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1/9/2013
Media Watch (Sept. 11 – 18, 2006)
Posted 9/19/2006
"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.
A Hartford Courant editorial praised Michael Yaffe, executive director of The Hartt School and director of The Hartt Community Division, who announced that he was leaving the University of Hartford to become associate dean for administrative affairs of the Yale School of Music. “The hills of Greater Hartford are more alive than ever with the sound of music, due in no small measure to the energetic and inspiring Michael Yaffe,” said the editorial. Noting that there were fewer than 1,000 students when Yaffe arrived and now there are more than 2,700 at the main campus and four satellite locations, the editorial said, “The school has become a national model, studied by music administrators across the country.” (Hartford Courant, Sept. 17)
Humphrey Tonkin, president emeritus and University Professor of Humanities, and Jennifer Brown, assistant professor of English, were guests on WNPR-FM’s “Where We Live” show, from 9 to 10 a.m., on Sept. 14. They talked about the evolution of language in our culture in advance of their participation in a University Libraries’ sponsored panel discussion on “Defining Moments–Samuel Johnson & Noah Webster: Dictionaries, Words, Language, and Culture.” The program was also a highlighted preview in the Hartford Courant’s “Cal” section. Read about the WNPR program and listen to an mp3 file of the show. (WNPR-FM, Sept. 14; Hartford Courant, Sept. 14)
Ned Lamont, the Democratic nominee to unseat U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, was on the University of Hartford campus on Sept. 16 talking to students about issues such as the U.S. presence in Iraq and the federal deficit. Lamont was joining other campaigning Democrats — Joe Courtney, challenging Rep. Rob Simmons, (R-2nd District), and state Sen. Chris Murphy, running against Rep. Nancy Johnson, (R-5th District) — at a College Democrats of Connecticut event. (Associated Press, Sept. 16; Newsday, Sept. 16)
A story about a tribute in Windsor to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led with remembrances by Courtney McCann, a New Jersey resident who is a senior at the University of Hartford and whose father was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center. “My mom was reading names at ground zero and I couldn’t go,” she told the Hartford Courant. “But I had to be somewhere, it’s an important day.” She was joined by several friends at the ceremony on the Windsor Town Green. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 12)
Matthew Silver, visiting professor in Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford, had an opinion article published in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger that sought to analyze what the war in Lebanon was really all about. “Over the past decade, we have witnessed Arafat’s decrepit bad faith undermine the approach of bilateral negotiations; and, after the pull-outs from Southern Lebanon and Gaza, we have watched fundamentalist Islamic movements fire Qassam and Katyusha rockets and thereby trash the viability of the unilateral withdrawal strategy,” he wrote. “So long as no policy alternatives to these exhausted policies are apprehensible to mainstream Israelis, our most valuable asset remains the ability to rally around a few basic principles espoused by a centrist government. These include the inviolability of sovereign borders, zero tolerance toward radical regimes that incite genocidal hatred, and pragmatic, measured cooperation in the international diplomatic arena, even though its standards are often laced by double standards.” (Connecticut Jewish Ledger, Sept. 15)
A strong review of a concert by folk/pop performer Ellis Paul, part of the MUSIC for a CHANGE benefit concert series was published in the Hartford Courant. “The plain-spoken vividness that fills his songs and singing has made Ellis Paul one of the most distinctive voices of contemporary folk music,” noted the reviewer. The show had been a highlighted preview item in the Courant’s “Cal” section. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 14 and Sept. 17)
In its major listing of musical concerts for the fall season in Greater Hartford, the “Cal” section of the Hartford Courant highlighted the jazz offerings of The Hartt School and the folk performances in the MUSIC for a CHANGE benefit concert series. (Hartford Courant,Sept. 14)
The Hartford Courant published a story on the passing of Dorothy Fidlar, 89, the first woman to hold the principal cello chair for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and a member of the orchestra for more than 50 years. Fidlar also was a faculty member at The Hartt School, where she established a recital series called “Meet the Cello” that featured more than 40 cellists and became a nationally recognized program. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 18)
The Chicago Shamrox indoor professional lacrosse team selected Josh Wasson-McQuigge from the University of Hartford in the first round of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft. Wasson-McQuigge was the first entry draft pick in the history of the expansion team and the 12th overall selection. Wasson-McQuigge led the Hartford Hawks with 41 points last season, including a team-high 33 goals. (Our Sports Central.com, Sept. 14)
The Portland LumberJax, the defending National Lacrosse League (NLL) West Division champion, selected University of Hartford forward Matt Holman, who had 64 goals and 21 assists in his college career, with its first pick (20th overall), in the NLL Entry Draft at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sept. 13. “He’ll bring a nice scoring touch to the roster,” said LumberJax coach and general manager Derek Keenan. (The Oregonian, Sept. 15)
