Brian Izzo | The Informer

On Monday, Oct. 7, President Walter Harrison revealed exclusive news about the planning stages of a major renovation to campus.

A preliminary plan has been made to completely renovate University Commons.

It would include brand new kitchen appliances and a complete remodeling of the interior of the building.

The plan is in its earliest stage – this was discussed for the first time last Thursday, Oct. 3.

As of now, the plan is to open up the space in the upstairs so that the only things behind walls are the dishwashers.

Stoves, ovens and other appliances would be out in the open for the students to see.

This has already gathered debate about whether students will be more or less inclined to eat the food prepared at Commons if they see exactly how it is cooked.

Harrison defends the idea, stating that making Commons look more modern might attract more prospective students.

Another aspect of this plan is that there would be no divide between cooking areas and seating areas.

Food stations would be scattered at all different locations of the upstairs.

Students beginning to hear about this idea are wondering if the lines for the food would disrupt those sitting down already eating.

The downstairs floor of Commons would also be remodeled.

Though Hawk’s Nest was recently remodeled, Harrison expresses concern about recent complaints of long lines and not enough space in the dining area.

In total, the renovation would cost the university about $10 million dollars.

Harrison insists the money would not come from students’ tuition but from a bank loan.

According to Harrison, the cooking and cleaning appliances in Commons are in need of replacement as soon as possible, and this would cost a few million dollars anyway.

“So we might as well go all out and complete the project all at once,” he said.

“There is no need to wait until we are the only school with a dilapidated dining hall if we can be proactive instead.”

Harrison also disclosed that the renovation is projected to take five months to complete.

Since one summer is not long enough to complete the project in its entirety, it would extend two months into the school year.

The solution to this? “We would put up a tent where food would be served,” said Harrison.

He did not say where this tent would be located or if it is included in the $10 million cost of the project.

Several students have expressed opinions that it might be more efficient to convert the Gengras Student Union Cafeteria into a buffet-style similar to Commons for the two months that Commons would be inactive.

Harrison also expressed interest in changing the meal plans to make them less complicated and more accommodating.

Many students have been getting increasingly frustrated with the strict rules connected with each meal plan.

Some students complain that they should be able to get a meal at any time of the day, instead of having specific time slots where only one meal is allowed.

The lunchtime meal-swipe seems to be the most controversial; only being able to use one meal between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. is very restrictive and not at all conducive to students’ class schedules.

Others argue that five guest meals per semester is not enough for each student and propose bumping the number up to ten.

Still others believe that the weekly schedule of the meal plans is extremely restrictive and not at all cost-efficient. Such students recommend having a system in which unused meals carry over into the next week, and accumulated unused meals could even carry over into the next semester.

One student mentioned that at his sister’s school, meals carry over every semester and every year.

“She accumulated so many unused meals from freshman and sophomore year that she didn’t even have to buy a meal plan her junior year.”

Financially, it makes sense. Students would only pay for the food they actually eat, rather than how much the meal plan dictates they eat. Another option would be for students to pay the price for the meal plan but be reimbursed at the end of the semester or year in money, rather than meals, for those that they did not use.

Harrison seemed receptive to students’ complaints about the meal plans. He also mentioned that an added bonus to the renovation to University Commons is that there would be high consideration to make the primary dining hall open later.

This would allow students to receive an all-you-can-eat meal from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

As of now, the only dining options at this time are Hawk’s Nest, the Market Deli and Taco Bell Express. Extending Commons’ hours would improve the flexibility of the meal plan and students’ overall satisfaction with the dining aspect of campus life.

Harrison claims he is also eager to hear student opinion about the Commons renovation.

Perhaps a survey will be sent out to students, or an open town hall meeting will be held for the University of Hartford community.

If any students have input on the project, they can contact President Harrison directly.

Elizabeth Kramer | The Informer

“In May 2007, 140 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to defund the Iraq war. In September, Congress voted to increase the debt limit. Imagine if Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats had threatened to breach the debt ceiling unless Republicans agreed to defund the war.”

This was a reader’s response to an article in The Washington Post. The reader also points out that in 2007, approval of the Iraq war was polled at 33 percent in favor and 64 percent against.

