Media Watch (Sept. 24 – Oct. 1, 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.

Humphrey Tonkin, president emeritus and University Professor of the Humanities, was a guest on “The Leonard Lopate Show” on WNYC Radio, New York City’s public radio station. Tonkin discussed issues involving the international language, Esperanto, why people choose to learn it and how they use it. Listen to Tonkin’s interview with Lopate and read listener comments. (WNYC-AM, Sept. 27)

The Hartford Courant’s Sunday “Arts” section highlighted a program by the University’s President’s College and Cardin Reading Series on attempts by parents, individuals, or groups to ban books from libraries and schools; First Amendment rights; and intellectual freedom in America. The panel discussion, which will take place this evening (Tuesday) from 7 to 9 p.m. in Wilde Auditorium, is being held in conjunction with the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week 2007. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 30)

President Walter Harrison was a guest on WTIC's “Morning Show with Ray Dunaway and Diane Smith” on Sept. 26, and he discussed the Hartford Scholars program and the annual fundraising dinner held that evening to support it. (WTIC-AM, Sept. 26)

Sean Johnson, a University of Hartford student, was one of the protestors taking part in a march in Hartford to draw attention to the treatment of the “Jena 6,” a group of black youngsters arrested in Jena, La., following a series of confrontations between black and white students. Johnson told the Hartford Courant that he was disappointed not to see more students from the University taking part in the march. “A lot of them look at it as, ‘Oh, I feel bad, but I don't think something like that would happen to me.’ But you never know,” said Johnson, who carried a hand-scrawled sign that said, “Racism is an institution. We created it, we end it.” (Hartford Courant, Sept. 30)

Susan Coleman, professor of finance in the Barney School of Business, had a letter to the editor published in the Hartford Courant in support of the newspaper's editorial calling for an upgrade in personal finance education in our schools. “Few states – Connecticut included – require any sort of personal finance education for high school graduation,” she wrote, adding that “Just like drugs and alcohol, the topic of personal finance should also be addressed at home.” (Hartford Courant, Sept. 29)

Hartford Courant columnist Stan Simpson wrote about the need for Hartford city planners, and the consultants assisting city planners, to understand where the true gateway to the city is. Simpson agreed with Jamaican bakery owner and Upper Albany Street board member George Scott that the gateway begins “near the entrance to the new performance arts center the University of Hartford is now constructing. “It’s where West Hartford, parts of Bloomfield and Hartford all converge,” he wrote. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 29)

Current and upcoming exhibitions in the University’s Joseloff Gallery, the Sherman Museum of Jewish Civilization, and Silpe Gallery were highlighted in the Hartford Courant “Cal” section’s Fall Arts Guide focusing on artistic displays. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 27)

Award-winning concert pianist Alexander Kobrin, who performed a recital of works by Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninoff at The Hartt School and who also gave a master class, was the subject of a question-and-answer interview in the Hartford Courant’s Sunday “Arts” section. Kobrin won the Gold Medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June 2005. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 30)

Folk music star Richard Shindell, who performed in the University’s MUSIC for a CHANGE benefit concert series, was the subject of a lengthy profile article in the Hartford Courant in advance of his concert. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 26)

Lincoln Financial Foundation announced it was awarding more than $400,000 in education and workforce development grants to 22 nonprofit organizations in the Greater Hartford area this year, including $20,000 to the University of Hartford for the MUSIC for a CHANGE benefit concert series. (CNNMoney.com, Sept. 24)

Humbert Lucarelli, professor of oboe at The Hartt School, is scheduled to perform at OctOBOEfest, a biennial celebration at the University of Iowa, The story on the event noted that Lucarelli has been hailed as “America's leading oboe recitalist” by the New York Times. (Des Moines Register, Sept. 26)

Linda Caraher, who earned a master’s degree in early childhood education and is currently a second grade teacher at Cherry Brook Primary School, was named Canton’s 2007 Teacher of the Year. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 25)

David Cullen, who earned a bachelor’s degree in classical guitar performance at The Hartt School, was profiled in advance of a performance in Elizabethtown, Pa. Cullen, who teaches jazz and classical guitar at Kutztown University, is a Grammy Award-winning performer. (Etownian online, Sept. 27)

Bill Gonillo, 44, sports director at News 12 Connecticut in Norwalk for the past 12 years, was found dead in his Woodbridge home on Sept. 23. Gonillo, a University of Hartford graduate, had worked at WELI-AM in New Haven and was the Yale football play-by-play announcer in the mid-1990s. He also worked at WVIT, Ch. 30. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 25; NBC 30, Sept. 24)

