Media Watch (Feb. 21-28, 2005)

"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 NCAA released its major academic reform initiative and "Academic Progress Rate" data for Division I schools on Monday, once again putting the spotlight on University of Hartford President Walter Harrison, chairman of the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance. Many NCAA Division I schools could lose an athletic scholarship in at least one sport for students' poor classroom results under new academic standards to take effect next year. (Dallas Morning News, Feb. 26; San Jose Mercury News, Feb. 27)

WGBY (Channel 57, Springfield) will feature the rebroadcast of the NOVA special, “Ancient Refuge in the Holy Land,” on Tuesday, March 1, at 8 p.m. Professor Richard Freund, director of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, will be the in-studio guest during the show. “Ancient Refuge in the Holy Land” is a recounting of Freund’s three years of excavations in the Cave of Letters in Israel. Most other PBS stations will host the show again on Tuesday, April 26, nationwide.

University High School of Science and Engineering student Jacob Komar and his family will be featured on “CBS Sunday Morning” on Sunday, March 6, in a story on Jan and Bob Davidson’s work with highly gifted children.

Elizabeth Ivey, provost emerita of the university and national president of the Association for Women in Science, was interviewed by WTIC-AM on Feb. 23 about Harvard President Lawrence Summers’ recent comments regarding women in the sciences. Ivey also discussed Summer's statements on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and has been interviewed by Time magazine and Voice of America.

A Hartford Courant story discussed how tenure remains an elusive goal for many women, as women account for slightly less than one in three tenured faculty jobs. A sampling of Connecticut campuses suggest that women have made modest progress in winning tenure over the past decade. The University of Hartford was listed in a chart as having 26 percent of female tenured faculty (Hartford Courant, Feb. 27)

William Saunders, professor of Interactive Information Technology, was interviewed by Rick Hancock of WTIC Channel 61, about privacy and technology issues. (WTIC-TV Channel 61, Feb. 25)

In an article titled “Ask for More as an Intern,” Nancy DeCrescenzo, assistant director of career services at the University of Hartford, discusses writing proposals that outline additional projects. “A written proposal can be shared with other departments and/or managers as well as your faculty advisor. It makes a nice future portfolio piece as well,” said DeCrescenzo. (Monster.com’s MonsterTRAK, Feb. 27)

Students in the University of Hartford’s Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation master’s business class are working as consultants to Boston Bakery in Vernon to help expand the business. The program is being run with Connecticut Economic Gardening Group (CT-EGG), a nonprofit organization that fosters entrepreneurship in the state. “The students are getting something out of it. They’re getting exposed to industries,” said David Desplaces, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurial studies. “The businesses are getting exposed to intellectual capital.” Desplaces was also quoted in two additional Hartford Business Journal articles related to visas for skilled workers. In one article, Devdas Shetty, associate dean and director of the Engineering Applications Center, said companies don’t get enough qualified people in the U.S. and justify setting up plants elsewhere. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 28; Hartford Business Journal, Feb. 28)

U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-1st District) hosted forums at Trinity College, the University of Hartford and Manchester Community College, to explain the issues surrounding Social Security’s future (Hartford Courant, Feb. 28)

Lawrence Epstein, a professor and author of books on Jewish comedians, was the subject of a question and answer in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. Epstein will be the guest speaker at the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies’ annual Lillian Margulies Singer Lecture on Jewish Humor on June 15 in Millard Auditorium. (Connecticut Jewish Ledger, Feb. 25)

Matthew Silver, a visiting professor at the University of Hartford and Central Connecticut State University, wrote an opinion article for the Connecticut Jewish Ledger about the partnership between Emek Yezreel College in Israel and the two local institutions. “The Emek Yezreel-CCSU partnership can be a programming model for other American Jewish communities where academics and concerned laymen search for tools to build a permanent infrastructure on college campuses which will repel demonized perceptions of Israelis,” he wrote. (Connecticut Jewish Ledger, Feb. 25)

The Hartford Consortium Career Fair, which was held at St. Joseph College and attracted 74 employers and 400 people, was covered by the Hartford Courant. At Saint Joseph College, the companies eager to hire new college graduates seemed to outnumber the students. There’s already a waiting list for an upcoming career fair sponsored by the University of Connecticut. The University of Hartford is part of the Hartford Consortium. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 27)

Sam Brown of Derby, a graduate of the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, is the author of a graphic novel called Amazing Rain and also has a popular website called www.explodingdog.com that gets millions of hits per month. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 24)

