Media Watch (April 30 – May 7, 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.

Michael Robinson, assistant professor of history in Hillyer College, was quoted in a USA Today article that highlighted the accomplishments of 75-year-old Barbara Hillary’s mission to reach the North Pole. Hillary is one of the oldest people to reach the North Pole, and is believed to be the first black woman on record to achieve the feat. The story was published or broadcast in numerous media outlets, with quotes from Robinson, who is the author of The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture. (Associated Press, May 4; International Herald Tribune, May 4; USA Today, May 7; Fox News, May 4; WNBC-TV, May 6; Sante Fe New Mexican, May 6; Rutland Herald, May 6)

Mary Christensen, director of the University’s Educational Main Street (EMS) program, and University President Walter Harrison were pictured, along with Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and John Kim, president of Prudential Retirement, in the “Accolades & More” section of the Hartford Business Journal. The photograph was taken at EMS’s annual Red and White Breakfast in celebration of the program’s 17th year of tutoring and mentoring Hartford schoolchildren. (Hartford Business Journal, May 7)

Matt Chasen, a sophomore at the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at The Hartt School, was pictured in the Hartford Courant. Chasen was photographed rehearsing his tenor saxophone before performing with the eight-piece Esteban Arrufat Latin Jazz Band as part of Latinos First Friday, a professional and business networking event. (Hartford Courant, May 5)

Eleta Jones, assistant director of the University’s Center for Professional Development, was interviewed by consumer reporter Debra Bogsti of NBC 30 for a story on the best and worst ways to ask for a raise. The story was also covered in the Bay Insider newspaper. (NBC 30, May 3; Bay Insider, May 4)

The Hartford Courant reprinted a Los Angeles Times story about how millions of college seniors are interviewing for their first full-time jobs in preparation for stepping out of college and into the real world. Susan Coleman, a professor of finance in the Barney School of Business, was quoted in the story talking about realities facing these students. “I talk to kids all the time, and when I ask them about the biggest challenges they face when starting out, they always say the same thing: They never realized how many things they would have to pay for,” Coleman said. (Hartford Courant, May 4)

In a “Peer to Peer” column, Ken Cook recommended that businesses look for interns to fill some of the vacant positions in their companies, and he specifically mentioned looking for interns from the University of Hartford, Central Connecticut State University, and the University of Connecticut. “Establishing relationships with the schools, program directors, and professors will help you find the best talent for the job,” he wrote. (Hartford Business Journal, May 7)

Jason Anick, a Hartt School student studying performance and acoustical engineering, won the senior-division Improvisation category at the 2007 Alternative Styles and National Solo competitions. He pulled his dad on stage to play along on guitar. Anick said “It’s something I’m interested in doing as a day job for awhile so I can get some money until something comes up.” (Stringsmagazine.com, June/July 2007 issue)

Linda Greenhouse, New York Times reporter, was a guest on WTIC-AM’s “Colin McEnroe Show,” in advance of her Rogow Lecture at the University. She talked to McEnroe about the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on abortion and regarding possible changes in the make-up of the High Court. (WTIC-AM, May 1)

Judith Houle, assistant professor in the University’s Educational Leadership doctoral program, has been named curriculum director for the Town of Somers public school system. During her tenure at the University, Houle has been responsible for developing a sixth-year program in educational leadership that received national recognition. Houle will assume the new position on July 1. (Journal Inquirer, April 30)

Father Mike Dolan. director of Catholic Campus Ministries and chaplain at the University of Hartford, was quoted in an article in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger that highlighted the Anti–Defamation League (ADL) of Connecticut’s interfaith mission. This group was designed to unite non-Jewish clergy to see and experience Israel through the eyes of Israelis. Dolan, who is embarking on his first trip to Israel, was especially interested in getting a sense of the country from the people who live there as opposed to seeing it through the media. (Jewish Ledger, May 1)

Kate English, a Colchester Middle School teacher who recently received a Joseph Zola Holocaust Educator Award from the University’s Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, was chosen for a fellowship program at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. She was profiled in connection with the two honors in the Hartford Courant. (Hartford Courant, May 2)

Hartt School student Shane Beatrice arranged a collection of John Philip Sousa marches that was performed by the Bristol Brass and Wind Ensemble. The ensemble is helping to promote the arts in Bristol, Conn. (Bristol Press, May 2)

A University of Hartford freshman was arrested over Spring Fling weekend on charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault on a female student. The male student was charged with third-degree sexual assault and third- degree assault. (Hartford Courant, May 1)

The Farmington Post reprinted a story from the New Britain Herald about a number of University students who went before Judge Curtissa Cofield after being arrested for being under age and attending Temptations night club in Hartford. Instead of imposing fines and punishments, the judge assigned the students to read books about other teenagers and their struggles with alcohol, and then write essays and read them aloud in court. (Farmington Post, May 3)

