Media Watch (Jan. 9-16, 2006)

“Media Watch” is a round-up of recent stories in the media about the University of Hartford, as well as significant stories about other local and peer institutions and news about trends and issues in higher education.

The “rediscovery” of an audiotape of a speech given in 1959 by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Hartford, as part of the university’s Keller Memorial Lecture Series, was the lead story in the Sunday Hartford Courant. The article featured interviews with several members of the university community, including University Archivist Margaret Mair; University Libraries Director Randi Ashton-Pritting; alumnus and former university regent Reid MacCluggage '62; and Woody Doane, professor of sociology at Hillyer College. Doane was also a guest on WTIC-AM’s “Morning Show.” Host Ray Dunaway played several clips from King's Hartford speech and talked with Doane about race relations for nearly an hour. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 15; WTIC-AM, Jan. 16)

Doane was also quoted in a story that examined the current attitudes of young people about race relations in America. “When Dr. Doane talks to his students, he finds that they have little understanding of institutional racism – how social, economic and political institutions in the United States were set up historically to benefit whites and discriminate against nonwhites and of the persistent effect of those policies,” the story noted. (Dallas Morning News, Jan. 11)

Al DiChiara, head of the criminal justice program in the university’s College of Arts & Sciences, was quoted in the Hartford Advocate’s cover story on the murder rate in the city of Hartford. DiChiara said among the factors behind the ongoing shootings in the North End are a criminal subculture in that community; the closing of several of the city’s housing projects; and weak family and community structures. (Hartford Advocate, Jan. 12)

Margery Steinberg, associate professor of management and marketing in the Barney School of Business, was interviewed for a story on the Fox 61 “News at Ten” about the growth of online shopping and the impact on some retail stores in the state. (Fox 61, Jan. 12)

The work of a group of Barney School of Business students to develop plans to help a group of businesses in East Granby was highlighted by local business publications and community newspapers. The stories also included photographs of the students presenting their plans with their teacher David Desplaces, assistant professor and director of the university’s Institute of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. (Hartford Business Journal, Jan. 9; Newgate News, January ’06 issue)

Desplaces was quoted in a story about a recent report on the impact that high housing costs, educational disparities and the loss of manufacturing jobs are having on Connecticut’s economy and lower-income families here. (Waterbury Republican-American, Jan. 11)

The lead item in the Hartford Courant’s “Education Briefs” column was about how photographs taken by Christine Dalenta, an instructor at the Hartford Art School and curator of the university’s Sherman Museum of Jewish Civilization, are featured in a BBC documentary called “Digging for Jesus.” Dalenta’s photographs chronicled the archaeological excavation at the ancient city of Bethsaida in Israel, headed by Professor Richard Freund, director of the university’s Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 10)

The “Flash” section of the most recent issue of Hartford Magazine featured a photograph of University President Walter Harrison, receiving a Community Leadership Award at the Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters Annual Fall Gala. The section also included a series of photographs from the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame Gala, including Women’s Hall of Fame Executive Director Leslie Lindenauer, who is also an assistant professor of history in the university’s College of Arts & Sciences; Zina Davis, director of the university’s Joseloff Gallery; and Sharon Scorso, manager of budget and office services in the university’s Office of Communication. (Hartford Magazine, January ’06 issue)

Tyler Smith, a Hartford architect and a member of the Hartford Courant’s “Place” board of contributors, wrote an opinion article about the need to foster a “corridor” between Springfield, Hartford, and New Haven that would spur economic development along this arc, as well as improve transportation and commerce. He suggested that “perhaps in some way [we could] engage the students in the architecture program at the University of Hartford in the project.” (Hartford Courant, Jan. 15)

The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors Annual Meeting generated a number of media stories that featured quotes from University President Walter Harrison, who is chairman of the NCAA Executive Committee and head of the NCAA’s Committee on Academic Performance. (Los Angeles Times, Jan. 9; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 10; Indianapolis Star, Jan. 10; Inside Higher Ed.com, Jan. 10)

