Media Watch (May 15 – 21, 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.

The University’s 50th annual Commencement ceremony and the celebration of the University’s alumni on Sunday were highlighted in media coverage of the event. The Hartford Courant story highlighted the “Golden Hawks,” members of the University’s Class of 1957 who attended the ceremony wearing gold robes. The coverage also included a photograph of new graduates Melissa Levine, 22, and Allison Lichtenberg, 22. A number of photographs from the ceremony, and from other college commencements around the state, are posted on the Hartford Courant website. In addition, Connecticut Network (CT-N) filmed the ceremony to air on future dates.
(Hartford Courant, May 21; WFSB-TV Channel 3, May 20; WTIC-AM, May 20 and 21)

The achievements of the late Jackie McLean and his wife, Dollie McLean, were featured in a Hartford Courant article and a Stan Simpson column about the renaming of a street near the Artists Collective in Hartford’s North End as “Jackie McLean Way.” University President Walter Harrison was quoted in the Simpson column, which described how the McLeans have been a force for good in the Hartford community. The article on the renaming ceremony also included a photograph of Hartt School faculty member and renowned bassist Nat Reeves. Both pieces, along with the Courant’s “Jazz Notes” column in the “Cal” section, noted that the McLeans would both receive honorary degrees at the University of Hartford’s Commencement ceremony.
(Hartford Courant, May 17, 19, and 20)

Peter Woodard, chair of The Hartt School's Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz, was quoted in an article on how jazz music unites different cultures. Woodard said, “To me, the American Jewish culture was always somehow a part of the African-American struggle, when slaves developed spirituals that fed off from passages of the Old Testament, [depicting] Jews in slavery. Phrases like ‘Let my people go’ were adopted in the songs that they [African American slaves] sang.”
(Connecticut Jewish Ledger, May 15)

In the “Industrial Strength” column in the Hartford Business Journal, a story about United Tool & Die noted that the company lends space and expertise to a group of University engineering students in its annual production of a prototype automobile for a national engineering competition in Detroit. The article included a quote from University engineering student Steven Osuch.
(Hartford Business Journal, May 21)

Darryl McMiller, assistant professor of political science, was a guest on WNPR’s “Faith Middleton Show” as it debuted a new segment called, “Politics, Burgers and Beer,” a fast-paced opinion, analysis, and debate program about the 2008 presidential race. The dates for the next airings of “Politics, Burgers and Beer” are on June 1, July 13, July 27, and Aug. 10, all at 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.
(WNPR-FM, May 18)

Richard Freund, director of the University’s Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, was a guest on WTIC-AM’s “Morning Show,” where he discussed the bone marrow transplant that saved his life. The interview was in conjunction with a “Gift of Life” event in New York City where Freund met his bone marrow donor for the very first time.
(WTIC-AM, May 16)

In its “Education Briefs” column, the Hartford Courant noted the University’s Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies gave out Holocaust Educator Awards to four Connecticut middle and high school teachers.
(Hartford Courant, May 16)

Donald Ellis, professor of communication in the College of Arts and Sciences, had a letter to the editor published in the Hartford Courant. The letter was in support of college rankings published by U.S. News & World Report and other media, calling them an “objective third-party assessment of university quality.”
(Hartford Courant, May 18)

Demetrios Giannaros, professor of economics in the Barney School of Business, was interviewed for a story on the Fox 61 “News at Ten” about the impact of rising gasoline prices on the family budget. Giannaros, who is a member of the state House of Representatives, was also quoted in a New Britain Herald article about the upcoming construction of a sidewalk near the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. “This is good news that construction has begun," Giannaros said. "I thank the University of Connecticut Health Center for its cooperation in agreeing to construct the sidewalk. I'm sure the project will be welcomed by area residents."
(Fox 61, May 18; New Britain Herald, May 16)

An item in the “Cal” section of the Hartford Courant noted that “Alan Tompkins is a painter, muralist and founding director of the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford—and he will be part of a triple celebration this year that will mark his 100th birthday, the 130th anniversary of the Art School’s founding and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the University.” Tompkins’s career and his art were the subjects of a talk at the Hartford Public Library last week, and the artist will have a show of his work this summer at the University’s Joseloff Gallery.
(Hartford Courant, May 17)