University President Walter Harrison, chairman of the NCAA committee on academic reform, was quoted in a recent article about the NCAA cutting scholarships to various sports team that demonstrate poor academic performance by their student-athletes. These cuts are part of the NCAA’s mission to make teams perform at a higher academic level. “Our goal here is to help these teams improve,” said Harrison. “This year should be a warning and advice to the presidents, athletic directors and the coaches that this is a good year to get a plan together and show some improvement.” (Washington Post, May 3; Northwest Herald, May 6; Bloomberg News. May 3; Hartford Courant. May 3; Detroit Free Press, May 3)

In an article about the various changes the NCAA has made to force the collegiate baseball system to be more focused on academics, it was noted that students will no longer be allowed to transfer from one school to another without sitting out a year, and teams that underperform academically will have their playing schedules reduced. University President Walter Harrison, who is chair of the NCAA Executive Committee, said, “I think this will be a sea change in the academic culture of baseball." (The Kansas City Star, May 1)

Other News

It was an emotional day at the University of Connecticut as 4,500 undergraduates collected their diplomas on May 6 and Philip E. Austin presided over his last graduation as UConn president. Austin has announced his resignation, effective this September. After a sabbatical, he plans to return to UConn as a professor in the economics department. (Hartford Courant, May 7)

Police and students continue looking for answers after a Keene State College student wounded his roommate, and then killed himself on May 4. Keene State junior Michael Dyke shot his roommate, Jason Lillibridge of Norwich, Conn., in the buttocks before shooting himself. There was no word on a possible motive, though officers are investigating whether Dyke shot Lillibridge intentionally or accidentally. Police also are looking into whether alcohol or drugs played a role in the incident. (Associated Press, May 7)

Xiangming Chen, a sociology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a guest professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, was named the dean and director of Trinity College's new Center for Urban and Global Studies. He is expected to arrive in Hartford this summer to begin work at Trinity. The new center will coordinate internships, research, community service and other urban education programs both in Hartford and overseas, including study-abroad programs in sites around the world. (Hartford Courant, May 1)

This year, seven Wesleyan University graduates have films being shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan. Jeanine Basinger, head of Wesleyan’s film studies department, says it isn’t just the quality of the film school, but Wesleyan’s emphasis on well-rounded liberal arts education that makes its graduates sought out in Hollywood. She also credits a time-tested network of graduates all ready to help each other. (Hartford Courant, May 6)

A dozen college presidents have pledged to boycott a key component of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings because they say the popular rankings mislead prospective students and encourage gamesmanship. The presidents outlined their complaints in a letter to colleagues at other schools. The letter says the dozen colleges have pledged to stop filling out the part of the survey in which colleges rate each other, which accounts for 25 percent of a college’s ranking. The colleges say they also will no longer use the rankings in their own promotions and ask other schools to do the same. (CNN.com, May 7)

The National Academy of Sciences has elected 90 new members, and only nine are women — the lowest number accepted into the nation's most prestigious scientific body since 2001. Overall, however, women's membership is up from historical lows, and national Academy present Ralph Cicerone said that the group would like to see “steady and smooth” increases in the number of women each year. As recently as 2000, only 6 percent of the academy’s members were women. In 2005 women earned 39 percent of the doctorates in science and engineering fields. However, it can take two decades for scientists to build credentials outstanding enough to merit election to the academy, Cicerone said. (Wired.com, May 4)

Across the country, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember. More students are enrolling in religion courses, even majoring in religion; more are living in dormitories or houses where matters of faith and spirituality are a part of daily conversation; and discussion groups are being created for students to grapple with questions like what happens after death, dozens of university officials said in interviews. (New York Times, May 2)

Six more U.S. colleges and universities have agreed to adopt new codes of conduct in doing business with student lenders, bringing to 21 the number of schools that have committed to the College Loan Code of Conduct, according to New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. The agreements stem from investigations Cuomo is coordinating with his counterparts in more than 40 states examining the $85 billion student-loan industry. Cuomo’s inquiry has revealed that lenders provided revenue sharing, company stock, and other payments to financial-aid officers and schools that recommended them to students and parents. (Boston Globe, May 2)

The University of Massachusetts is withdrawing about $530,000 of its funds invested in Sudan to pressure the government of Africa’s largest country to end the war in its western region of Darfur. The four-year war has killed about 200,000 people, displaced more than 2.5 million, and sparked a regional humanitarian crisis. The university’s Investment Committee has directed managers to divest the money from companies listed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force, a group coordinating the Sudan divestment movement. The committee also directed the managers of its actively managed funds to make no new investments in companies on that list. (Boston Globe, May 3)

Upcoming

Richard Freund, director of the University’s Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, will be interviewed on WTIC-AM’s “Morning Show” on May 16, at about 8:45 a.m. Freund will discuss the bone marrow transplant that saved his life. The interview is in advance of a “Gift of Life” event in New York City that he will be talking part in.

Hartford Courant reporter Susan Campbell will be writing a column about Educational Main Street’s new “Community Initiators” program in Hartford’s North End beauty salons. The program teaches salon owners to discuss literacy with clients.