President Harrison was featured in an Indianapolis Star story headlined “College Presidents Devote More Time to Athletics.” As head of the NCAA’s highest policy-making group and chair of an academic reform committee, Harrison estimated that he spends about 30 percent of his work time on athletics. He credits university Provost Donna Randall and the Board of Regents for their support. (Indianapolis Star, Jan. 9)

WTIC NewsTalk 1080 sports reporter Scott Gray devoted his Jan. 12 commentary to complimenting Hartford Hawks women’s basketball Coach Jen Rizzotti for the quality of the program she is building at the University of Hartford. In its local college sports column, the Hartford Courant noted that there would be a ceremony to recognize Rizzotti’s 100th victory as Hartford coach prior to the Jan. 14 game against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC). (WTIC-AM, Jan. 12; Hartford Courant, Jan. 14)

Hartford Courant columnist Owen Canfield wrote about a recent meeting with University of Hartford Athletics Director Pat Meiser-McKnett and their discussion of the university’s “Home Field Advantage” campaign. The article outlined the plan for upgrading the university’s athletics fields, including adding a baseball field, and highlighting the success of university sports alums and current teams. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 10)

Ryan Carr, a standout goalkeeper on the Hartford Hawks men’s soccer team, recently had a tryout with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (MLS). He was one of only six collegiate goalkeepers in the country invited to take part in the 2006 Adidas Major League Soccer Combine. (Press of Atlantic City, Jan. 12)

Other News

A biotech company, Sequoia Sciences Inc. of San Diego, is suing Thomas K. Wood, a former University of Connecticut professor of chemical engineering, accusing him of disclosing trade secrets connected to his research on a compound that prevents protective film from forming over bacteria. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 16)

Wesleyan University has started a drive to build a $26 million museum for more than 20,000 prints and drawings by artists such as Rembrandt, Goya and Jasper Johns. The effort is still in the planning stages and recently received its first major gift, a $500,000 donation from a New York couple with strong ties to the university. (Associated Press, Jan. 15)

Yale University has placed its massive collection of modern and antique maps off limits to the public as it sifts through its material and tries to identify valuable maps that may be missing. Once the inventory has been done, Yale may follow the lead of the Library of Congress, the British Library, Harvard and others, in digitizing its rarest material. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 15)

Three University of South Florida officials were fired after the school discovered $275,000 in misplaced checks and cash scattered throughout the school’s English Language Institute. Nearly half the money—$133,647—was in checks up to 10 years old and could not be deposited. (Associated Press, Jan. 14)

U.S. colleges and universities earned an average of 9.7 percent of annual returns on their endowments last year. Wealthier schools posted higher averages than less wealthy ones, according to a report, titled the "Commonfund Benchmarks Study," based on 729 educational institutions. (USA Today, Jan. 13)

Jeff McInerney has been named head football coach for Central Connecticut State University. McInerney, who was the defensive coordinator for the University of Rhode Island, replaces head coach Tom Masella who resigned in December after two years with the Blue Devils to become head coach at Fordham. (Associated Press, Jan. 13)

Economist Catharine B. Hill, 51, provost and chief financial officer of Williams College, was named the 10th president of Vassar College. She succeeds Frances Fergusson, who will leave in June after 20 years as president of Vassar. (Associated Press, Jan. 12)

Not only do many of Connecticut’s brightest high school students leave the state for higher education elsewhere, a surprising number never enroll in college at all, according to a study titled “First Steps: An Evaluation of the Success of Connecticut Students Beyond High School,” that tracked public school graduates of the high school Class of 1998. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 11)

More than 30,000 students will return to four-year colleges in New Orleans this semester after a fall term that wasn’t. Total enrollment is down from the 45,000 who were there before the storm, but it is far more than officials initially expected. And it represents a big bump for the city’s depleted, post-Katrina population. (USA Today, Jan. 11)

The University of Connecticut has agreed to pay a $2.5 million settlement to avoid a potential lawsuit on allegations of overcharges and false claims made by university researchers on hundreds of federal grants. UConn also must revamp its policies for receiving federal research money under a settlement stemming from alleged improprieties on grants totaling more than $40 million between July 1997 and October 2004. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 10)