University President Walter Harrison was featured in a photograph from the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges’ 75th anniversary celebration that ran in the “Accolades & More” section of the Hartford Business Journal.
(Hartford Business Journal, May 21)

President Harrison, who is chairman of the NCAA’s Committee on Academic Performance, was interviewed for a story in the Birmingham (Ala.) News about the NCAA not adopting financial incentives for schools that exceed the NCAA’s academic progress standards. “The people on our committee would love to have monetary incentives, but the basic message that we got back from a wide variety of the [NCAA] membership is that it’s OK as a concept, but we don’t want it to come out of our money,” Harrison said.
(Birmingham News, May 15)

NCAA coaches are pushing to override the various changes the NCAA has made to force the collegiate baseball system to be more focused on academics. President Harrison, who is chair of the NCAA Executive Committee, said, “As more and more teams are subject to penalties, it will cause an outcry among coaches, but we must stay the course.” Harrison also said that it might make sense for the NCAA to use the Academic Progress Report (APR) system to rate coaches as well as institutions.
(Winston-Salem Journal, May 15)

An opinion article by Hartford Courant editorial board member David Medina noted that magnet schools in Hartford are not closing the color gap, as envisioned under the settlement in the Sheff v. O’Neill school desegregation lawsuit. “Of the 3,565 students registered in Hartford magnets in 2006, only 13 percent were white,” he wrote in the article which included University of Hartford Magnet School as one of eight Capitol Region Education Council schools which “do better.”
(Hartford Courant, May 16)

Other News

State auditors slammed the University of Connecticut in a newly released audit because the university chose the highest bidder to build its new energy plant, then agreed to switch the project’s subcontractor to the politically connected O&G Industries part way through the project. State Auditor Robert G. Jaekle said when auditors asked why the subcontractor change was made without a competitive bidding process, no one could provide a satisfactory answer for seven months.
(Hartford Courant, May 18)

After nearly three hours of sometimes passionate debate, state lawmakers approved a measure that would allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition fees at Connecticut’s public colleges and universities. The state House of Representatives approved an amended bill by a 76-67 vote and the vote was largely along party lines. The bill now goes to the Senate.
(Hartford Courant, May 18)

Although they were not entitled to the benefit, employees of private fundraising institutions at the University of Connecticut for years received tuition waivers for their dependents. The practice ended last year, after a state audit revealed that four non-university employees were improperly given dependent waivers in the 2005 spring semester.
(Hartford Courant, May 18)

More students committed to attend Virginia Tech this fall than last year, the university announced, one month after a student killed 32 people and shot himself on the campus in Blacksburg. The school said that 5,215 freshmen sent deposits to accept the university’s offer. That's 30 more than last year and 200 more than the school’s goal. The school received a record amount of applications this year—almost 20,000— but many people wondered what would happen after the shooting.
(Washington Post, May 18)

Harvard University has approved its biggest curriculum overhaul in three decades, putting new emphasis on sensitive religious and cultural issues, the sciences, and overcoming U.S. “parochialism.” The curriculum change, proposed on Feb. 8 after three years of faculty debate, is intended to counter criticism that the oldest U.S. institute of higher learning was focused too narrowly on academic topics instead of real-life issues.
(CNN.com, May 16)

More than 90 percent of Division I athletic programs spend more than they earn, by an average of $7.1 million annually, according to figures released by NCAA researchers. The statistics, for 2004–05, were included in a report urging the NCAA to standardize its procedures for collecting financial data, which was presented during a meeting of the Knight Commission, a college sports watchdog agency. Only 22 of the 313 Division I athletic departments were self-supporting, the study noted.
(Philadelphia Inquirer, May 16)

Colleges seeking a competitive edge are increasingly enlisting and sometimes paying student bloggers to chronicle their lives online. The results run the gamut from insightful to boring, but the goal is the same: to find a new way to win the attention of the MySpace generation. Universities balance giving the bloggers the freedom to speak their mind while maintaining some control over content.
(CNN.com, May 15)