Media Watch (Jan. 8 – 15, 2007)

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.

Warren Goldstein, chair of the history department in the College of Arts and Sciences, had an article about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. published in the “Commentary” section of the Hartford Courant. In his opinion piece, Goldstein talked about the realities of the times in which King lived — poverty, racism and the violence of the Vietnam War, — how they shaped King’s actions and his writings, and the lessons that they hold for us today. Read Goldstein’s article.
The article also appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 14; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12)

Goldstein was also featured in stories generated from the annual meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA) regarding his participation in two spirited debates – one involving campus speech codes and the other, the Iraq war. Arguing in support of a resolution opposing the war in Iraq, Goldstein said "we are being urged to see professional identity as divorced from our identity as citizens…When will it be okay for the AHA to decide that divide…needs to be breached…or that there is no divide?” (Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 8; Inside Higher Ed.com, Jan. 8)

Deacon Arthur Miller, who was the keynote speaker at the University’s Martin Luther King Day remembrance event, was a guest on the WTIC-AM’s “Face Connecticut” show, which aired on Jan. 14 and on WDRC-AM’s “Brad Davis Show” on Jan. 15. In addition, the Martin Luther King Day event was covered by the Hartford Courant and by the “Crossroads” program of the Hartford Archdiocese’s Office of Radio and Television. (WTIC-AM, Jan. 14; WDRC-AM, Jan. 15)

Jilda Aliotta, chair of the politics and government department in the College of Arts and Sciences, was interviewed by Fox 61 News for a story about reaction to President Bush’s speech announcing a new strategy for the war in Iraq. (Fox 61, Jan. 13)

Aliotta was also interviewed for a story on the Metro Radio Network about Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and his announcement that he was entering the race for the U.S. presidency. (Metro Radio Networks, Jan. 9)

William Major, an associate professor of English in Hillyer College, had an opinion article about the destruction of mountaintops in the Appalachians due to coal mining published in the “Commentary” section of the Hartford Courant. “The moonscapes of Appalachia symbolize our nation’s remarkable ability not to see what is most apparent, and most troubling,” he wrote. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 7)

Richard Freund, professor and director of the Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, delivered four lectures last month at the European International Conference on Jewish Studies at Nottingham University and his lectures were featured in an article in the Jewish Chronicle of London. The paper noted that “There were fights for a spot of floor-space at the front of a packed final session from archaeologist Richard Freund.” (Jewish Chronicle of London, Jan. 5)

Corbin Beisner of Las Vegas, a sophomore majoring in piano performance at The Hartt School, was scheduled to perform with the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra during a Jan. 13 concert, and he was to play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Beisner won the Forum Internacional de Musica competition in Barcelona, Spain, in 2006. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jan. 12)

In a highlighted item in the “Cal” section of the Hartford Courant, it was noted that “Actors from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford will be featured in staged readings of works-in-progress Wednesday to Jan. 19 at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam for the second annual Goodspeed Festival of New Artists.” The works include: Pearl, a re-imagining of The Scarlet Letter, in which Hester Prynne’s 12-year-old daughter seeks the truth about her family's mysterious past; Tinyard Hill, in which a rural blacksmith and his son work to find mutual understanding and acceptance in 1964 Georgia; and The Great American Race, which centers on NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, told against the backdrop of the Daytona 500. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 11)

Merissa Haddad of Shrewsbury, Mass., who graduated magna cum laude with a degree in physical therapy from the University, recently won the title of “LA’s Next Great Stage Star.” The award came from an “American Idol”-type talent search. Haddad noted that while at the University, “I found myself connecting to the theater people at college.” (Worcester Telegram, Jan. 14)

NCAA teams will face a postseason ban for failing to meet academic progress standards in four consecutive years under changes approved at the organization’s annual convention. “Four years is a long time for an institution to be told, ‘You’re not doing well in academic performance,’ so we think in that fourth year there ought to be some penalties of consequence,” said Walter Harrison, president of the University of Hartford and chairman of the NCAA committee on academic performance. In addition to the postseason ban, four straight years also will result in scholarship cuts and restrictions on practice time. (Associated Press, Jan. 8; Stamford Advocate, Jan. 9)

