Month: September 2009

Your Local/Cell Phone Number

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thumbnailCA32D9H2IMPORTANT!

For your safety and in the case of an emergency, it is very important that Wesleyan University have a local phone number on file for you—whether that be a landline through WesTel or your own cell phone number.  If you have not already done so, please take a moment to submit your phone number through your student portfolio:  Click the “Phone/Nondisclosure” link in the “Enrollment Status” bucket under Campus Life in the third column and follow the directions.   You will have an Enrollment Hold and will not be fully enrolled in the University until you have done this.   Thank-you!

Anna van der Burg, Registrar

FYM Seminars and Discussion Groups Today!

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Be a part of the solution and learn more about water issues at the FYM Feet to the Fire faculty seminars this afternoon from 4-5:30 p.m. 

f2fh20The Water Crisis in the American West – Prof. Peter Patton, E&ES, Shanklin 107

Oceans, Boats, and Human History – Prof. Vijay Pinch, HIST, PAC002

Water, Water Everywhere, Nor Not a Drop to Drink – Prof. Krishna Winston, GRST, and Prof. Brian Steward, PHYS,   Woodhead Lounge in Exley Science Center

On the Waterfront – Prof. Richard Adelstein, ECON, PAC001

FYM Common Reading discussion groups with faculty, staff and peer advisors follow after dinner from 7-8:30 p.m. to deal with the resource challenges.  Be a part of the solution!

Another FYI course

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The FYI course, ANTH165-01, All Our Relations? Kin, Kinship, and the Politics of Knowledge was mistakenly listed as carrying 0 credits. The error has been corrected (it’s a normal, 1-credit course), but you may have passed it over as a result.   If you are interested in Anthropology, check it out.  The course is taught by Professor Gillian Goslinga, Tu & Th 9-10:20 a.m., Fisk 116.

New Courses–an FYI and a Spanish

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As you think about your course schedule for today’s meeting with your faculty advisor, check out the blog posting on the side bar, “Creating Your Course Schedule,” and consider the new course described below.

COMP 134, Human and Machine Inference, is a freshman year initiative (FYI) course taught by Professor Eric thumbnailCA0H113DAaron on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:40 – 4:00 p.m. in Exley Science Center 137.  Enrollment is limited to 20 first year students.

This course will explore how people and computers perform inference–the process of reaching conclusions based on premises–with investigation of computational, philosophical, and psychological perspectives. Discussions of puzzles and brainteasers will help expose and illuminate intricacies of inference.   Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM MATH

Spanish for Heritage Speakers SPAN 203 FALL 2009

thumbnailCA7SHKPIStudents who take this course must:   1) Speak Spanish as language of heritage, but have a limited ability (and/or confidence) in their language skills in Spanish; and 2) have placed into SPAN112 or above.

Emphasis is placed on the following: development of linguistic strategies that advance students’ written and oral expression beyond the colloquial level; grammatical and orthographic norms of Spanish; critical reading (reading for understanding and analyzing what is read); and expansion of vocabulary. The linguistic work will be conducted through course materials that explore, through a variety of literary and nonliterary texts, the use of Spanish in the United States.

This is a POI course not offered every year.  Professor Ana Pérez-Gironés, MWF 11:00-11:50 a.m. in FISK414.

H1N1 Flu Update

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swineflu-cp-RTXEI3DYou have probably been reading about the continued potential for novel H1N1 influenza (swine flu) outbreaks in the U.S., especially in the school setting. We are continuing to monitor the situation and advise that you do also. More detailed information about H1N1 is available at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/, and http://www.ct.gov/ctfluwatch. Wesleyan has a plan which is in action and which we continue to refine in close consultation with local, state and national health officials and agencies.

Happily, H1N1 is mostly causing mild illness thus far. Our goals are to limit both the number of cases on campus and the severity of the cases we have. With that in mind, there are several important concepts we wish to communicate to students before their arrival on campus this year.

  1. If you are sick with a flu-like illness, please delay your return to campus until you have recovered. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that individuals with influenza-like illness remain at home and away from other people until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100° F [37.8° C] or greater), or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications. Influenza-like illness is defined as a fever plus cough and/or sore throat. Symptoms of the flu may include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people with influenza will not have fever. Absence of fever does not mean absence of infection. If in doubt, call your health care provider to discuss your symptoms. Students are encouraged to call the Davison Health Center (860) 685-2470.If you do need to delay your return, please contact your Class Dean and Davis Smith, Medical Director, Davison Health Center pdsmith@wesleyan.edu. Once you have recovered, we encourage you free to call the Davison Health Center (860) 685-2470 to speak with a Nurse and review that you are well enough to return to campus.
  2. Discuss with your family a plan of action in the event you contract H1N1. Because self-isolation is such a key component of infection control with a pandemic, we highly encourage those able to do so to leave campus for a few days if they become develop a flu-like illness as defined above. We have contingency plans for sick students not able to leave campus.
  3. Determine whether you are at high risk of complications from H1N1 infection. Pregnancy and other previously recognized high risk medical conditions from seasonal influenza appear to be associated with increased risk of complications from this novel H1N1. These underlying conditions include asthma, diabetes, suppressed immune systems, heart disease, kidney disease, and neurocognitive and neuromuscular disorders. Speak with your health care provider and determine whether or not you qualify as high risk of complications from H1N1 infection.
  4. Have on hand supplies to take care of yourself or others in the event of illness. See: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance_homecare.htm.
  5. Stay informed. We are preparing detailed information about H1N1 and Wesleyan’s response to this pandemic. These will be posted to [website] in the next few days and kept updated. We plan early distribution of seasonal influenza vaccine and hope to encourage wide uptake. Once an H1N1 vaccine becomes available, we will notify students of distribution plans. We stand ready to help Wesleyan students prepare for, prevent, manage and recover from H1N1 and any other health problem that may occur while they are on campus.

If you have additional questions, please contact:
Davis Smith, Medical Director, Davison Health Center
Joyce Walter, Director, Davison Health Center