In the News

“Students from the University of Evansville were unable to compete in a contest in Connecticut because airline security refused to let them board a plane with a small robot they built. Students Bruce Rahman and Chris Miller and engineering professor James Reising had planned to fly to Hartford, Conn., on Saturday for the Trinity College Firefighting Home Robot Contest, an annual competition with more than 100 teams from several countries. Employees of Northwest Airlink …would not let them take the computer-controlled robot on board. Rahman said he called the airline more than a week before the flight to find out whether there might be problems with the robot and was told to just come early to have it inspected. He and Miller said Northwest employees were concerned that motors attached to the robot's wheels and magnets inside the motors could disrupt an airplane's electronics. The college students arrived slightly more than an hour before the flight was scheduled to depart. But Philip Reed, vice president of marketing for Northwest Airlines, said that was not enough time for an inspection … Contest director Juliet Manalan said no other teams reported similar travel troubles. ‘One of the things we want to learn from this is, how do we make sure this never happens again?’ Manalan said. ‘We had teams from all over the U.S., and countries like Singapore, South Korea, Israel and Canada, and they all flew to the contest with their robots without any problems.’"

“Airline refuses to fly robot made by Indiana students”
Newsday, April 13, 2005

“Connecticut, the land of steady habits, could lose another congressional seat if the state's population increases as slowly over the next 25 years as the U.S. Census Bureau is predicting. Connecticut's population is expected to rise just 8 percent by 2030, a growth rate that would trail all other New England states and all but 12 other states nationwide, according to census projections released Thursday. If the Census Bureau's projections hold true, Connecticut will lose one of its five seats in the House of Representatives. Slow growth cost the state a House seat in 2000. Besides the decrease of political clout, the loss of a congressional seat would force each congressman to represent a larger area. Trinity College political scientist Clyde McKee said that would make it harder for a representative to advocate for a region's priorities. It also would make it harder for challengers to defeat incumbents, he said. ‘And although we'll retain our two U.S. senators, if the state loses just one House seat and one small part of its political clout, I think to some extent the U.S. senators lose a certain amount of influence, too,’ McKee said.”

“Connecticut's slow population growth could have political consequences”
Associated Press, April 21, 2005

“Alfred Ulrich Jr. knew he'd found the right spot the moment he walked through the doors of the Coffeeworks Cafe on Grand Street. Ulrich and his wife, Helen, hope to become the new owners of the popular breakfast and lunch spot on May 12, when their agreement to buy the business from the present owners … closes … Though the couple plan (sic) to introduce a few changes to the menu and atmosphere over the coming months, about the only change regular customers will notice right away will be made to the big picture window at the front of the restaurant. The couple will change the name of the business to Helen's Coffeeworks Cafe as soon as the closing becomes official, Ulrich said. ‘She's going to be the boss, so we might as well put her name right out in front,’ he said … They will also begin sending daily faxes to nearby offices and businesses advertising their luncheon specials, and will gradually introduce a few new items, including Philly-style hoagies to the luncheon menu and pork-roll sandwiches to the breakfast offerings. ‘We really liked what we saw. We were hooked,’ said Helen, who will leave her position as a program assistant for the science department at Trinity College in Hartford today. ‘I'm really looking forward to the two of us working here and running this business together. I can't wait to get started.’"

“New Recipe for Restaurant Couple prepare to assume ownership of Waterbury café”
[Waterbury] Republican-American, Wednesday, May 4, 2005

“Mr. Jones, whose first anniversary as Trinity’s president is July 1, has volunteered to give the trustees a self-critique annually before his official evaluation, to make sure that the board isn’t surprised by anything, including his perception of his performance. … ‘I realize that not every president is as fortunate as I am,’ Mr. Jones says. ‘If you have the right kind of relationship, everything can be shared. And when an institution is moving forward at a fast clip, everything has to be shared.’”

