Media Watch (Aug. 13 – 20, 2007)

“Media Watch” is a roundup 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.

An exhibition of paintings by former Hartford Art School Director Alan Tompkins, who will turn 100 in October, was the subject of an extensive feature story in the Washington Post. There is still time to see the show, which concludes on Thursday, Aug. 23, at the Silpe Gallery.
(Washington Post, Aug. 19; Portsmouth Herald News, Aug. 15; Cherry Hill Courier-Post, Aug. 15)

A group of about two dozen University staff, faculty, and administrators, led by President Walter Harrison, were the first to spend a night in the new residence hall, Hawk Hall. Media coverage of the event included interviews with President Harrison and video footage of the rooms, lounges, and hallways in the new residence hall.
(WFSB-TV Channel 3, Aug. 13 and 14; NBC 30, Aug. 13; WTIC-AM, Aug. 14)

Mark George has been named the new director of The Hartt School’s Community Division, and his appointment was noted in the Hartford Courant’s “Education Briefs” column and in a story in the West Hartford News. The Community Division provides classes in music, dance and theater to nearly 2,700 in Greater Hartford.
(Hartford Courant, Aug. 15; West Hartford News, Aug. 9)

In a ranking of the largest MBA programs in Connecticut by 2005–2006 enrollment, the Barney School of Business ranked second (with 405 students), behind number one Yale School of Management, and ahead of the University of Connecticut, the University of Bridgeport, and the University of New Haven.
(Hartford Business Journal, Aug. 20)

The life and accomplishments of Edwin Matesky, who ran the University News Bureau at the University of Hartford for more than 25 years, were noted in a story in the Hartford Courant after he passed away on Aug. 14. The story included quotes from Charles Condon, secretary and general counsel of the University, and former president Stephen Joel Trachtenberg.
(Hartford Courant, Aug. 18)

John Roderick, who had been a professor of English at the University’s Hillyer College for more than 26 years, died on Aug. 6 after a long battle with leukemia. His honors, including being named a Connecticut professor of the year and a New England poet of the year, were featured in a Hartford Courant story on his life.
(Hartford Courant, Aug. 11)

The hiring of Thomas Dorer as the new general counsel and secretary of the University was noted in the Hartford Business Journal’s “Movers & Shakers” column. The notice also included a photograph of Dorer.
(Hartford Business Journal, Aug. 20)

Elaine Mishkind of Amherst, Mass., who taught violin at The Hartt School for about 25 years, has found a new passion in her life. Suffering from arthritis, which made bowing the strings too painful, she turned her artistic talents to photography. She will have her first exhibition at the Rockridge Retirement Community in Northampton, according to a feature story in the Amherst Bulletin.
(Amherst Bulletin, Aug. 17)

A Hartford Courant review of the JVC Jazz Festival-Newport noted that “one of the [Ben Riley's Monk Legacy] Septet’s most captivating soloists was young tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, a New Haven native and University of Hartford grad. The rising star also contributed significantly to a performance by The Mingus Orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller.” Escoffery studied with the late Jackie McLean at The Hartt School’s McLean Institute of Jazz.
(Hartford Courant, Aug. 13)

Cantor Charles Osborne, a graduate of The Hartt School and an internationally recognized cantor, conductor, and composer, was named the new spiritual leader of the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms in Pike County, Pa. Osborne, who also attended the Juilliard School of Music, was the cantor at Temple Emanuel in Newton, Mass., for 18 years.
(Pocono Record, Aug. 11)

Patrick Flint, a University student and a member of the Hartford Hawks men’s tennis team, won the men’s division of the City of Victoria Island Open tennis tournament this past weekend. Earlier this year, Flint won the City of Victoria Beacon Hill Open, the City of Victoria Open, and the 2007 New Year’s Classic in Oak Bay.
(Oak Bay News, Aug. 15)

Other News

Yale University has agreed to turn over to Peru an inventory of artifacts that explorer Hiram Bingham III carted back with him to New Haven after excavating Machu Picchu, the “lost” city of the Incas, nearly a century ago. The breakthrough, which may ultimately help decide who gets to keep the ancient Incan artifacts, was reached this summer under Peru's new president, Alan Garcia. Peru's housing minister is expected to lead a delegation of Peruvians to New Haven next month to continue talks with Yale.
(Hartford Courant, Aug. 15)

U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of America’s top colleges on Aug. 20, under attack as never before by college officials who accuse it of using dubious statistics to stoke the intense, even crazed, competition among colleges and universities for students and prestige. Still there is little sign that the rankings race is diminishing. While more than 60 presidents of liberal arts colleges signed a letter over the last few months pledging to stop participating in the most heavily weighted component of the magazine's rankings, virtually none of the most select and highly ranked colleges signed on.
(New York Times, Aug. 20)

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association is working with the state Community College System to provide more technical training and education in advanced manufacturing to help students and companies in Connecticut and western Massachusetts. Plans call for a new certificate program in “lean manufacturing.” Community college students and manufacturing workers will take part in the program. The U.S. Department of Labor is funding the training effort through a $1.77 million grant CBIA received in October 2006.
(Hartford Courant, Aug. 15)

As housing officials at colleges around the country send out roommate assignments to freshmen this summer, a growing number of schools say they’re getting more requests for changes—from parents who don't like the roommates’ Facebook profiles. Housing officials say parents who cite Facebook most frequently mention party-related content and photos as their primary concerns. Parents sometimes see cups in photos and make the leap to alcohol and drugs, they say.
(USA Today, Aug. 15)

As the school year approaches, several Boston-area colleges are intensifying efforts to prevent illegal downloading on campus, including hosting sessions on the perils of pirating and offering students free, legal means of getting songs. As universities attempt to find solutions, the stakes for illegal downloading are increasing. The Recording Industry Association of America has continued its campaign against piracy, slamming the University of Massachusetts, for instance, with 897 copyright-infringement complaints last school year by February, up from 365 the previous year.
(Boston Globe, Aug. 17)

Disney is challenging a recently issued report by the University of Washington, titled “Baby DVDs, videos may hinder, not help infants' language development,” which highlighted research and mentioned Disney subsidiary Baby Einstein. The research generated national media coverage. In a letter to University President Mark Emmert, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said the report misrepresented the underlying study, distorted its findings and ignored its shortcomings. “In short, the university’s [report] was grossly unfair, extremely damaging, and, to be blunt, just plain wrong in every conceivable sense,” Iger wrote.
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Aug. 13)

A member of the Rutgers women’s basketball team has sued Don Imus and CBS, claiming the radio personality’s sexist and racist comments about the team damaged her reputation. Kia Vaughn filed the lawsuit alleging slander and defamation of character in state Supreme Court in the Bronx on the same day Imus settled with CBS Radio in a deal that pre-empts his threatened $120 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS. There is no dollar amount listed in Vaughn’s suit, which is believed to be the first by a player in the case.
(Forbes.com, Aug. 17)

Colorado’s three public universities are creating a joint school of public health that will eventually double the number of students studying the specialty in the state. The unusual joint effort by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado will have students on all three campuses studying for their master’s or doctorates in public health. The school’s opening comes at a time when the field desperately needs more specialists in public health, including people specialized to study SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and the West Nile virus.
(Denver Post, Aug. 20)

Upcoming

Former Major League All-Star Jeff Bagwell will have his number retired by the Houston Astros at a special ceremony before the team’s game on Sunday, Aug. 26. Bagwell, a former standout on the Hartford Hawks baseball team, retired in 2005 after 15 seasons with the Astros and finished his career with 2,314 hits, 449 home runs, and 1,529 runs-batted-in.