Media Watch (Jan. 15 – 22, 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.

NBC 30 broadcast a story about University of Hartford students moving into the new Temple Street Townhouses in downtown Hartford. NBC 30 said that “the building gives students an off-campus housing experience, and Hartford officials said they hope the students will give Hartford some renewed vitality downtown.” The item appeared on newscasts on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Monday morning. (NBC 30, Jan. 21 and Jan. 22)

Governor M. Jodi Rell announced that the State Bond Commission is expected to approve a $4 million state contribution to the proposed University of Hartford Performing Arts Center, to be located at the corner of Albany Avenue and Westbourne Parkway. The new facility will house The Hartt School’s dance and theatre departments, black box theatres, dance studios, scene and costume shops, a bank, a coffee shop and community space. An elated President Walter Harrison said, “This was the last big piece we needed. The exciting part of this project is that it combines a very important need that the University has with a very important need that the Hartford community has. It provides a really important spark to the North End of Hartford and its community.” (Hartford Courant, Jan. 21)

David Desplaces, assistant professor and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at the Barney School of Business, and students in his Principles of Entrepreneurship class were featured in the February issue of CT Business Magazine. Desplaces noted that “As part of the course requirements, students were paired up and assigned to work with eight small business owners in Simsbury to help them develop growth strategies. The students, acting as business consultants, took their course materials and applied them a real-world settings right here in Connecticut as part of an economic gardening pilot project.” (CT Business Magazine, Feb. 2007)

Warren Goldstein, chair of the history department, wrote a commentary article with the title, “Sleaze Play: The Entire History of Baseball is Unsavory.” Goldstein stated his disappointment with the recent trends of major league baseball and gave a brief history of the corruption within the baseball community. “We may say we prefer fields of dreams, but in the real world, men and women cheat for love, money, and recognition. And we watch them, in their games, their music and their movies – without wanting them at our Thanksgiving table,” he wrote. (Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 16)

Bernard L. Kavaler, who holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Hartford, has been appointed assistant vice chancellor for public affairs for the Connecticut State University system. Kavaler most recently served as director of communication for state treasurer Denise L. Nappier and previously worked in the offices of Connecticut’s secretary of the state, attorney general and lieutenant governor. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 16)

Michael Jude Schiano, associate professor of music theory at The Hartt School and an internationally renowned accordionist, joined the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra for a special performance on Friday, Jan. 19. “We are privileged to have him join us,” said Adrian Mackiewicz, artistic director of the Virtuosi Orchestra. (New Britain Herald, Jan. 16)

More than 300 people packed Millard Auditorium on Martin Luther King Day to honor the civil rights leader’s life and legacy. Keynote speaker Deacon Arthur L. Miller’s speech showed that many of the same issues of racism and hatred that King fought against are still issues we are fighting today. Miller is the director of the Office for Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Hartford as well as its representative to the Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur. (The Hartford Courant, Jan. 16)

Peter Congleton, the University’s director of planned giving, had an article published in Planned Giving Today magazine. Congleton explained the importance of making “donor stories” unique and the “obligation to tell their stories right” when it comes to planned giving. “The story we are trying to help each of our donors tell is as unique as they are, but if we want to use stories to our best advantage—inspiring others to follow suit—we need to strike common themes for out target audiences without relying on generic stories,” Congleton said. (Planned Giving Today, Jan. 2007)

Kate Sulikowski of Somers, a graduate student at the University of Hartford, received a scholarship from Solvay Pharmaceuticals as part of its CREON Family Scholarship program. The program awards college scholarships to students with cystic fibrosis. Sulikowski has battled cystic fibrosis since childhood. (Journal Inquirer, Jan. 13-14)

Marissa Cloutier, an instructor in biology at Hillyer College, had a letter to the editor published in the Meriden Record-Journal and the Southington Citizen about the dangers of global warming. In her letter, she listed a number of things that individuals can do slow the growing impact of global warming, instead of just waiting for politicians to act. (Meriden Record-Journal, Jan. 13; Southington Citizen, Jan. 12)

Emmy-winning composer and University of Hartford alum Harvey Cohen has died at the age of 55. Cohen, of Agoura Hills, Calif., suffered a heart attack on Jan. 14. Cohen received Emmy Awards for his musical direction and composition work in two animated shows: The Adventures of Batman and Robin: A Bullet for Bullock,and Disney’s Aladdin. Cohen also created music for such television shows and movies as Sex and the City; South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut; The Wonder Years; Dallas; and Down With Love. (Associated Press, Jan. 15)

Dan Leibovitz, Hartford Hawks men’s head basketball coach, was featured in an article in CollegeInsider.com. The article highlights Liebovitz’s accomplishments at the University of Hartford, inspiring confidence in his players, as well as his loyalty and appreciation to his mentor, Temple coach John Chaney. “I want to thank Coach Chaney publicly for spending so much time developing me as a coach,” says Leibovitz. (CollegeInsider.com, Jan. 2007