Currently, 38 percent of Americans are in favor of Obamacare while 52 percent are opposed to it, according to Harry J. Enten of The Guardian.

A higher approval rate and much lower opposition rate than that of the Iraq war, and yet the debate over Obamacare has caused a government shutdown while the Iraq war continued for four years after the motion to defund it.

There is a clear disparity between the public’s views and Congress’s actions, but there is also a distinct disparity between what we think we know and what we actually know. Enten shows through polling evidence over several years that more Americans oppose Obamacare than oppose the Affordable Care Act (ACA), even though they are just different names for the same thing.

In essence, many Americans support the provisions of the health care reform, but do not like that it is mandated of all people. Either that, or they don’t like it when Obama’s name is attached to it.

Enten proves that the majority of Americans approve of what the ACA would do: provide tax credits to small businesses to buy insurance, create insurance exchanges, give rebates to customers of insurance companies that spend too much on administrative costs and mandate employers to provide insurance for their employees.

But because only about 20 percent of Americans understand that this is what Obamacare would do, many more oppose the bill because of what they have heard from word of mouth. Three of the numerous rumors are that the ACA includes undocumented immigrant insurance, “death panels” and cuts to Medicare.

None of these are true.

And what is the number one complaint people have of the ACA? That it is mandatory.

Have we become so selfish and arrogant that we can’t stand the thought of letting the government control one aspect of our lives in order to better the lives of millions of people less fortunate than ourselves?

For goodness sake, this law helps people. It expands Medicaid because poor people need it. It increases Medicare tax because the Baby Boomers need it. It mandates employers and individuals to participate because employees and individuals need it.

We all need health care. This is a way to do it.

But no. Republicans can’t stand the idea of handing over the responsibilities of their precious corporations to the government. And they sure as hell can’t stand the idea of increasing taxes because, by golly, their millionaire buddies would have to cough up a few more of their precious Benjamin Franklins!

Or, they simply can’t fathom approving a reform bill proposed by a Democrat.

Now, I know Republicans aren’t the only ones “opposed” to Obamacare, and I certainly do not want to reinforce the extraordinary polarization apparent already in Washington D.C. What I’m saying is that most of the people who are opposed to bill, no matter what party they are in, are opposed to the ACA for the wrong reasons.

But we have to put things into perspective here. We are preventing millions of people from receiving their paychecks because the Republican majority in the House of Representatives does not want to fund health care reform.

And just as it is impossible to think of Obamacare without thinking of the accusations of it being a socialist scheme, in a couple of years it will be impossible to think of the government shutdown of 2013 without thinking of selfish Republicans causing further damage to the nation than the ACA probably ever would.

The bullying seminar this past Saturday featured Connecticut State Consultant Jo Ann Freiberg and national bullying prevention speaker, David Long.

Yet the crowd of twenty students and twenty faculty members failed to fill Konover Great Room. One student who attended, Dana Earle, said she was appalled at the low attendance.

About the event, Earle stated, “It was really tragic to be honest. Bullying is a pertinent issue – over four thousand suicides per year are a result of bullying.”

Freiberg noted in her speech that Connecticut is the only state with laws set in stone about bullying.

In most places, when a student is sent to the principal’s office for bullying a peer, the principal reprimands the student and sends him or her back to class.

In Connecticut, on the other hand, bullies often get suspended from school.

Freiberg acknowledged that while this is a substantial achievement for the state, Connecticut has a long way to go before bullying is reduced dramatically.

Both speakers mentioned that emotional skills should be taught in schools, especially in elementary schools. Most schools only focus on Mathematics and English in order to prepare students for standardized testing.

If emotional skills were added the core curriculum, students would be more capable of dealing with bullying properly. It could improve students’ ability to avoid bullies, peer pressure and intimidation, or seek the right help once bullied.

It could also prevent bullying from arising in the first place because the bullies would understand the implications of their actions – on both the victim and themselves.

During the question-and-answer portion of the event, one woman in the audience asked a question that started uproar in the crowd.

