Student Life
Home >
Below are some of the featured stories about members of the Colgate community whose research, experiences, and expertise have been highlighted in the media.
Here is a link to all February news.
For more information about these stories, contact Barbara Brooks, director of public relations and marketing, by
e-mail or by calling 315.228.7427. Click here for
Colgate experts.
Talking with your hands is innate
MSNBC - May 15th
Good news for those of you who are so self-conscious about gesturing when speaking you issue that “I use my hands when I talk” line: You can stop apologizing. As Spencer Kelly, the co-director of Colgate University’s Center for Language and the Brain will tell The Acoustics 2012 Hong Kong scientific conference later today, gesturing is integral to language. In fact, he argues, it’s “innate.”
An arresting choice of words
Philippine Daily Inquirer - May 11th
“Many scientists have argued that spoken language evolved from a gestural communication system—using the entire body—in our evolutionary past,” said neuroscientist Spencer Kelly of America’s Colgate University in a statement regarding the work done by researchers from the United States and the Netherlands. Kelly, who coauthored a paper on the topic that was published in April, added that “gestures still have a tight and perhaps special coupling with speech in present-day communication. In this way, gestures are not merely add-ons to language—they may actually be a fundamental part of it.”
Painted Maya Walls Reveal Calendar Writing
New York Times - May 10th
Rest assured, however, that nothing written on those walls foretells the world coming to an end on Dec. 21, 2012, as some have feared through a misinterpretation of the Maya Long Count calendar. That date is simply when one cycle of the Maya calendar ends and a new one begins.
When the State Takes Stock
Elana Shever – Huffington Post - May 4th
The Argentine government has seized control of Spanish oil giant Repsol's stake in what was, until its privatization in 1992, Argentina's national oil company. The takeover President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed into law on Friday is being celebrated in Argentina and roundly criticized elsewhere as a repudiation of the neoliberal reforms that opened up Argentina's crisis-plagued economy.
The Amazing Maya
Philly.com - May 3rd
While we mark time in weeks, they marked it in periods of 20 days. They gave a name to each day of these 20-day periods, just as we do our days of the week. They revered the number 13, and so they marked a "sacred round" that lasted 13 of these 20 day periods, or 260 days. They also understood the year, which is rooted in astronomy, said Anthony Aveni, a professor of astronomy and anthropology at Colgate University and a speaker at the Penn Museum event.
For Baum and Colgate, a Standout Season
The Quad – NY Times - April 19th
The Colgate men’s lacrosse team boasts the best offense in the nation in terms of goals per game, largely due to the outstanding season junior attackman Peter Baum is having. Baum, a product of Portland, Ore., leads the nation in two major offensive categories -- total goals (48) and points (63).
Little Known Black History Fact: Manning Marable
Black America Web - April 18th
Manning Marable was a legendary author of the long-awaited biography called, “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.” The historian has now been awarded a Pulitzer Prize in history for his controversial novel. Marable’s 2011 biography of Malcolm X took over a decade to complete.
Virgin Group's Branson to kick off Entrepreneur Weekend at Colgate
Syracuse.com - April 12th
Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group's businesses stretch from mobile phones to records to a planned trip to space, will speak Friday evening at Colgate University, kicking off the college's Entrepreneur Weekend.
Where you can find the 300 best professors
CBS Money Watch - April 10th
Who are the nation's top college professors? The Princeton Review thinks it knows. It recently released its list of the nation's 300 best professors. In its search to find "professors who have made a lasting impact in the lives of its students," the Princeton Review plucked "inspiring and challenging" professors from a total of 122 colleges. Colgate has 10 Professors in the list.
Top 10 College Women 2012: Maggie Dunne
Glamor Magazine
Maggie Dunne, 21, majoring in Native American studies at Colgate University. Why she rules: When Dunne was a high school sophomore in a wealthy New York City suburb, she knew very little about Native Americans; her history teacher had skipped over that chapter. But on a volunteer trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, she witnessed what centuries of disenfranchisement had wrought. “I’d never seen poverty like that—and in our own country!” she says. “I vowed to go back every year for the rest of my life.”
New Borough Taxis to Be Painted Green, Insiders Say
WNYC News – March 8, 2012
In 1970, the city made yellow the official color of the medallion cab. Yellow was the easiest color to differentiate long distance and not a lot of regular cars on the road were painted that color, according to professor Graham Russell Gao Hodges, author of the book Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cab Driver.
Leap Year 2012: Why We Need February 29
National Geographic – Feb, 29, 2012
The ancient Maya, famed for their elaborate and accurate calendar systems, observed two calendar years, but neither seemed to have bothered with a leap year. "As far as we know, the people of Mesoamerica—the Maya included—didn't care about leap years," said Anthony Aveni, an expert in ancient Mesoamerican astronomy at Colgate University."
Learning From the Tea Party
Huffington Post – Feb, 28, 2012
What the Tea Party has done with its now well-financed activism is to exert power within the Republican Party. In this, it had important allies. But it was the grassroots activists who according to Skocpol and Williamson "set a national agenda for the election," resulting in their ability to claim the 2010 Republican victories "as vindication for a particular extreme conservative ideology."
Colgate instructor explores aging issues in book, blog
Syracuse.com – Feb, 19, 2012
Author and Colgate University associate professor Meika Loe has taken the lessons featured in her 2011 book, "Aging Our Way: Lessons for Living from 85 and Beyond," (Oxford University Press) and given them new life online, in a blog at agingourway.wordpress.com.