Other News

A University of Connecticut freshman who was struck in a hit-and-run accident in the early morning hours of Jan. 20 died from her injuries on Jan. 22, Uconn police said. Uconn and Connecticut state police have been looking for the driver of a vehicle that struck Carlee Wines, 19, of Manalapan, N.J. Police say Wines had stepped off the curb to cross a road that runs along the north end of campus when she was struck just before 2 a.m. on Jan. 20. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 22; WFSB-TV Channel 3, Jan. 22)

A Massachusetts educator who helped lead that state’s effort to bolster sagging performance among low-income and minority students has been named Connecticut’s new education commissioner. The State Board of Education named Mark K. McQuillan, a former deputy education commissioner in Massachusetts and a key figure in developing plans for improving schools under the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 17)

Yale University announced the appointment of the first woman to lead its department of physics. C. Megan Urry, the Israel Munson professor of physics and astronomy, will serve as chairwoman of the department of physics for three years, effective July 1, said Yale President Richard C. Levin. Urry has earned renown for her research on super-massive black holes and for her efforts to increase the number of women and minorities in the physical sciences. (Associated Press, Jan. 20)

Quinnipiac University is expanding with the purchase of a 100-acre campus in North Haven that will be the site of a graduate education center. Quinnipiac, which is based in Hamden, is buying Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s campus at an undisclosed price. The university reached agreement with Anthem’s parent company, Indianapolis-based Wellpoint Inc., to buy the site, which includes four buildings totaling 570,000 square feet. Anthem Blue Cross will lease back portions of the campus and Quinnipiac will take possession over 10 years. (Newsday, Jan. 19)

The Trinity College Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture is sponsoring an essay contest for Connecticut high school students on the topic: “Why, in your view, do so many young Americans today show little interest in science education?” The authors of the three best essays will receive a prize of $300 each. The authors of the 10 highest-scoring essays will receive letters of recognition, and will be invited, with their parents, to an awards dinner at Trinity College in May. (Hartford Courant, Jan. 16)

A survey by an arm of the University of California-Los Angeles found that college freshmen are discussing politics more frequently than at any point in the past 40 years, and that they have increasingly polarized points of views. Of the more than 271,000 freshmen surveyed, 33.8 percent said they discussed politics—up from 25.5 percent in 2004, and 16.9 percent in 1998. The last time the survey saw a similarly high percentage, 33.3 percent, was in 1968. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 22)

Fewer college freshmen are attending their top choice of schools, and many appear to be doing so not because they were rejected by their first choice but for financial reasons, a national survey shows. More than two-thirds (67.3 percent) are attending their No. 1 choice, the survey says. Of those who are not, 52.6 percent said they were accepted and opted not to go. Most students cited “academic reputation” and evidence that graduates “get good jobs” as “very important” reasons for attending the college where they’re now enrolled. (USA Today, Jan. 19)

The Harvard University corporation will devote $50 million to begin an ambitious effort to encourage interdisciplinary science research, signaling the governing board’s determination to make fundamental changes in the university’s approach to science, even as it searches for a new president. The money, Harvard officials say, will be under the control of a powerful new, university-wide science and engineering planning committee, a striking change for an institution that has traditionally given enormous power to the relatively autonomous heads of its academic departments. (Boston Globe, Jan. 19)

The Democratic-controlled House voted overwhelmingly to cut interest rates on need-based student loans on Jan. 17. The House legislation, passed 356-71, would slice rates on the subsidized loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent in stages over five years at a cost to taxpayers of $6 billion. About 5.5 million students get the loans each year. Though clearly popular, the legislation sparked a debate over where to set the nation’s education priorities – helping college graduates pay off their debts or expanding federal grants for low-income students. (Associated Press, Jan. 18)

Many universities now have offices of technology transfer looking to turn research into commercial ventures at the same time that advances in information and biological science and the growth of Internet commerce has led to an explosion of entrepreneurial companies. “We see it as transferring back to the public benefits of technology that in many cases has been developed with public money,” said Krisztina Holly, vice provost of the University of Southern California, who is leading a major expansion of its technology transfer program. (New York Times, Jan. 18)

The deans of Massachusetts’ major law schools joined about 100 law deans in signing a letter condemning a senior Pentagon official’s suggestion that U.S. companies should boycott law firms representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The deans' letter, which was co authored by Emily A. Spieler, dean of Northeastern University School of Law , denounces the comments by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Charles D. "Cully" Stimson as “contrary to the basic tenets of American law” and calls on the Bush administration to “promptly and unequivocally repudiate” them. (Boston Globe, Jan. 17)

Upcoming

The Hartford Courant is planning to publish an editorial praising the University of Hartford Performing Arts Center project and Governor Jodi Rell’s decision to recommend that the State Bond Commission approve $4 million to help support the project.