WTIC-AM sports reporter and commentator Scott Gray praised the Hawks men’s basketball team and head coach Dan Leibovitz and his staff. “For a team picked to finish last in the league, it’s already become a winning combination of players and coaches working together, and Hartford has positioned itself among the teams to beat in the America East,” Gray said in his Jan. 15 sports commentary. (WTIC-AM, Jan. 15)

Aaron Cook, a former standout shooting guard on the Hawks men’s basketball team, was recently voted in fan balloting to represent the Vermont Frost Heaves in the American Basketball Association (ABA) All Star game in Halifax, Nova Scotia, over the weekend of Jan. 26 to 28. Cook is the team’s second leading scorer, and is shooting 48 percent from three-point range. (Montpelier Times Argus, Jan. 8)

Other News

The University of Connecticut Health Center has stopped a controversial neuroscience project involving monkeys, and has reprimanded the researcher after U.S. Department of Agriculture inspections found about a dozen violations in the primate lab. The researcher, David Waitzman, voluntarily stopped the research on rhesus monkeys in August; two days after a USDA inspector cited him for incorrect drug dosages and failure to follow approved research procedures. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 12)

Members of a Yale University singing group, the Baker’s Dozen, were beaten by local youths after a New Year’s Eve concert in San Francisco, resulting in one member having his jaw broken in two places, while others received black eyes, a sprained ankle and a severe concussion. No arrests were made at the time of the assaults and the victims were not interviewed formally by police. (Inside Higher Ed.com, Jan. 15)

Harvard University has narrowed its hunt for a president to three Harvard administrators and a Nobel Laureate who heads a scientific research institute. The Harvard insiders on the short list are Provost Steven E. Hyman, a neuroscientist; the dean of the law school, Elena Kagan; and the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Drew Gilpin Faust. Thomas R. Cech, a 1989 Nobel Prize recipient in chemistry who is president of the multi billion dollar Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is also being considered. (Boston Globe, Jan. 10)

The University of Michigan announced that it will comply with a new voter-approved ban on affirmative action and immediately stop considering race and gender in admissions. The state constitutional amendment approved by the voters in November banned the use of race and gender preferences in public university admissions and government hiring and contracting. (Washington Post, Jan. 11)

A University of Utah student who admitted hacking into a professor’s computer account and changing his grades was sentenced to four months of incarceration. U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell declined a prosecution request to sentence You Li to a year in prison, saying the crime was an aberration for the 22-year-old and that he was obviously remorseful. Li, a Chinese national, likely will do his time in a jail or halfway house. (Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 8)

The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are starting a joint doctoral program in structural biology and biophysics to increase the pool of scientists who can extract information from the genes of humans and other organisms. The program will be co-directed by Rule and Angela Gronenborn, Pitt professor and chair of the School of Medicine’s department of structural biology. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jan. 9)

Intimates of President Bush have singled out Southern Methodist University as the likely site of his presidential library, but faculty members, complaining of being bypassed, are raising sharp questions about the school’s identification with his presidency. Faculty members complained of a lack of consultation over the emerging agreement and demanded answers from the SMU President R. Gerald Turner on the relationship that would develop between the university and the library. (New York Times, Jan. 11)

Harvard University released details of a multibillion-dollar plan to expand from Cambridge across the Charles River to the Allston neighborhood of Boston. The university wants to transform more than 200 acres into a second, more modern, Harvard Square, with retail space, academic buildings, athletic and cultural facilities and student housing. Harvard officials said they expected the project to take 50 years and to create 14,000 to 15,000 permanent jobs in an industrial part of the neighborhood that abuts a quiet residential one. They hope to break ground on a science building and arts center by the end of the year. (New York Times, Jan. 11)