Other News
Faculty and support staff returned to Montreal’s Dawson College on Sept. 15 to prepare for the resumption of classes on Sept. 19, after a female student was killed and 19 others injured in a gunman’s shooting spree last week. Kimveer Gill, a 25-year-old man from a Montreal suburb, died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head after a shootout with police. (Reuters, Sept. 18)
There was increased security on Sept. 18 at Duquesne University after five basketball players were shot. Three of them are still in Pittsburgh hospitals. Police said someone fired six to 12 shots with a semiautomatic weapon after a dance in the Duquesne Union attended by 200 people on Saturday night, Sept. 16. The event was sponsored by the Black Student Union. Aaron Jackson, a freshman guard at Duquesne who attended Northwest Catholic in West Hartford, was shot in the hand. (Associated Press, Sept. 18)
Wesleyan University has begun the search for a replacement for President Douglas Bennet, who is stepping down at the end of this academic year. The university is forming an 18-member committee to screen candidates for the job. It has already hired a consulting firm to help with the search and placed an advertisement in a higher education trade journal. A website where visitors can apply or nominate someone has also been established. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 16)
Thousands of students from Saudi Arabia are enrolling on college campuses across the United States this semester under a new educational exchange program brokered by President Bush and Saudi King Abdullah. The kingdom's royal family—which is paying full scholarships for most of the 15,000 students—says the program will help stem unrest at home by schooling the country’s brightest in the American tradition. The U.S. State Department sees the exchange as a way to build ties with future Saudi leaders at a time of unsteady relations with the Muslim world. (Associated Press, Sept. 12)
More than 16,000 Massachusetts high school seniors have qualified for free tuition at one of the 30 state colleges and universities. The students earned the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship for their performance on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems tests. (Associated Press, Sept. 16)
It used to be that the first contact with a new roommate came in a letter, a phone call, an e-mail message, but many students now meet online, checking one another out on Facebook. But while all that information can help pave the students’ path to friendship, it can be too much for parents who might see the roommate’s photos of wild partying or hints of drug use. (New York Times, Sept. 15)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is planning a $750 million expansion over the next few years, adding three academic buildings and an apartment complex for graduate students, totaling about 1 million square feet, built on land owned by MIT in Cambridge. The buildings will house a cancer research center, the Sloan School of Management, and the School of Architecture and Planning, and more space for the Media Lab. (Boston Globe, Sept. 15)
Harvard University is eliminating early admission, a move that is likely to turn the college admissions system upside down. The practice, many educators say, favors wealthy students, who are more likely to know the option is available and hence gain an edge, generally being admitted at a higher rate than later applicants. The same students often have other advantages, such as more access to test preparation and private college counselors. (Boston Globe, Sept. 12)
Applicants continually search for a formula to attract the attention of admissions officers, but the only thing that always works is being an all-around student. In the end, to be an ideal candidate for a college, a student must work hard, develop a sense of passion, yearn for intellectual and personal stimulation, and pursue activities outside of the classrooms in a profound way. (Forbes, Sept. 14)
The University of Virginia is one of a growing number of institutions offering some form of free tuition in an effort to attract talented low-income students. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Michigan State University, Miami University in Ohio, the University of Pennsylvania, and Rice University have all eliminated loans from the financial aid packages of low-income students. Princeton University offers loan-free packages to all students who qualify for financial aid. (US News and World Report, Sept. 12)
For recent graduates, trying to live within a budget is complicated by low starting salaries, minimal savings and often high educational and credit card debt. A report by Experience Inc., a Boston firm that recruits at universities across the country, showed that more than half of the approximately 300 students surveyed moved in with their parents after college, with 32 percent staying more than a year. Forty-eight percent of those living at home said they did so to save money. (Washington Post, Sept. 14)
A professor who has suggested the World Trade Center was brought down by explosives has been placed on paid leave by Brigham Young University while the Mormon church-owned school investigates his claims. Steven Jones, a physicist who has taught at BYU since 1985, is co-chairman of a group called Scholars for 9/11 Truth. (Forbes, Sept. 12)
Upcoming
Lou Manzione, dean of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA), will have an opinion article published in the October issue of Connecticut Business Magazine. Manzione’s article is about Connecticut’s need to address its energy issues and the role that the University’s new Clean Energy Institute could play in that effort.
