll carry out the redesign with our in-house staff, and our intent is to produce a magazine that is distinctive and maintains our editorial/design quality.

Right now we’re thinking about the cover, and we are brainstorming about many different cover designs. Please take a look at the images below if you want to drop in (virtually) on our process and see just a few of the covers ideas we’re discussing. Our final cover design undoubtedly will be different from anything you see here; this is just a step in the process.

If you have comments about the magazine or anything you’d like us to consider during our redesign process, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Thank you,

Bill Holder ’75, editor

To many of us, 1998 does not seem that long ago. President Clinton was embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal; at age 77 John Glenn returned to space; the first Harry Potter book was published; and Seinfeld went off the air. But the library was a very different place back then …

In 1998 you had to go to the library to use library materials, even materials in electronic format. To find out what were in the archives of other institutions, you had to contact them and then visit their archives to use the materials. It often took weeks to receive interlibrary loan requests.

To read more about—or to remember—what libraries were like in the olden days and how today’s libraries are different, visit the From the University Librarian blog: http://ptully.blogs.wesleyan.edu/

Tags: Libraries

An excerpt from this week’s CFA Blog, written by Director Pamela Tatge:

I’ve just wandered over to the CFA Theater where the Theater Department is preparing to open THE SKRIKER, by Caryl Churchill. Some of you may remember the department’s call to campus and community members for donations of items from attics & garages: the setting for the play is entirely created from found materials. Old toys, garbage bags, wood remnants, furniture and “stuff” of all kinds fill over half of the seating area. The audience sits on the stage–facing out: are we being asked to reflect back on ourselves and our trash? Robert Bresnick, the play’s director, describes the work as a cautionary tale–a confrontation of our relationship to the environment. As Bresnick said, “The piece remembers a time we took solace in nature…‘nobody loves me but the sun is still shining.’ But in the world of this play, the sun burns and there is no refuge.’” The story centers around two women: one pregnant and one who has committed infanticide. They are haunted by the Skriker, an earth spirit whom Churchill refers to as “ancient and damaged.” They are joined onstage by a shape-shifting bunch of earth spirits, extraordinary puppets by Leslie Weinberg (many of you will remember her puppets from Don Quixote and her masks from Oedipus Rex.) Sound design is by California-based Marco Schindelmann and Michael Raco-Rands and lighting is by Professor John Carr (who also co-designed the set with Weinberg.)

To read more, visit http://cfa.blogs.wesleyan.edu/.

Tags: cfa, theater

Wesleyan University’s Green Street Arts Center Presents
Indira Karamcheti To Read Work of Nobel Laureates
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Sunday Salon Series Brings Wesleyan Professor to Discuss Prize-Winning Literature

Middletown, Conn, November 13, 2009—Since 1901, Nobel prizes have become the most prestigious international recognition of achievement. They are earned by a broadly international register of scientists, activists, and authors. Wesleyan Associate Professor of English Indira Karamcheti will read from the several works of recent Nobel Laureates, in addition to leading a discussion of the criteria for establishing Nobel’s ideal of the “greatest benefit [to] mankind,” as it relates to literature.

This informal lecture takes place on Sunday, November 22 from 2–4pm as part of the Sunday Salon Discussion Series, Green Street’s monthly discussion series for creative minds and curious individuals hosted by Wesleyan University Chemistry Professor David Beveridge. Each monthly salon includes plenty of opportunity for socializing as well as a reception with light refreshments.

Admission is $5 for the general public and $3 for Green Street members, seniors, and students. Green Street Arts Center is located at 51 Green Street, Middletown, CT. To register or get more information, please visit: www.greenstreetartscenter.org or call (860) 685-7871.

About Indira Karamcheti
Indira Karamcheti, Associate Professor of English and Women’s Studies is an important new voice in the field of postcolonial literature. Her broad ranging interests in the geographies of marginality encompass Caribbean and African-American literatures. She received a BA, MA, and PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

About Green Street Arts Center
Wesleyan University’s Green Street Arts Center, which opened in January 2005, is a vibrant center for arts education, serving residents of the neighborhood and the region. It is a project of Wesleyan University in collaboration with the City of Middletown and the North End Action Team (NEAT).  Programming in the former schoolhouse at 51 Green Street includes an after school arts education program and a wide range of affordable classes and workshops for children and adults in music, dance, visual arts, theater, sound recording, media arts and creative writing.

Tags: announcements, books, community, Green Street Arts Center

Anxious Love (Lorenzo Press, 226 pages, trade paper, $13.95, ISBN-13 978-0-9645226-8-8), Anthony Maulucci’s fifth work of fiction, is a collection of twelve new stories about the lives of people who struggle with the demons of desire, disappointment, love, and loneliness. A dying American artist asks his wife to dedicate her life to his legacy, a young woman falls in love with her female mentor, two children create a fantasy world in a public park, a science fiction writer finds and loses his muse on a deserted beach, a middle-aged woman is unwilling to become her aging husband’s caretaker, a computer specialist’s videos of his wife become an internet phenomenon and have a disturbing effect on their marriage—each of the main characters in these contemporary tales must find the strength to survive in a complex and confusing world. Available from Burgundy Books in East Haddam and online from Amazon.com. More info and a free download of one of the stories at www.lorenzopress.com.

Asian/Asian American (AAA) House presents an evening with forensic expert Dr. Henry Lee, who has worked on numerous high-profile crime cases including the JonBenet Ramsey murder, the O.J. Simpson case and the reinvestigation of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Dr. Lee was born in China and grew up in Taiwan, where he served in the police force. In 1965 he migrated to the US, furthering his studies and launching his career in forensic science. Today, he has helped to solve more than 6,000 cases. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear about the personal and professional experiences of this renowned forensic science expert! Bring your questions, bring your friends. Reception to follow after lecture.

Peter Shumlin’s Gubernatorial website

Peter Shumlin, Wesleyan ’79, will announce his candidacy for Governor of Vermont this morning at 11am.

Shumlin is currently Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore. He helped to organize enough votes to override the current Vermont governor’s veto on same-sex marriage in the state.

Peter enters the field for governor as a Democrat, and will face at least four Democratic opponents in a primary. There is currently only one Republican candidate for governor of the state.

Peter runs Putney Student Travel along with his brother Jeff Shumlin ’82. The company sends high school and college students around the world on service oriented trips. Peter was also instrumental in the founding of Landmark College in Putney, VT, which focuses on higher education for students with learning differences and AD/HD.

Click on Peter’s picture to be linked with his Facebook group.

Tags: governor, Landmark College, Shumlin, Vermont

Seniors bring in your cans!!!!

Amazing Grace Food Pantry provides three days of emergency food to families once per month.  In July 2008, Amazing Grace served 660 families; in July 2009 that number rose to over 900 families.  The need continues to rise.

Amazing Grace has asked if Wesleyan could donate “Stove Top Stuffing” for the Thanksgiving Baskets.

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m.
Nov. 16-19
Usdan Café

Place donated cans in Bin for the Class of 2010, located in Usdan Cafe

There will be tickets for each item brought in given to each individual.  Nov. 19 there will be a Pizza Party for all participants.

Raffle winners, individual prizes and class prize, will be announced at the Thanksgiving Dinner on Nov. 19.

Tags: class, competition, drive, food