Media Watch (Sept. 26 – Oct. 3, 2005)

"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.

Zina Davis, director of the Joseloff Gallery, was interviewed on WTIC-AM’s Morning Show with Ray Dunaway and Diane Smith on Tuesday, Sept. 27, about the significance of the “Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio: Community Architecture” exhibition that opened at the university’s Joseloff Gallery on Sept. 30. The exhibition, which runs through Nov. 6, was featured in the “Best Bets” listings of the Hartford Courant’s “Cal” section and in the “Onview” section of Preview Connecticut. (WTIC-AM, Sept. 27; Hartford Courant, Sept. 29; Preview Connecticut, October issue)

University of Hartford track team member Chris Spivey was quoted in a Christian Science Monitor article about the “Playbook for Life” program, put together by the NCAA and The Hartford Financial Services Company to help student-athletes prepare for their financial futures after college. Also quoted in the article was Nikki Thompson, a Hartford Hawks softball team member. (Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 3)

Students in assistant professor David Desplaces’ “Principles of Entrepreneurship” class will be working with about 10 businesses in East Granby this semester. The kick-off event for this partnership, in which the students will help the business owners by conducting needs assessments and developing action plans, was previewed in the Hartford Courant and covered by Fox 61. (Fox 61, Sept. 30; Hartford Courant, Sept. 29)

Darryl McMiller, an assistant professor of political science in Hillyer College, was interviewed by Fox 61 for his analysis of the political posturing going on in the upcoming race for governor of the state of Connecticut. (Fox 61, Sept. 28)

University President Walter Harrison took part in a panel discussion at Central Connecticut State University that was organized by Governor Jodi Rell. Rell called on the leadership of Connecticut’s colleges and universities to actively join forces with business and industry to prepare tomorrow’s workers for jobs in the “knowledge economy,” keeping the state’s competitive edge in rapidly changing global and national markets. (New Britain Herald, Sept. 28)

Elizabeth Ivey, provost emerita of the university and national president of the Association for Women in Science, was quoted in a Reuters news service story about the small number of women who have been awarded Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry in the 105-year history of the awards. “It is a male culture and they don’t think of nominating a woman,” she said, noting that it has been more than 40 years since a woman won in either of those categories. (Reuters news service, Sept. 29)

The lead item in the Hartford Courant’s “Education Briefs” column was a story about alumnus Kent McCray’s $100,000 donation to the university’s television studio and the dedication of the studio as the Kent McCray Television Studio. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 27)

Hartford Courant columnist Stan Simpson wrote about the dramatic achievements being made at Dwight Elementary School in Hartford, including a major turnaround in the mastery test results. Part of that gain was attributed to the cadre of young teachers the school has hired. Simpson highlighted Hartford-bred Stacey McCann (a University of Hartford alum who was featured in the Observer magazine), as “an effervescent go-getter who will keep the embers burning.” (Hartford Courant, Sept. 28)

In a listing of “Fall Art Exhibits” in the “Cal” section of the Hartford Courant, the “Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio: Community Architecture” exhibition was listed for Joseloff Gallery. In addition, the “Israel and Spain Archaeology and History” exhibition, presented by the Hartford Art School and Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies and opening in the Art School’s Silpe Gallery on Oct. 9, was listed, as was the “Latin America and the Holocaust” exhibition on loan from Museo de La Shoa, Buenos Aires, Argentina, that is going on display in the university’s Sherman Museum of Jewish Civilization, beginning Oct. 27. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 29)

The “Jazz Notes” column in the “Cal” section of the Hartford Courant noted that Ed Krech, owner of Integrity ‘n Music, was bringing live free jazz to his Wethersfield record shop on Oct. 1, as he was presenting a quartet — pianist Matt Warner, tenor saxophonist Matt Chasen, bassist Seth Little and drummer John Chamberlain— who are all undergraduate students at the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at The Hartt School. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 29)

In a weekly column that includes news about residents of the Farmington Valley, the Hartford Courant noted that Janell Carroll of Avon, an adjunct faculty member in the psychology department in the university’s College of Arts and Sciences, was honored with the Gordon Clark Ramsey Award for Creative Excellence at the university’s Faculty/Staff Kick-Off in late August. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 1)

Other News

Gilbert J. Maffeo has been named vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at Mitchell College. Maffeo was formerly chairman of the Department of Management Science at St. Joseph College in West Hartford. In the 1980s, he was associate director of summer programs and conferences at the University of Hartford. (The Day, New London, Sept. 30)

Fairfield Board of Education members have given their support to a $157 million plan to build an interdistrict pre-K to grade 8 science and technology magnet school and a host magnet high school in Bridgeport. Efforts would also be made to partner with Fairfield University, the University of Bridgeport, and Housatonic Community College. (Fairfield Minuteman, Sept. 30)

University of Connecticut President Philip E. Austin has pledged to restock 1,000 brown trout that were lost when a section of the Fenton River dried up in September and to reimburse the state Department of Environmental Protection for resources lost and staff time spent analyzing the fish kill and conditions in the river. Those costs should total about $6,000. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 30)

In a new report presented to the Board of Governors of Higher Education, increasing numbers of Connecticut high school graduates are staying close to home to go to college, easing the brain drain that worried educators and business leaders during the 1990s. Nearly six out of 10 of the state’s college-bound high school graduates chose public and private colleges in Connecticut last year. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 29)

University of Connecticut physicist William C. Stwalley, whose work is credited with laying the foundation for a promising branch of physics research, was awarded the Connecticut Medal of Science—the state’s top science award—by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. (Hartford Courant, Sept. 28)

Joel Henry Hinrichs III, a 21-year-old University of Oklahoma student with “emotional difficulties,” was identified as the person who apparently committed suicide near Oklahoma Memorial Stadium using an explosive attached to his body. More than 84,000 people were watching a football game between the Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas State, but no spectators were injured. (CNN, Oct. 30)

Erskine Bowles, the former chief of staff to President Clinton, is expected to become the next president of the University of North Carolina system. If approved, Bowles will start Jan. 1. He’ll earn a salary of $425,000, but intends to donate $125,000 a year to need-based student aid funds. Bowles would replace Molly Broad, who has led the 16-campus system since 1997. (CNN, Sept. 30)

Harvard University’s endowment has surged past the $25 billion mark, as it named Peter Nadosy, former president of Morgan Stanley Asset Management, interim head of Harvard Management Company, which has helped make the university the wealthiest in the world. Harvard said departing money manager Jack Meyer, earned a return of 19.2 percent for the university last year, helping boost the endowment to $25.9 billion. (CNN, Sept. 30)