The Ins and Outs of Experiencing India
Chronicle of Higher Education – Feb, 13, 2012
Professor Jenna Reinbold reflects on the impact of her recent trip to India with 10 percent of Colgate's faculty: "I am still trying to reckon with what this means for my location on the insider-outsider spectrum. If there’s any authoritative knowledge I have gained as a result of my time in India, it’s the knowledge that I am in no position to be speaking in the guise of an insider. Yet, I am clearly no longer the same kind of outsider that I was two months ago."
Studying abroad not just for students
USA TODAY College: February 3rd, 2012
Colgate University, a private, liberal arts college located in upstate New York, recently sent its faculty members to India in an effort to improve their curriculum.The trip, which took place from Dec. 31 to Jan. 13 and involved 27 faculty members, or 10% of the Colgate staff, was partially paid for by a $100,000 grant from the Andrew W. Melon Foundation.
Douglas A. Hicks named provost, dean of the faculty
Colgate News – Jan. 29, 2012
Colgate University President Jeffrey Herbst announced the selection of Douglas A. Hicks as provost and dean of the faculty, effective July 1, 2012. Hicks also will serve as professor of religion
End times? Relax, we have plenty of time left
Starpress.com – Jan. 27, 2012
Dec. 21, 2012, marks the end of the Maya 13th ba'k'tun. The Maya civilization saw the ending of at least eight ba'k'tuns. According to Anthony Aveni, archaeoastronomy professor at Colgate University, these transitions between long cycles were a time for celebration of renewal for the Maya, not unlike our own annual customs at New Year's.
Singing legend Etta James dies at 73
CNN – January 20, 2012
Colgate University professor Michael Coyle, who has written about jazz and R&B and reviews records for Cadence Magazine, said: "James mastered a range of styles -- from R&B and soul to jazz and blues -- but she was always one step behind the popular genre of the day. She never really got her moment in the sun."
How Colgate University Approaches Financial Aid for International Students
The Choice – New York Times, January 19th
Katryna A. Swartout Ryan, Colgate University’s associate dean of admissions who oversees the recruitment and selection of international students, answers questions about financing a college education. Although many of the answers focus on international students, particularly those from India, (e.g. “What sort of documentation do international students need to provide about their family’s income?”) some of her advice is universal and useful for students in the United States and other countries as well.
2011 Collegiate Teaching Award Citation
The American Philosophical Association, January, 2012
Colgate University Professor William C. Stull wins the 2011 Citation for his tireless work. His department chair writes: “his tireless efforts at recruiting, training, and fostering the intellectual and personal growth of his students” have led to so marked an increase in enrollments that Classics has been awarded a new tenure-track position.
Scientists learn to tell their story
Cape Cod Times, January 10, 2012
Colgate University assistant professor Kristin Pangallo has a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography. And by her own admission, she's "never really done any writing, trying to tell a story." 10 percent of Colgate University faculty in India for academic expedition
Syracuse Post-Standard, January 3, 2012
Twenty-seven professors — 10 percent of the college’s faculty — departed for a two-week academic expedition to India to add more global perspectives to the university’s core courses. Follow their progress at Reflections From India.
BBC, December 22, 2011
In an article reporting on the on-going violence in Morocco, Jacob Mundy, a Western Sahara expert and assistant professor says the international community might not intervene: "there would have to be a significant change in the basic dynamics of the conflict... whether it was the collapse of the Moroccan regime, the collapse of the Algerian regime or the collapse of the Polisario."
Maclean's Magazine, December 21, 2011
Venice is sinking, notes professor Albert Ammerman of Colgate University. His work is used in this article on how to save Venice.
Access Minnesota, December 11, 2011
Professor Mieka Loe is interviewed about her book Aging Our Way: Lessons for Living from 85 and Beyond.
2012 doomsayers step into high gear
The Kansas City Star, December 9, 2011
If some interpretations of the Mayan calendar are correct, we’ll all be gone next year. Professor Anthony Aveni says the Maya are getting their turn on the stage because of intense interest in Mayan culture in the last 30 years.
If voters owned elections Syracuse Post-Standard, December 4, 2011
Colgate's Joan D. Mandle advocates public financing of political campaigns.
Why Does A Taxi Medallion Cost $1 Million?
NPR Planet Money Podcast, November 29, 2011
History professor Graham Hodges says it all has to do with a famous and violent strike where cabs were set on fire in Times Square.
Election day in Egypt
Oman Tribune, November 30, 2010
Political science professor Bruce Rutherford, author of Egypt after Mubarak: Liberalism, Islam, and Democracy in the Arab World, talks about what this means to Egypt.
The New York Times, November 6, 2011
When I was about to graduate from Colgate University, in 1980, I knew I wanted to be a journalist. But I also knew that there are no “normal” career paths in the news business. There are no formal training programs — and newspapers do not send recruiters to college campuses.
The Occupiers
The Huffington Post, October 14, 2011
In this opinion piece, Jay Mandle, professor of economics, writes about the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Times of India, September 12, 2011
A study conducted by Colgate students Srikar Gullapalli and Bharadwaj Reddy found that among regional transport offices in Bangalore, Jayanagar, RTO is the most corrupt.
Mental health experts caution against retribution
Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2011
A professor of psychology at Colgate University talks about the psychology of retribution.