As patches of campus regained electricity on Tuesday evening, 100 students gathered in the Exley Science Center lobby to discuss resources for staff whose homes remain without power.
When I drove to New York on Saturday morning with Argus photographer Andy Ribner ’14, videographer Reid Hildebrand ’15, and fellow reporter Pei Xiong Liu ’12, I couldn’t have guessed that I would be spending Saturday night in jail.
…over 200 University employees received news over the summer that they will be granted annual subsidies to help alleviate the financial burden. The subsidy will go into effect Jan. 1 and will be awarded to all employees earning $50,000 or less annually.
On Saturday, the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) announced that Zachary Malter ’13 won the WSA Presidential election for the 2011-2012 academic year with 659 votes.
Students crammed into the Usdan Café on Monday evening to listen to Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) presidential candidates Joe O’Donnell ’13, Melody Oliphant ’13 and Zachary Malter ’13 debate their qualifications for the position.
On Thursday, Concert Committee Members Sky Stallbaumver ’12 and Mickey Capper ’13 led an open forum for students to discuss the process of booking concerts on campus.
The administration is currently discussing potential changes to the structure of health insurance premium payments with faculty and staff. Many University employees, particularly members of Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153, voiced concerns after an Oct. 27 announcement that healthcare premiums would increase for employees.
On Thursday night, over 70 female students crowded into Shapiro 311, to express interest in a type of student organization with a very limited campus presence in recent years––a sorority.
On April 2, 49 students will have the opportunity to participate in the Wesleyan Student Assembly’s (WSA) first ever Saturday in the City program.
At the start of the spring semester, Bon Appétit administrators discontinued the Usdan Marketplace Halal food program, which had been running on a trial basis since Oct. 25, citing the program’s financial impracticality. The announcement frustrated many Muslim students, who can no longer purchase Halal meat under the meal plan.
At 6:30 a.m. on Friday morning, Enobong Etteh ’13 woke up suddenly to see an intruder standing in his bedroom in West College (Westco).
This spring, WESU is scheduled to broadcast Al Jazeera English (AJE), the English version of the Arabic-language news network headquartered in Doha, Qatar. The 60-minute broadcast has replaced the second hour of the Diane Rehm show.
Four laptops were stolen from room 405 in Exley Science Center last Tuesday when the Dynamic Earth class left the room for 15 minutes to conduct a scientific experiment. According to Grace Smith ’14, whose laptop was taken, the classroom door was left unlocked.
On Monday, President Roth released a summary of the Sexual Violence Task Force report, compiled by a group of students, faculty members, administrators, and representatives from Public Safety and the Middletown Police Department.
President Michael Roth announced on Monday afternoon that Partners in Health co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer will deliver the commencement address at the 179th Commencement on May 22.
Middletown Mayor Sebastian Guilano announced Monday that Kleen Energy and O&G industries will create a Commemorative Park to honor workers who were killed or injured in the Feb. 7 gas explosion at the Kleen Energy Plant in Middletown last year.
It was in anticipation of Wednesday’s storm that Public Safety (PSafe) issued a weather and safety advisory on the Wesleyan campus and Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano declared a state of emergency in Middletown.
On Jan. 7, Director of Financial Aid Jennifer Lawton stepped down from her position to accept the position of Director of Financial Aid at Hampshire College, closer to her home in Northampton, Massachusetts. Sean Martin has been named Acting Director in the interim period.
“Education in our country is the social service equivalent of Katrina,” proclaimed renowned education activist Geoffrey Canada to the assembled crowd in the Memorial Chapel on Friday evening. “Part of the challenge that we face in this nation is that we have to confront the fact that we have [created] systems that are designed essentially to fail kids.”
In the wake of recent United Student Labor Action Coalition (USLAC) organized protests, President Michael Roth said that next semester the administration will explore the possibility of decreasing health care insurance costs for University employees on the lower end of the salary scale.
Chants of “make the right choices, hear the worker’s voices!” erupted in the Usdan University Center at noon on Wednesday, as part of a rally organized by United Student Labor Action Coalition (USLAC).