From working in a school system herself, she has realized that a lot of psychologists are doing a lot of testing on bullied students with emotional needs rather than connecting with them and trying to help. “Who cares about defining the problem, just talk to the kid and try to help him.”

The audience went wild in response. The students and faculty members present agreed that psychologists should prioritize helping students rather than trying to categorize their situation.

Earle asked the speakers, “What about the people who turn a cold shoulder? How do you tell students to see the factors or signs of someone who has been bullied and needs help?”

The answer to her question was education. Freiberg and Long both believe that education of bullying prevention and intervention needs to be improved all over the nation if we hope to see a reduction in the number of tragedies that result from bullying.

(From left to right) Former Conn. Governor M. Jodi Rell, current Conn. House Representatives John Hampton, Brandon McGee, Lezlye Zupkus, and Conn. State Senator Art Linares visited the University of Hartford on September 30, 2013. Colleen McLoughlin | The Informer

Before the panel began, the atmosphere was very casual. Connecticut State Senator Art Linares and Representatives were introducing themselves to the audience members.

Dean Joseph Voelker, Professor Jilda Aliotta and Professor Leslie Smith attended the event, among other administrators and faculty members. About thirty students gathered in Wilde Auditorium for the lecture as well.

Most honorable was to have former Governor M. Jodi Rell in attendance, as well as her son Michael Rell.

Governor Rell spoke first. She told the audience that when people ask her, “Would you do it all over again?” she says, “Yes, I just wish I knew what I knew now… Things are not as easy as you think they are going to be.”

She said that when she first walked into the Capitol building, it suddenly dawned on her – “I just got sworn in as a state representative … now what do I do?”

Moderator Marilyn Rossetti, former member of the Hartford City Council, asked the four legislators how they came to run for legislature. Did they always know they wanted to pursue a career in politics?

John Hampton answered yes immediately. He was listening to Watergate debates as a young kid.

Brandon McGee said he had always wanted to be the first African-American president but “clearly Obama beat me to the punch.” He was always interested in improving the quality of education because he grew up in a poverty-stricken area and wanted to represent his community at the legislative table.

Lezlye Zupkus’s family would talk about local issues at the dinner table as she was growing up, but she never thought she would be a legislator. However, her friends had been telling her to run since 2006. The timing wasn’t right until last year, she said.

Art Linares ran for class president in middle school because the water fountains didn’t taste good. He enjoyed that experience but did not consider a serious career in politics until he had an internship with Marco Rubio. That inspired him to get involved in order to pass down a better life to the next generation, just as his grandfather fled Cuba during Bay of Pigs and came to America to pass down a better life for his kids.

Rossetti then asked the legislators what surprises or disappointments they encountered in their first year in office.

Hampton said he thought he was entering the legislature prepared, but some days he felt like a kid who had too much cake and he just had to sit down and take a minute to breathe. “My head is still spinning … in a good way.”

McGee acknowledged that “you’re getting paid part time, so you usually need to work a second job. And when you have a new wife, you need new money,” he said as he smiled at his wife in the front row. Mcgee’s biggest surprise came during his campaign. He got a phone call 12 hours after the first election saying he was 12 votes behind. He took it to court because the numbers weren’t adding up (turns out there were dead people voting). The court was unable to solve the dispute, so they needed to hold a whole new election.

Linares also was most surprised during the election process. After losing his primary by two votes, the winner called him to withdraw himself from the race and nominate Linares to take his place. Then Linares found out his opponent from the opposite party was his eighth grade history teacher. He was also the one who advised Linares in his student government position and had been his neighbor.

Zupkus was surprised by the time commitment, but she learned how to be at two places at one time. She is in the process of trying to figure out how to be in three places at once.

McGee said he wouldn’t change anything in his campaign. But he stresses that traditional ways of communication are key in elections because although it would be easier to just update a Facebook account and tweet to go out to the polls, very few voters are at an age where they would respond to that. Most voters are older.

Rossetti asked them what their biggest successes of their first term were.

Hampton prides himself in returning case calls promptly and personally. When citizens express their surprise at this, he responds with, “Of course I called you back, I work for you.”

Linares agreed that a returned phone call can go a long way. He is most proud of the number of environmental bills he has been able to pass.