A Hartford Courant editorial praised Michael Yaffe, executive director of The Hartt School and director of The Hartt Community Division, who announced that he was leaving the University of Hartford to become associate dean for administrative affairs of the Yale School of Music. “The hills of Greater Hartford are more alive than ever with the sound of music, due in no small measure to the energetic and inspiring Michael Yaffe,” said the editorial. Noting that there were fewer than 1,000 students when Yaffe arrived and now there are more than 2,700 at the main campus and four satellite locations, the editorial said, “The school has become a national model, studied by music administrators across the country.” (Hartford Courant, Sept. 17)
Humphrey Tonkin, president emeritus and University Professor of Humanities, and Jennifer Brown, assistant professor of English, were guests on WNPR-FM’s “Where We Live” show, from 9 to 10 a.m., on Sept. 14. They talked about the evolution of language in our culture in advance of their participation in a University Libraries’ sponsored panel discussion on “Defining Moments–Samuel Johnson & Noah Webster: Dictionaries, Words, Language, and Culture.” The program was also a highlighted preview in the Hartford Courant’s “Cal” section. Read about the WNPR program and listen to an mp3 file of the show. (WNPR-FM, Sept. 14; Hartford Courant, Sept. 14)
Ned Lamont, the Democratic nominee to unseat U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, was on the University of Hartford campus on Sept. 16 talking to students about issues such as the U.S. presence in Iraq and the federal deficit. Lamont was joining other campaigning Democrats — Joe Courtney, challenging Rep. Rob Simmons, (R-2nd District), and state Sen. Chris Murphy, running against Rep. Nancy Johnson, (R-5th District) — at a College Democrats of Connecticut event. (Associated Press, Sept. 16; Newsday, Sept. 16)
A story about a tribute in Windsor to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led with remembrances by Courtney McCann, a New Jersey resident who is a senior at the University of Hartford and whose father was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center. “My mom was reading names at ground zero and I couldn’t go,” she told the Hartford Courant. “But I had to be somewhere, it’s an important day.” She was joined by several friends at the ceremony on the Windsor Town Green. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 12)
Matthew Silver, visiting professor in Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford, had an opinion article published in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger that sought to analyze what the war in Lebanon was really all about. “Over the past decade, we have witnessed Arafat’s decrepit bad faith undermine the approach of bilateral negotiations; and, after the pull-outs from Southern Lebanon and Gaza, we have watched fundamentalist Islamic movements fire Qassam and Katyusha rockets and thereby trash the viability of the unilateral withdrawal strategy,” he wrote. “So long as no policy alternatives to these exhausted policies are apprehensible to mainstream Israelis, our most valuable asset remains the ability to rally around a few basic principles espoused by a centrist government. These include the inviolability of sovereign borders, zero tolerance toward radical regimes that incite genocidal hatred, and pragmatic, measured cooperation in the international diplomatic arena, even though its standards are often laced by double standards.” (Connecticut Jewish Ledger, Sept. 15)
A strong review of a concert by folk/pop performer Ellis Paul, part of the MUSIC for a CHANGE benefit concert series was published in the Hartford Courant. “The plain-spoken vividness that fills his songs and singing has made Ellis Paul one of the most distinctive voices of contemporary folk music,” noted the reviewer. The show had been a highlighted preview item in the Courant’s “Cal” section. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 14 and Sept. 17)
In its major listing of musical concerts for the fall season in Greater Hartford, the “Cal” section of the Hartford Courant highlighted the jazz offerings of The Hartt School and the folk performances in the MUSIC for a CHANGE benefit concert series. (Hartford Courant,Sept. 14)
The Hartford Courant published a story on the passing of Dorothy Fidlar, 89, the first woman to hold the principal cello chair for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and a member of the orchestra for more than 50 years. Fidlar also was a faculty member at The Hartt School, where she established a recital series called “Meet the Cello” that featured more than 40 cellists and became a nationally recognized program. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 18)
The Chicago Shamrox indoor professional lacrosse team selected Josh Wasson-McQuigge from the University of Hartford in the first round of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft. Wasson-McQuigge was the first entry draft pick in the history of the expansion team and the 12th overall selection. Wasson-McQuigge led the Hartford Hawks with 41 points last season, including a team-high 33 goals. (Our Sports Central.com, Sept. 14)
The Portland LumberJax, the defending National Lacrosse League (NLL) West Division champion, selected University of Hartford forward Matt Holman, who had 64 goals and 21 assists in his college career, with its first pick (20th overall), in the NLL Entry Draft at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sept. 13. “He’ll bring a nice scoring touch to the roster,” said LumberJax coach and general manager Derek Keenan. (The Oregonian, Sept. 15)
Other News