On Oct. 27, the administration announced that effective Jan. 1, medical insurance premiums for faculty and staff are set to increase by 26.7 percent, and that after the University absorbs 12.2 percent of the increase, staff and faculty premiums will rise by 14.5 percent.
After nearly four months of negotiations, University Administrators and members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153 came to a contract agreement on Oct. 14, with the assistance of a federal mediator
At first glance, students walking past the Cardinal Conservatives’ bake sale in Usdan on Tuesday might not have thought there was anything unusual about their table, covered with rows of cookies and brownies.
According to Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) Endowment Committee Chair Andrew Huynh ‘11, the WSA’s endowment rose by 6.00 percent in the third quarter to a total balance of $223,588.
Recent negotiations between the union representing the 49 Physical Plant workers on campus and the University have been causing controversy. On Wednesday, a federal mediator facilitated contract negotiations between University administrators and the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153, a branch of the AFL-CIO.
The online directory, a little-known and oft-forgotten feature of the University website that allows students to search for contact information of staff, faculty, and other students, got a facelift earlier this week when Information Technology Services (ITS) launched an enhanced version, available through the University homepage.
Starting this fall, students will be able to rent many of their textbooks from Broad Street Books, rather than purchase them. According to Bookstore Manager Nancy Healy, rental prices are usually 50 to 55 percent less than purchase prices.
Stories From the Wesleyan Community and Around Middletown
n two separate but likely connected incidents on Wednesday evening, [two] students were confronted by a man who, after exiting a running car filled with at least three or four individuals, proceeded to shove the students as they were walking on campus.
Last week, members of the WSA and administration began discussing the creation of an open container policy that would determine whether students who are over 21 are permitted to consume alcohol in public areas on campus.
On the first evening of Spring Break, Miles Bukiet ’11 was enjoying a birthday dinner with his friends and family in their Upper West Side apartment. Everyone was glad to see him back from school, and he would have loved to relax with them into the night.
According to the University Events Calendar, Usdan University Center vendor Randy “The Plant Guy” Skolnick “brings all things green to Usdan.”
The WSA passed a set of by-laws on Sunday night that will govern the newly-created, student-financed Green Fund’s implementation when it goes into effect next fall.
The Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) has implemented the first phase of changes to The Ride service, including the permanent addition of an extra van on the three of the busiest nights of the week and stricter guidelines for adhering to scheduled routes.
Due to complications encountered while calculating the University’s greenhouse gas emissions for the Action Plan component of the President’s Climate Commitment, the Sustainability Advisory Group for Environmental Stewardship (SAGES) has received a one-time extension for submitting the University’s Action Plan.
In response to student criticism of The Ride, the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) recently began working with Public Safety (PSafe) to discuss redrawing the routes, providing contact information for transportation services to prevent conflict between students and drivers, and more clearly designating stops and schedules.
Due to a change to mandatory 10-digit dialing that was implemented across the state on Saturday, students were unable to reach The Ride’s phone line this weekend. The lack of service prompted some students to voice their concerns about The Ride’s role on campus and issues of student safety.
Last spring, in response to the University’s budget crisis, the Administration implemented the Voluntary Retirement Program, a plan to encourage early retirement of senior staff by offering Voluntary Separation Packages. Eight employees accepted, while an undisclosed number lost their jobs as a result of involuntary layoffs.
Wesleyan may soon join the ranks of a growing number of universities that have begun charging students an optional $15 per-semester “Green” fee to fund sustainability initiatives on campus.
In response to the administration’s identification of financial aid as a potential area for budget reductions to mitigate the University’s $5 million budget deficit for next year, the Wesleyan Student Assembly passed a resolution on Sunday night in opposition to any reduction or moderation of the financial aid budget.
Students accustomed to Exley Science Center’s annual transformation into a one-day Sexual Health Exposition may be disappointed to learn that the upcoming February event will be taking place in a smaller, less centralized capacity.
The Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA)’s student-run endowment has performed unusually well, surpassing the S&P 500, an indicator of the health of the stock market, by 25.5 percent since October 2008.