McGee’s biggest accomplishment was the money he brought back to his district. He held five town hall meetings to learn more about what the people wanted, and since it was a recently redrawn district, they had a lot to do. “You can’t spend all your time with the community, and you can’t spend all your time at the capitol. Balancing the two was hard.”

Zupkus agreed that including the community is vital. “It’s not the real word up there [at the capitol].” She says that if she can feel good about what she voted for, be a role model for her children and represent the majority of her constituents all at the same time, she knows she has contributed to good legislation.

Rossetti asked the legislators to provide advice for anyone in the audience considering running for office in the future.

Hampton’s advice is to take advantage of internships. “Never think government is something that other people do. Get involved. I would love to see more UHart faces at the capitol. Show up at campaigns or events.”

Linares concurred, encouraging the students to take internships in Hartford or in Washington D.C. and find out how the legislature really works.

“And when campaigning, don’t buy bumper stickers – go door-knocking. So many people told me they voted for me because I came to their door. Not what I stood for, but because they liked me,” said Hampton.

Linares agreed in the significance of door-knocking as well. He said, “In order to cut through all the TV and newspaper ads, you have to contact every resident individually and tell them who you are and ask what they want to see done.”

Linares also advised students to “find a mentor and take them out to lunch or coffee once a month.”

He shared with the audience that Dick Cheney said once, “If you want to run for office, or if you want to be an elected official, you have to get out of DC and put your name on a ballot.”

In other words, get involved on a local level.

This was McGee’s advice as well. “Don’t think, ‘I didn’t work for the governor so it’s not important.’ Every stage is important. And don’t listen to people. People told me I was too young to run, but here I am.”

Zupkus said that relationships are important. She takes her job seriously because she is changing people’s lives – “every vote, every decision affects all of us, every day of our lives.”

She also advises listening to people. “Sometimes you take a call and don’t even answer a question – all you do is listen and people love you.”

Governor Rell asked the legislators how they separate how they personally feel about a specific piece of legislation versus what their constituents want. She noted that this was a task she found quite difficult during her term as governor of Connecticut.

Zupkus used the gun bill to give her answer. 98 percent of her constituents felt the same way as she did, so that made her feel comfortable with going with her gut. “I woke up one morning and felt at peace with my decision because I knew I could look a Newtown mother in the eye and tell her why I voted the way I did.”

One student asked that since they put so much emphasis on door-knocking, why was there a need for such high expenditures on campaigning.

Zupkus responded that because her opponent had held the position for 18 years, she needed to spend quite a bit of money on name recognition. Hampton shared that when he ran for the position in 1998, he had raised 6,000 dollars and his opponent had spent 40,000 on his campaign.

Rell responded to the question as well, stating that she had raised 4 million dollars for her campaign to be governor in 2004. How hard it was to do so is what made her support the campaign finance reform bill, which ensures no one candidate has advantage over another because of campaign finance.

Another student asked how the legislators negotiate with members of the opposite party. Hampton said he introduces himself to a new member of the opposite party every day in order to understand their side of an issue.

Linares, being 24-years-old, understands that our generation have grown up hearing about a very polarized federal government so it seems like Republicans and Democrats can never get along, but that is not the case in the Conn. State Legislature.

McGee’s answer to the question? Yes, Republicans and Democrats will realize they have things in common if they just talk to one another. But sometimes, coffee helps.

The legislators received University of Hartford mugs for participating in the event. All four of them and Governor Rell stayed well after the discussion was over in order to network with the students who attended.

University of Hartford was recently listed fifth in the 25 Most Literary Colleges in America by the website Flavorwire.

UHa made it onto this list along with many prestigious institutions including Princeton, Harvard, Columbia and New York University.

The website states, “While it’s neighbors in New York and Massachusetts might carry more name recognition, this school that was originally founded by a group of the city’s upper class citizens during the Gilded Age, including Olivia Langdon Clemens (Mark Twain’s wife) and Harriet Beecher Stowe.”

The Mark Twain house on Farmington Avenue and the Harriet Beecher Stowe house on Forest Street are each only a ten-minute drive from campus. Literature is plenty accessible to the UHa community.

