What about the New President?

Well, this is fun. Moving away from food now, what do you want out of the new President? Many different ideas about what the role of the President should be. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Michael Roth compared to Dougie B?

Do you hope that he is more accessible to the student body? Involves himself more in on-campus activities? Are you eager to take a class with him (or his wife)? Do you think he'll reconsider chalking? Do you think he'll cater more to the academic interests of the school? Will he be as good of a fundraiser as Dougie?

Let's go!

Glory! Glory! Glory!

Surfing through Lynn Cartwright-Punnett '07's photos from Senior Week, I spotted this delicious t-shirt, here modeled by the lovely Midge. Since I speak no Russian, people have told me it says (speculatively): "Glory! Glory! Glory! We are Released!"

Does it? Where are you, Russian speakers?

Commencement 2007: Relive the Magic...

If you haven't gotten your fill of the WEStuff that is Senior Week (or, like me, you've been at home for a week now rereading the Harry Potter series...I KNOW), you can now catch up on what you missed courtesy of the Wesleyan Connection. Unforgettable gems such as:

• Jim Lehrer P'85's Address
• Douggie B's Final Address
• Some other folks...
  

...and like two pictures of seniors graduating...

And Janice Podsada covered the day for the Hartford Courant.

Anyway, congratulations!

Meg Sinick's Interview with Douggie B.

Meg Sinick '07 has a cute little interview with Doug Bennet in Spring issue of WESU Magazine

MS: Your MP3 player gets fused to your head in a lightning storm and plays the same song on loop for the rest of your life. What would you hope the song would be?
DB: The Wesleyan Fight Song. Nothing else would do.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the magazine today to check out the semester's WESU scheduling.

Doug Bennet on WESU: Video!

Missed Doug Bennet doing the voice breaks on WESU for Storm Surge of Reverb? Rest easy: The Wesleyan Connection has got you covered.

The full show available on the network at \\EYEOFTHESUCK\music\radio shows

Douglas Bennet on WESU

Thursday at Midnight (or Friday, whichever way you look at it) Doug Bennet will be doing voice breaks for Storm Surge of Reverb, WESU's own exclusively surf rock show. Unfortunately, the show is past his bedtime, so he won't be live, but it's pretty absurd nonetheless.

To check it out, head over to www.wesufm.org or turn to 88.1 FM.

More Doug

Stephen Devoto is the man. This is a question on the Developmental Bio practice exam:
(I know some of you are going, EW! SCIENCE WORDS! But just read this. It's short.)

In another new species (in the administriensis family of worms), cells of the heart and the gut contain similar levels of processed doug1 mRNA, but the steady state level of the Doug1 protein is 10 times higher in the heart than in gut. Propose a control mechanism that could be responsible for this difference.

I find a mutant strain of this worm that has equal amounts of Doug1 protein in heart and gut. The mutant gene, which I name midge1, binds tightly to the doug1 mRNA. Propose a mechanism for how Midge1 controls Doug1.

175th Honorary Doctorate goes to...

From an email sent today from Doug Bennet:

Once again, I am writing to invite your nominations of distinguished
individuals to receive Wesleyan's honorary doctorate at the 175th
Commencement.  In addition, this ceremony will commemorate
Wesleyan's 175th anniversary.

Criteria for selection of honorees include intellectual distinction,
distinguished public service, and professional attainment and/or service
to the University.  I would appreciate your advice about individuals
whom you believe are making important contributions to global
diplomacy.

Hello. Obvi.

Wesleyan's Presidential Search

This past year, Wesleyan's President Doug Bennet announced to the student body that he will be resigning after this academic year. Say what you will, I think Douggie B. was a good guy.

That said, Wesleyan has launched its new Presidential Search:

Toward that end, the Wesleyan Board of Trustees is in the process of convening an 18-person search committee composed of trustees, faculty, staff and students to undertake a comprehensive search to identify and successfully recruit Doug Bennet's successor.

The Presidential Search Committee is interested in the views of all members of the Wesleyan community and this web site has been designed as a resource for anyone who wishes to share or seek information regarding our search.

Now, with that said, Wesleyan is an excellent institution with an excellent reputation which demands more excellence.

I ask you, dear readers, who is a more excellent candidate for Wesleyan's next president than 1981 Wesleyan graduate Bradley Whitford?

Mr. Whitford majored in English and Theater while at Wesleyan and earned his master's in theater from Juilliard. He won an Emmy for his role as Josh Lyman on the hit show The West Wing. He is the co-founder of a charity called Clothes off our Back.

His distinguished filmography includes:

• Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987)
• Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
• Presumed Innocent (1990)
• Young Guns II (1990)
• Scent of a Woman (1992)
• My Life (1993)
• Philadelphia (1993)
• RoboCop 3 (1993)
• Billy Madison (1995)
• My Fellow Americans (1996)
• Kate & Leopold (2001)
• The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (2005)
• Little Manhattan (2005)
• An American Crime (2007)

A few notable Bradley Whitford/Josh Lyman quotes from the West Wing:

"Senator, take your legislative agenda and shove it up your ass."

"I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land!"

In conclusion, Bradley Whitford '81 is my nomination for Wesleyan's next president.

The end.