Faculty and support staff returned to Montreal’s Dawson College on Sept. 15 to prepare for the resumption of classes on Sept. 19, after a female student was killed and 19 others injured in a gunman’s shooting spree last week. Kimveer Gill, a 25-year-old man from a Montreal suburb, died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head after a shootout with police. (Reuters, Sept. 18)
There was increased security on Sept. 18 at Duquesne University after five basketball players were shot. Three of them are still in Pittsburgh hospitals. Police said someone fired six to 12 shots with a semiautomatic weapon after a dance in the Duquesne Union attended by 200 people on Saturday night, Sept. 16. The event was sponsored by the Black Student Union. Aaron Jackson, a freshman guard at Duquesne who attended Northwest Catholic in West Hartford, was shot in the hand. (Associated Press, Sept. 18)
Wesleyan University has begun the search for a replacement for President Douglas Bennet, who is stepping down at the end of this academic year. The university is forming an 18-member committee to screen candidates for the job. It has already hired a consulting firm to help with the search and placed an advertisement in a higher education trade journal. A website where visitors can apply or nominate someone has also been established. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 16)
Thousands of students from Saudi Arabia are enrolling on college campuses across the United States this semester under a new educational exchange program brokered by President Bush and Saudi King Abdullah. The kingdom's royal family—which is paying full scholarships for most of the 15,000 students—says the program will help stem unrest at home by schooling the country’s brightest in the American tradition. The U.S. State Department sees the exchange as a way to build ties with future Saudi leaders at a time of unsteady relations with the Muslim world. (Associated Press, Sept. 12)
More than 16,000 Massachusetts high school seniors have qualified for free tuition at one of the 30 state colleges and universities. The students earned the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship for their performance on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems tests. (Associated Press, Sept. 16)
It used to be that the first contact with a new roommate came in a letter, a phone call, an e-mail message, but many students now meet online, checking one another out on Facebook. But while all that information can help pave the students’ path to friendship, it can be too much for parents who might see the roommate’s photos of wild partying or hints of drug use. (New York Times, Sept. 15)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is planning a $750 million expansion over the next few years, adding three academic buildings and an apartment complex for graduate students, totaling about 1 million square feet, built on land owned by MIT in Cambridge. The buildings will house a cancer research center, the Sloan School of Management, and the School of Architecture and Planning, and more space for the Media Lab. (Boston Globe, Sept. 15)
Harvard University is eliminating early admission, a move that is likely to turn the college admissions system upside down. The practice, many educators say, favors wealthy students, who are more likely to know the option is available and hence gain an edge, generally being admitted at a higher rate than later applicants. The same students often have other advantages, such as more access to test preparation and private college counselors. (Boston Globe, Sept. 12)
Applicants continually search for a formula to attract the attention of admissions officers, but the only thing that always works is being an all-around student. In the end, to be an ideal candidate for a college, a student must work hard, develop a sense of passion, yearn for intellectual and personal stimulation, and pursue activities outside of the classrooms in a profound way. (Forbes, Sept. 14)
The University of Virginia is one of a growing number of institutions offering some form of free tuition in an effort to attract talented low-income students. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Michigan State University, Miami University in Ohio, the University of Pennsylvania, and Rice University have all eliminated loans from the financial aid packages of low-income students. Princeton University offers loan-free packages to all students who qualify for financial aid. (US News and World Report, Sept. 12)
For recent graduates, trying to live within a budget is complicated by low starting salaries, minimal savings and often high educational and credit card debt. A report by Experience Inc., a Boston firm that recruits at universities across the country, showed that more than half of the approximately 300 students surveyed moved in with their parents after college, with 32 percent staying more than a year. Forty-eight percent of those living at home said they did so to save money. (Washington Post, Sept. 14)
A professor who has suggested the World Trade Center was brought down by explosives has been placed on paid leave by Brigham Young University while the Mormon church-owned school investigates his claims. Steven Jones, a physicist who has taught at BYU since 1985, is co-chairman of a group called Scholars for 9/11 Truth. (Forbes, Sept. 12)
Upcoming
Lou Manzione, dean of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA), will have an opinion article published in the October issue of Connecticut Business Magazine. Manzione’s article is about Connecticut’s need to address its energy issues and the role that the University’s new Clean Energy Institute could play in that effort.