Former East Hartford Mayor Richard H. Blackstone, 85, passed away on Aug. 12. Blackstone, who attended Hillyer College in the late 1940s, worked as an examiner for the state tax department, now the Department of Revenue Services. He was later asked to run for mayor of East Hartford by the Democratic party. He won in 1969 and served as mayor for 10 years. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 30)

Other News

St. Joseph College in West Hartford launched its yearlong 75th anniversary celebration as the first all-women’s undergraduate college in the Hartford area “To be able to have sustained our fundamental mission for 75 years is saying a great deal,” said Carol Guardo, the college's interim president, who is also a former provost at the University of Hartford. “We’ve been able to adapt to the changing needs of society as we've gone along.” (Hartford Courant, Sept. 30)

The University of Connecticut’s 11-year-old law school library is so damaged by leaks and flaws in its granite facade that fixing it will cost $19 million, nearly as much as the cost of building the library. The university plans to repair the unstable facade, reinstall waterproofing and windows and replace moldy walls and carpets. The library originally cost $24 million. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 26)

Quinnipiac University has completed its purchase of the Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield property in North Haven for a graduate center. “Completing the purchase agreement for the North Haven campus is an important milestone in our plans to create a Graduate Education Center on the site,” said John L. Lahey, president of the Hamden-based university. Town records show the school paid $39.6 million for the 104-acre complex. (Associated Press, Oct. 1)

The near doubling in the cost of a college degree the past decade has produced an explosion in high-priced student loans that could haunt the U.S. economy for years. While scholarship, grant money, and government-backed student loans have taken up some of the slack, many families and students have turned to private loans, which carry fees and interest rates that are often variable and up to 20 percent. (Associated Press, Oct. 1)

Some 2,100 professors, staff members, students, and alumni have signed an online petition protesting the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld, the former U.S. defense secretary, as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. They are threatening to rekindle tensions between the institution, a conservative research body, and the more liberal campus. Faculty members say he should not have been offered the post because of his role in the Bush administration’s prosecution of the Iraq war. (NYTimes.com, Sept. 24)

In accepting an invitation to speak at Columbia University while in New York for a meeting of the United Nations, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran subjected himself to protests from scores of students, faculty, and others, and to a harsh critique from even the university’s president, Lee C. Bollinger. Ahmadinejad said that Palestinians were suffering because of the Holocaust, proclaimed that there are no homosexuals in his country, and said he wanted to visit the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan during his trip to New York “to show my respect.” (NYTimes.com, Sept. 25)

Delaware State University used e-mails, phone calls, fliers and a Web posting to notify students and staff of campus shootings, a system that has evolved in recent years and took on additional urgency this spring after a gunman killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech. Delaware State officials said the system worked well, but they still expect to look for improvements. “We'll have to sit down and evaluate whether or not what we have in place worked,” said Claibourne Smith, chairman of DSU’s board of trustees. (delewareonline.com, Sept. 25)

Schools and colleges across the country do not report crime and violent incidents on campus consistently or accurately—in many cases because they are not required to, according to safety experts and a new report by 27 state attorneys general. (Stateline.org, Sept. 25)

The group that agreed to buy Sallie Mae for $25 billion is seeking a lower price for the college loan provider, according to a published report. Private equity firms J.C. Flowers and Friedman Fleischer & Lowe agreed to buy Sallie Mae in April, with backing from Bank of America and JP Morgan. The buyers face a $900 million break-up fee if they walk away from the deal. The New York Times said the buyers want to renegotiate the price and may be willing to walk away from the deal if Sallie Mae doesn’t agree to a lower price. (CNN Money.com, Sept. 26)

Five months after the Virginia Tech massacre, some of the few remaining universities that do not permit campus police to carry guns are rethinking the firearms bans. Many public universities already have armed police, according to the U.S. Justice Department, which is poised to release a new report on campus police agencies in November. The department's most recent report, in 1996, found 81 percent of public universities had armed police agencies. It expects to see a slight increase in the number of campuses permitting officers to carry guns. (USA Today, Sept. 28)

Responding to calls for more accountability in higher education, the trade group representing the nation's private colleges and universities unveiled a Web site that gives prospective students more information about the schools. The site—ucan-network.org—comes after pressure from Congress and U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings' higher education commission to provide more consumer-friendly tools for students and families weighing their college choices. (Chicago Tribune, Sept. 28)

The University of Arizona will become the first state university to have a full-time director of gay and lesbian affairs. In what is hailed by local gay-rights groups as “groundbreaking,” Cathy Busha will join the university as director of the newly created Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Affairs Office. “This represents President (Robert) Shelton's strong commitment to creating a safe, welcoming and diverse campus,” Busha said. (Tuscan Citizen, Sept. 27)