English Department Chair Dr. Robert A. Logan expressed his delight in being on this list.

“It was especially gratifying to see that the world outside the university is taking note of what we have known for years to be true.”

He noted that the English Department continuously “embraces diversity in the literatures that it teaches and in the approaches it employs.”

A big part of the English Department’s success and recognition comes from its faculty members. Logan points out that the English Department faculty members “are very much aware of the diversity of global literatures and offer courses in them, and we are alert to varied, innovative approaches to the teaching of these literatures.”

For example, English professor Sarah Senk was recently awarded an Award for Innovations in Teaching and Learning for what she calls the “Critical Mosaic Assignment” in which students engage with the class readings by marking them up with commentary and notes on Google Drive. By collaboratively creating this new document, students were able to engage with both the reading and their classmates’ ideas in more depth.

Logan also noted that the English Department has “exceptionally strong, renowned scholars who publish important literary criticism and creative writing to support our diverse interests.”

A perfect example of the dedication and personal achievement of the English faculty members is Professor Leslie Johnson. She has been teaching English in Hillyer College for eight years now.

In the meantime she has published a remarkable amount of work in literary magazines and academic journals. Furthermore, she founded the University of Hartford’s Writing Lab, where she dedicates her time to help students one-on-one with their essays for multiple courses.

Flavorwire also noted that Hartford “has given the Edward Lewis Wallant Award out to authors like Nicole Krauss and Dara Horn.” The Wallant Award, presented each year by the University’s Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, is one of the oldest and most prestigious Jewish literary awards in the United States.

The Class of 2017 is a unique group of individuals. In total, 27 countries are represented by these first-year students. The foreign countries that sent the most students to UHa this year are Saudi Arabia, China, Korea and Kuwait, but there are also freshmen from Denmark, Vietnam and Nigeria.

“We’re a diverse place, made up of many different people,” stated President Walter Harrison. “We come to this place from many different backgrounds.”

Within the United States, there are several students from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. A remarkable 35 states are represented in this class, including Hawaii. As usual, most of them are from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, but an extraordinary 21 students came from California.

When asked why he came here, one freshman from California said his high school academic advisor recommended the University of Hartford.

Typically most students who come to UHa from a long distance are enrolled in the Hartt School. This year, however, less than 50 percent of the incoming class are entering the Hartt School.

The most popular majors among the Class of 2017 are biology, engineering, architecture, physical therapy and psychology.

Matching the university’s gender ratio as a whole, the incoming class is evenly split between males and females. About 50.7 percent of the freshmen are males.

Among the 1,500 new students are 35 Hartford Scholars. These are Hartford residents who graduated from Hartford public high schools and received half-tuition scholarships to the University of Hartford.

“We have students from all over the world and just around the corner,” remarked Richard Zeiser, Dean of Admissions.

After their convocation on Saturday, Aug. 31, the freshmen were led to the GSU lawn to form an “H” to signify the beginning of their college careers at the University of Hartford. President Harrison said at Convocation that the T-shirts the first-years wore on Saturday symbolized their common bond as members of the Hartford community.

Harrison noted, “Our success comes from learning to recognize and celebrate our differences and embracing what makes us similar – it begins with the University of Hartford and ends with our common humanity.”

The Facilities crew at the University of Hartford has been hard at work this summer making improvements to the campus.

Chris Dupuis, Senior Project Manager, provided information about all of the projects that were completed over the summer.\A lot of improvements were made to the university’s oldest residence halls, Complexes A, B, C and D. The outdated entranceways were “old, ugly, and the aging locking mechanisms required frequent repairs. The replacement ‘storefronts’ provide a more aesthetically pleasing entrance with a better functioning lock and card reader system,” says Dupuis.

“We also hope to replace the storefronts at E and F Complexes in the future,” the Senior Project Manager disclosed.

The lobbies of these four complexes were also given facelifts, including new paint, lighting upgrades, floor tiles repairs and more.

A staircase leading from B Complex to Hawks Nest and Alumni Plaza is now in place. Though the ramp connecting these two areas is gone, the Complexes are accessible from the academic side by the elevator in Commons.