“The Trustees’ Tipping Point”
Chronicle of Higher Education, May 6, 2005

“Tony Blair won re-election Thursday as prime minister of Britain with a comfortable, even if hugely reduced, majority. Six months ago George Bush won a similarly convincing victory in the U.S. presidential election. Both campaigns were conducted in the shadow of the war in Iraq and the question of whether that war was initiated by these two leaders under false pretensions. That both incumbents won makes it tempting to think that the state of political leadership must be pretty similar in both countries. But the two victories were different in some very fundamental ways … First, the issue of Iraq played out quite differently in each country. In the United States, the removal of Saddam Hussein (whatever the war's origins) was seen by Bush's opponents, and by his supporters, as something that had to be done. The debate focused more on how it was carried out. The issue of terrorism was large, but the war itself ultimately played a small role in the outcome, except in firming up Bush's support among those who think that continuity is important in wartime … In Britain, by contrast, the fact that the war seems to have been fought under false pretenses caused much of the swing against Labour. Anger about the war may yet lead to Blair's being repudiated by his party and replaced as prime minister … Another big difference: The two leaders were returned to office using almost opposite campaign strategies … In the United States, George Bush did something quite different … Bush's genius (or more likely Karl Rove's) was to paint his opponent as a ‘flip-flopper’ for his efforts to do what U.S. politicians have almost always done when trying to lay claim to the center ground: prevaricate and obfuscate on policy positions. For the first time in many years, a Republican presidential candidate was perfectly clear about his policies and proposals (even if not entirely honest), and managed to use this difference between himself and his opponent to damn his opponent in the eyes of many voters … Blair was rewarded for having over many years followed a strategy that was tried and true - politics as usual, if you will - whereas Bush won at the eleventh hour by reinventing a strategy that has not been seen in recent history. Instead of moving his party toward the political center, he moved the center toward his party, changing the face of politics in America for the foreseeable future.”

“Bush and Blair win, taking opposite paths”
op-ed by Mark Franklin, professor of international politics
Newsday, May 8, 2005

“On a blustery, mid-March afternoon, a solitary man crosses the campus of Trinity College here. With his dark hair and beard, thick black rectangular eyeglasses, and a shirt that looks like a Nehru jacket, he resembles an earnest beatnik. He approaches a massive stone chapel of Gothic design, a testament to the institution's Christian roots. Gusts of wind roil flakes of snow that intermittently knit heaven to earth. The man is Sohaib Nazeer Sultan, Trinity's first Muslim chaplain. The college hopes that Mr. Sultan, 24, who has been on the job since January, will open minds on the campus and chip away at the barriers that isolate Muslims here. ‘A lot of work needs to be done to tear down biases and stereotypes,’ says the Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, who oversees religious life at Trinity … Practicing Islam on a campus with almost 200 years of Christian tradition repeatedly tests one's forbearance. Like during Ramadan, Islam's holy month of fasting, when the faithful do not eat or drink during daylight hours -- but the campus dining hall doesn't open before sunup. Or when they attempt to observe Islam's requirement to pray five times daily. Or when someone of the opposite sex extends a hand to shake, a violation of Islam's teachings on modesty and respect between the genders. And trying to explain oneself can be a challenge -- whether responding to a misinformed professor's comment in class or answering complex theological and political questions lobbed by well-meaning inquisitors. ‘It's intimidating for many students to take on that role and have to answer for other Muslims,’ says Mr. Sultan … Faiza Khan, a sophomore from Pakistan, says Mr. Sultan ‘pulls us together. ... It's sort of like a minihaven.’ Those words are music to Mr. Sultan's ears. ‘By getting to know people," he says, ‘you're getting to know God.’”

“A Connecticut Muslim in King James's Court” – Notes From Academe
Chronicle of Higher Education, May 13, 2005

“The last six miles were the most difficult. Walking down two-lane highways, carrying signs that read ‘Capital Punishment is Torture,’ 15 anti-death penalty activists completed a 30-mile walk Thursday from Hartford to Enfield, near the site where Michael Ross was executed early this morning. ‘From the gallows to the gurney,’ was march organizer David Cruz-Uribe's slogan. The march began Sunday at Gallows Hill, a place that hosted at least five executions in the 17th and 18th centuries for such crimes as witchcraft and high treason. ‘As much as Connecticut wants to sugarcoat it, Connecticut has a history of state killings,’ said Cruz-Uribe, an associate math professor at Trinity College. For five days, between 12 and 30 people joined the march, which was sponsored by the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty. As they moved farther from Hartford and closer to Enfield, the support dwindled and the hostility increased, Cruz-Uribe said. On Thursday, the troop of college students, lawyers, retired accountants and nuns tight-roped narrow roads as they walked from Somers Congregational Church to Shaker Field, a staging ground a mile from the prison entrance. Power walkers blew by them, while the protesters critiqued the manicured lawns and sweeping acres of tall grass leading up to the newly green hills. Passersby in cars and trucks slowed down to flash peace signs, shout incomprehensibly or display their middle fingers. ‘I've gotten flipped off so many times I can't count,’ Cruz-Uribe said … Five minutes after Ross was pronounced dead, 305 people lined up on the side of the road, turned in silence and headed home.”

“Protesters March Against Death Penalty”
The [New London] Day, May 12, 2005

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