Media Watch (Oct. 3-10, 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.

Robert Knapp Mooney, 85, a life regent of the University of Hartford who was elected to the Board of Regents in 1985, died last week in Florida. He was the former president and chairman of the board of Hartford Despatch, and director and vice chairman of Allied Van Lines. He also served as a trustee of the Hartford Art School and a board member of a number of Connecticut organizations, including the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Hartford Stage Company and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 9)

Oscar Robertson, one of the NBA’s greatest players, was the guest speaker on Oct. 8 at the Men's Basketball Tip-Off Social at Room 960 in the former G. Fox Building in Hartford. Hartford Hawks Men’s Basketball Coach Larry Harrison has been friends for more than 15 years with Robertson, who was like a mentor to Harrison when he was an assistant coach at Cincinnati. “This year I wanted to do something a little different,” Harrison said. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 9)

Darryl McMiller, assistant professor of political science in Hillyer College, was interviewed on WYBC-FM radio in New Haven about the recent passing of Constance Baker Motley, a prominent civil rights activist in Connecticut and the first African-American appointed to a federal judgeship. (WYBC-FM, Oct. 8)

Matthew Silver, visiting professor in Judaic studies at the university, was interviewed about the current state of affairs in Israel and the Middle East peace process on WTIC-AM’s “Morning Show” with Ray Dunaway and Diane Smith. Silver also had an opinion piece published in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger titled, “How I Started the Intifada and Ignored the Burning Barn Next Door.” (WTIC-AM, Oct. 6; Connecticut Jewish Ledger, Oct. 7)

Demetrios Giannaros, professor of economics in the Barney School of Business and a state representative from Farmington, took part in a meeting at the State Capitol about the cost of textbooks for college students. (Connecticut Post, Oct. 7)

Students participating in The Hartt School Theatre Division’s production of The Grapes of Wrath are watching elements of that drama being played out on the nightly news. Director Robert Davis said the plight of the victims of Hurricane Katrina is echoed by the characters in the play, who struggle to deal with the life-changing effects of the Dust Bowl, a natural disaster that occurred during the Great Depression. (Town Times, Oct. 6)

Renée Klapmeyer, who graduated from The Hartt School in 1999, was profiled in Broadway World as its “Gypsy of the Month.” Klapmeyer is currently featured in The Producers, and has also previously appeared on Broadway in 42nd Street. (Broadway World, October ’05 issue)

Aaron Sarwar, 18, who recently began his freshman year at the University of Hartford, where he is majoring in mechanical engineering, was interviewed extensively in a dining review column of his family’s restaurant, The Shish Kebab House of Afghanistan. The restaurant opened on Hartford’s Franklin Avenue in 1988 and is believed to be the only Afghan restaurant in the state. (Hartford Advocate, Oct. 6)

The “Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio: Community Architecture” exhibition at the Joseloff Gallery was highlighted in the “Education Briefs” section of the Hartford Courant. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 3)

A photo of a woman working on a giant puppet in the Equinox Madness tent behind the Hartford Art School was featured on the cover of the “Connecticut” section of the Hartford Courant. The woman pictured is Lynne Cubberly, the mother of Equinox Madness coordinator Anne Cubberly. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 4)

The Hartford Courant noted the return of the Miami String Quartet at The Hartt School. The sister of the Miami String Quartet’s cellist Keith Robinson joined the quartet in performing Schubert’s Quintet in C Major. The quartet also performed Mozart’s String Quartet in C Major and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 9 in E-flat, Op. 117. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 6)

George Lechner, reference assistant in Mortensen Library and an adjunct professor who teaches art history, is curating an exhibition titled “Cleve Gray: From Drawing to Painting” at the New Britain Museum of American Art. “Cleve never saw his drawings and watercolors as secondary to the production of his oil or acrylic paintings,” said Lechner. “These pieces, therefore, stand alone, and he much preferred them that way, as separate and autonomous artworks.” (Hartford Courant, Sept. 30)

Warren Goldstein, professor of history and chair of the department, wrote an opinion piece that was published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In his column, Goldstein argues that the recent success of private charities in raising money for hurricane relief allows the government to play a diminished role, thereby laying the groundwork for even greater disasters in the future. (The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Sept. 29)

“The story of the [MacDonald’s Cup] tournament was the University of Hartford’s Dustin Wetherup, who shot a pair of 67s (134) to win the individual event,” noted a story on the Yale University athletics web site. The Hawks men’s golf team finished in fifth place in the tournament. (YaleBulldogs.com, Oct. 10; Uconn Huskies.com, Oct. 10)

Jeff Calcaterra, Hartford Hawks head baseball coach, was the guest speaker at the Jaycee-Courant Baseball League annual awards dinner. Calcaterra talked about the great characteristics that young people learn by playing baseball. He described his “big vision” for the Hawks program and that he would be “actively recruiting” in the Hartford area. (Newington Town Crier, Oct. 6)

The Gulf Relief Rock ‘n’ Roll Golf Event to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims will be held on Oct. 17 at noon at Gillette Ridge GC in Bloomfield. Participants will be play the par-3 holes with four pros including University of Hartford graduate Dave Gunas, who competed in The Golf Channel reality show, Big Break III. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 10)

Other News

Two-year colleges such as Capital Community College in downtown Hartford give some of the state’s poorest citizens a chance to achieve the dream of going to college, said Capital’s new president, Calvin E. Woodland, at his inauguration in the college’s historic Centinel Hill Hall auditorium in the former G. Fox building. He spoke before an audience that included state and local government officials and representatives of colleges in the state. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 8)

The state Department of Public Health has ordered the University of Connecticut to hire a professional company to take over the management of the university’s water supply permanently and come up with a long-term plan. In the short term, the university is to give Connecticut Water Co. stronger day-to-day involvement in the operation and management of the university’s water supply. The order cites a history of deficiencies and violations in the way the university has operated its water system for the past four years. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 6)

Rabbi Reena Judd was appointed full-time rabbi at Quinnipiac University. The university has had a part-time rabbi for about 15 years, but recently decided to make the position full-time to better serve its Jewish students. Judd was ordained in 1994 and has served congregations in Mississippi, New York and Hamden and at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford. She also has been co-director of the Hillel Children’s School at Yale University. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 4)

Now, more than a month after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans’ universities—including Tulane, Loyola, the University of New Orleans and Xavier—are putting together ambitious plans to reopen by January. Officials are patching up battered campuses, finding housing for employees whose homes were destroyed, gauging how many students will return, and persuading top faculty not to jump ship. (Associated Press, Oct. 5, CNN.com, Oct. 5)

Several universities lay claim to Nobel laureates no matter how tangential the affiliation. The aura of success ‘is serious business’ in academia. The University of Chicago lays claim to an astonishing 78 Nobel laureates — the most of any institution in the United States and second in the world only to England's University of Cambridge. (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 10)

The College of William and Mary has named retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor its new chancellor, a largely advisory post that has been held by other notables in the past. Sandra Day O’Connor succeeds former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who was appointed in 2000. He announced his resignation this summer. The chancellor serves as an adviser to President Gene Nichol and an advocate for the school, and meets occasionally with students and faculty. (Washington Post, Oct. 5)

A University of Buffalo student is likely enduring razzing after campus police said he was found passed out in the president’s office over the weekend. Officials at the campus told The Buffalo News that a student headed home after a night of drinking got into the president’s suite early Saturday morning after the overnight cleaning crew left the door ajar. Campus police say the cleaner returned a few minutes later and found the student lying in the office’s reception area. (Associated Press, Oct. 4)