A and B Complex courtyards were renovated this summer as well. Dupuis stated, “Both areas had broken sidewalks, dying trees and large areas of unattractive mulch.” He also mentioned that the 45-year-old water mains in the courtyards had been rupturing recently, requiring large excavations. Renovations this summer included new water mains underground, new sidewalks and new grassed areas.

Dupuis stated that the A and B Complex courtyard renovations were the last of a “multi-year phased approach that started about six years ago” renovating all the Complex courtyards and the area outside of Commons.

Another major facilities project this summer was Konover Great Room. The room frequently used for campus events has been given new lighting, flooring, roof, entrance door, and has been newly painted.

Other renovations include the kitchen of the 1877 Club, which has been supplied with new appliances and a new elevator; Taub Hall in the Hartford Art School which is now to accommodate the Art History Department; and bathrooms on the first and third floors of Hillyer Hall.

Road repairs were completed near B-Lot and the Sports Center, and several areas around campus were paved for the first time, such as the path next to Lincoln Theater.

The projects Facilities completed last spring have been extremely successful in solving the problems they were built to fix. The bridge near Public Safety has succeeded in preventing flooding of university parking lots.

The waterfall between Harry Jack Gray Center and the Hartt School has solved the problems of drainage, trash accumulation and difficulty growing plants. It no longer requires frequent maintenance by Facilities, and it improves the look of the area at the same time.

“They wanted to take an area that was a problem, and turn it into a real benefit for the institution,” said Norman Young, Associate Vice President for Facilities Planning and Management.

The scenic waterfall was a low cost, creative solution to the problem thought of by the Grounds crew. Building the waterfall was “completed entirely by Facilities staff and paid for within the Facilities budget,” notes Dupuis.

Dupuis said that Facilities will wait to complete any more significant projects until there is another break in the academic calendar, but until then the crew will continue to make small improvements to campus.

The UHa community was thrilled that they could drive and walk over the new bridge when it was structurally completed in January. This made it much easier to navigate from the residential side of campus to the academic side, and vice versa.

There are even more improvements in progress now, including the installation of sidewalks, railings, lighting, and plants.

Many are wondering why these installments could not be stalled until the students leave campus. Chris Dupuis, Senior Project Manager of the bridge construction and landscaping, said that the university wants these aesthetic enhancements to be completed in time for Commencement on May 19.

Moreover, the work crew could not install the sidewalks “until the bridge, roadway, curbing and guardrails were installed,” Dupuis disclosed.

“By the time these components were installed, the weather was too cold to install the sidewalk sections without installing a lot of additional ‘winter protection’ measures to ensure that the sidewalk materials wouldn’t freeze and be damaged during the installation and curing process,” said Dupuis.

Construction workers wanted to make sure the permanent sidewalks would be “of the best quality and durability” and the only way to ensure that was to wait until the spring.

Dupuis gave even more detail as to why the bridge needed to replace the dam in the first place. The dam, built circa 1960, “had exceeded its useful lifespan” and so the bridge was constructed for “environmental, functional and safety benefits,” said Dupuis.

In 2010, a report was issued by the Park River Watershed Revitalization Initiative and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Removing the dam on campus was one of eleven recommendations to restore this section of the North Branch of the Park River Watershed.

Most importantly, to most members of the UHa community is that “the dam removal will significantly improve the flooding situation on campus,” said Dupuis.

He also stated, “removal of the old dam will provide greatly improved fish passage and in-stream habitat…by opening up an additional four miles of barrier-free waterways.”

Furthermore, the new bridge is made of concrete, which demands less maintenance than constructing the bridge out of steel or reinstalling a dam.

Restoring the Park River Watershed to its natural river bed clearly benefits both the environment and the UHa community. The new bridge is safer and more stable, and soon to be much more aesthetically pleasing as well.

The UHa community is eager to see the bridge reach full completion, and we thank the construction workers who have been working hard to have the project completed by Commencement weekend.

Last Thursday, April 25, President Walter Harrison and Provost Sharon L. Vasquez walked in on Joshua Russell’s class holding red and white balloons.