The Bloomfield Center Study, prepared by the Center for Integrated Design at the University of Hartford, examined the town center for a year, looking at ways to ensure that it remains a hub of activity for years to come. Residents may see changes in the town’s center by early fall. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 22)

Singer/songwriter Vance Gilbert’s two-hour performance at the University of Hartford was reviewed in the Hartford Courant. His performance benefited the Urban League of Greater Hartford as part of the university’s Music for a Change benefit series. A preview of the Irish roots band Dervish’s performance was also published in the Hartford Courant. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 27; Hartford Courant, Feb. 24)

In a sports column about Bob Chernak, senior vice president of student and academic support services at George Washington University, Owen Canfield said that Chernak guided Hartford into Division I and brought big name performing artists to the Hartford Civic Center on the nights the Hawks played. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 27)

The conversion of the old Sage-Allen department store building on Main Street into 78 loft-style apartments and student housing is mentioned in a chart and story about a new generation of housing under construction throughout downtown Hartford in the Hartford Courant’s “Outlook” section. The University of Hartford plans to have 136 students housed there by September, 2006. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 27)

The New York Knicks worked out a deal with Houston to get forward Maurice Taylor for center Vin Baker, former University of Hartford basketball star, point guard Moochie Norris and the Knicks’ second round pick next year. (Associated Press, Feb. 24)

Peggy Lyman and Richard Roger Hayes, a retired executive with Dean Witter Reynolds, were married Feb. 26 at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme. Lyman is a former principal with the Martha Graham Dance Company and a founder of the dance division of the Hartt School at the University of Hartford and director of the division from 2001 until December. (New York Times, Feb. 27)

Other News

Norman Fainstein, 60, president of Connecticut College in New London, will leave the job to return to teaching next year. Fainstein will leave the presidency in June 2006 citing “personal and professional factors” for the decision. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 26)

Some University of Michigan students are getting $100 cash payments for keeping their dorm rooms presentable and opening their doors so prospective students and their parents can take a look during campus visits. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 23)

Wesleyan University’s new Fauver Field Residence Complex will pull 160 students out of privately owned rental houses, presenting a challenge and an opportunity to neighborhoods surrounding the college. Apartments owned by landlords who have rented to generations of students, will empty out as Wesleyan’s new dorms open in August. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 23)

Gov. M. Jodi Rell called on the state Ethics Commission and the University of Connecticut board of trustees to review issues raised by contracts between UConn’s basketball coaches and Nike Inc. to determine whether rules prohibiting state employees from using their public offices for private gain should be clarified. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 23)

John Miller, the president of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, who on July 1 will become president of Central Connecticut State University, has refused to cancel a March 1 lecture by Ward Churchill despite pressure from a former governor, state legislator and university donors. Churchill, a University of Colorado professor characterized victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks as “Little Eichmanns.” (Hartford Courant, Feb. 23)

More than 100 female scientists at Yale University have signed a petition calling on President Richard Levin to address publicly controversial remarks by Harvard President Lawrence Summers. The women, mostly graduate students and part of a group that is trying to form a union, plan to present the petition to Levin. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 22)

Robert Lindsay, 80, a former chairman of the physics department at Trinity College in Hartford, died at his Wethersfield home. Lindsay published many papers on his research into the magnetic behavior of metal hydrogen compounds. (Hartford Courant, Feb. 22)

Mitchell College has introduced a four-year marketing-and-design major, propelled by industry demands for designers with strong business and communications skills and by the popularity of Mitchell’s business and graphics courses. (The Day, New London, Feb. 25)

Fifteen Yale students staged a 10-hour sit-in at the university’s admissions office in an effort to get the school to improve its financial aid policy. The demonstration ended peacefully when police led 15 students out of the building. Nearly 100 other students rallied outside the building during the sit-in. There were no reports of violence or injuries. (Newsday, Feb. 24)

Upcoming

Susan McCray will be interviewed by Mary Jones on WDRC-AM 1360 on Thursday, March 10, at 2:45 p.m. McCray will discuss the upcoming dedication of the Harry Sukman Foyer in the Millard Lobby at The Hartt School. The foyer will include an exhibit of the oscar-winning composer's memorabilia and his Steinway Grand piano.

The Micro Business Incubator program, in which Barney School of Business students work with small business owners in Upper Albany, will be featured in a story in the March 15 issue of Small Biz, a national, quarterly publication of BusinessWeek magazine.

The Hartford Courant is working on a feature about the outlook for college grads this year and the InternHere.com project.