This has become the traditional way for the University of Hartford administrators to announce the winner of the 2013 Belle K. Ribicoff Junior Faculty Prize.

The prize, which includes a $10,000 award, was established in 2009 by supporter and life-long regent of UHA, Belle K. Ribicoff. For the past five years it has been annually awarded to a faculty member who is on a tenure track but not yet tenured.

Russell, assistant professor of music education, is the first prize-winner from the Hartt School.

Who chose Russell?

President Harrison, Provost Vasquez and student Tara Reuter selected the winner of the prize this year.

Why Russell?

No one was more deserving than Russell to receive this award. Russell has completed an extraordinary amount of research and published multiple works at such an early point in his career.

He has presented his scholarship not only across the nation but across the world.

His scholarship ranges from researching alternate methods of string music instruction to issues that influence the success of music education undergraduates.

His articles have been published in some of the most prestigious journals in music education, and he has been appointed to the editorial review boards of the String Research Journal and the Journal of Research in Music Education.

Due to his extraordinary research at such a young age, Russell became the first-ever recipient of the American String Teachers Association’s Emergent String Researcher Award in 2012.

“This amount of recognition by a junior faculty member is extraordinary,” wrote Hartt School Associate Dean T. Clark Saunders.

Hartt students have had the incredible opportunity to learn from his immense knowledge and expertise. Along with colleague Warren Haston, Russell developed a program in which music education students in Hartt give music lessons to children at the University of Hartford Magnet School.

Russell has also committed himself to improving the music education graduate program at the university. He has recently become the Director of Doctoral Studies in Music Education and has restructured many of the graduate research courses in his area of expertise.

He also serves as the Faculty Advisor for the student chapter of the American String Teachers Association here at UHA.

As if his contributions to the Hartt School were not enough, Russell has repeatedly proven his dedication to the university as a whole. In the past he served on the President’s Commission on Faculty Compensation and he currently serves on the Faculty Senate.

Hartt School Dean Aaron Flagg, Associate Dean Saunders, and Director of the Music Education Division John Feierabend were also there on April 25 to give Russell the great news.

Russell’s colleagues within the Hartt School were eager to congratulate him as well.

Those who know Professor Russell could not be happier with the decision of the selection committee to award him with this year’s Belle K. Ribicoff Junior Faculty Prize.

Russell will be formally presented with the award at Commencement on May 19.

As the end of the school year approaches, many sophomores and juniors currently living in the village are dreading the furniture haul back home.

COURTESY OF MARTINMOVINGSTORAGE.COM

Some may be seeking a temporary storage space in the area while others are asking their friends and families if anyone has a truck they can borrow to take that big old couch back to New Jersey.

My own apartment is going through it, anyway.

This got me thinking, can the university offer to store the furniture over the summer?

Most of us don’t have room for the furniture in our homes away from school, and even those who do would probably appreciate being spared the inconvenience of transporting the furniture.

I bet the University could make a lot of money by mandating a minor fee to holding students’ furniture over summer vacation. As long as the price is significantly cheaper than storage spots in the area, the University can expect to rake in quite a bit of cash.

For me at least, this would be a much better alternative than having one of my parents take a day off work to make the three-hour drive and help me load up a second car with the sofa, television and coffee table I provided for my apartment.

When we take these things back to the Jersey shore, they are just going to be shoved into a corner of the garage until the end of August.

Are the apartments we are forced to empty out and clean before abandoning even used over the summer? Does anyone occupy the village apartments between commencement and the beginning of fall semester?

If the answer is no, I see no reason in forcing students to take their furniture with them, especially those who are squatting their apartment or are moving to an apartment in the same quad.

I understand the residential areas are deeply cleaned over the summer months, but since all the bedroom furniture remain, along with a dining room table and chairs, it cannot possibly be much of a hassle to lift three or four more pieces of furniture to clean the carpets.

For those moving to a new apartment on campus, it would be much easier to transfer the furniture directly from one apartment to another rather than carrying it all to a car, packing it up, then unloading back home, and repeating the process at the end of August.

Why not ease the burden on returning students living on campus and offer storage for the summer at a reasonable rate? It seems like a simple solution to me at least.