This is the latest video from Professor Dan Lloyd’s “Brain Music” project, which has garnered much attention in the science world.  Lloyd, the Brownell Professor of Philosophy at Trinity College, took fMRI data from brain scans and assigned different musical notes to different regions of the brain.  The music created from the scans is able to help differentiate a normal functioning brain to one with dementia or schizophrenia. For more on Lloyd’s work, visit:  https://www.trincoll.edu/AboutTrinity/News_Events/trinity_news/070709_BrainMusic.htm

The Trinity men’s and women’s squash teams kicked off their season in style on Halloween night, sporting uniforms that they are not accustomed to wearing on the courts.  The teams officially began practices the following day, Nov. 1, as both squads prepare to make a run at the National Championship.  For more on the storied squash programs at Trinity, visit their websites:

men: http://athletics.trincoll.edu/sports/msquash/index

women: http://athletics.trincoll.edu/sports/wsquash/index

The Trinity College volleyball team had a fall gathering at Head Coach, Jen Bowman’s house for, what she called, “a normal, fun, pumpkin carving kinda night.”  Just don’t ask her how the pumpkin seeds she tried to cook came out. 

The Bantams volleyball team has qualified for the NESCAC Championship Tournament in four of the last five seasons, wrapping up yet another winning season last weekend, finishing the year with a solid 13-10 record.  For more on the volleyball team, visit their team page at: http://athletics.trincoll.edu/sports/wvball.   

The Office of International Programs recently held the 2009 Study Abroad Fair, which gave Trinity students the opportunity to explore potential destinations as a place of study for an upcoming semester.  Trinity runs seven of its own study away programs in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Paris, Rome, Trinidad, and Vienna, and offers students an additional 75 approved programs around the world (including the U.S.) to choose from.  The deadline for students to apply for the 2010-2011 school semesters is due Friday, December 4, 2009, by 4:00 p.m. to the Office of International Programs at 66 Vernon Street. For questions, contact the Office of International Programs at oip@trincoll.edu.

Trinity has one of the top study abroad programs in the country.  For more on recent honors and praise of the Trinity program, visit: http://www.trincoll.edu/AboutTrinity/News_Events/trinity_news/112009_StudyAbroad.htm. 

For the official page of the study away program, visit: http://www.trincoll.edu/Academics/StudyAway/. 

The International House opened its doors over Homecoming Weekend for students to sample various cusine from local Asian eateries. All proceeds from the event were donated to Mae Tao Clinic (Dr. Cynthia’s Clinic) on the Thai/Burma border to purchase medical supplies for refugees.  Tickets were sold for $5 apiece, and the group raised over $2,300 in combination with sales of Trinity scarves.  For a photo gallery from the opening of the I-House back in September, visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trinitycollege/sets/72157622472860722/
(photo courtesy: Sam Newman ’10 and Rebecca Herrigel ’10) 

Rhodessa Jones, a writer, actress, teacher, activist and singer, visited Dean Rena Fraden’s first-year seminar class this week. Jones is responsible for starting the Medea Project, which was created to introduce incarcerated women to the arts as a means of survival and renewed life.  The course, “Art, Identity, and Society,” explores the ways in which artists shape and, at the same time, are shaped by specific political, cultural, and historical forces.

For more on Jones and the Medea Project, visit: http://www.culturalodyssey.org/medea/index.html.

Two days a week, Trinity student callers meet in the Trinity Commons building to make calls, and of course, to have a good time with their classmates.  “It’s really fun,” Sheva Ramirez ’10 says.  “We’re like a little family.”  The students each have their own cubicle (as shown above), but they all work together, according to Ramirez.
 
“Working here, you end up becoming close with kids you might not normally become close to,” she added.  “Now, we bump into each other around campus all the time, and it’s like bumping into a brother or sister.”

Nine student callers are making phone calls three nights a week this semester. Each year, the Student Calling Program reaches over 9,000 alumni and parents.  For more information, email Jen Tougas at Jennifer.Tougas@trincoll.edu. 

“The Mountain Experience: The Political, Social, and Moral Impact of Mountaineering” is a First-Year Seminar at Trinity taught by Anne Parmenter, Head Field Hockey Coach and conquerer of Mount Everest.  The group recently climbed the rocks of Ragged Mountain in Southington, Connecticut, as an outdoor classroom experience.

The course focuses on mountaineering literature and Mount Everest and specifically examines the known facts of the Mallory and Irvine expedition. It also explores the first ascents of the Matterhorn, the north face of the Eiger, and other great peaks of the world. The books chosen are socially engaging and morally uplifting stories, sometimes even revealing the dark side of human behavior. The objective is to discuss present day mountaineering and its ethical and moral dilemmas, and, through the literature, learn how the mountains of the world have shaped many lives.

The second of two Haitian Art exhibitions at Trinity College, Haiti: The Rhythym of Life, recently wrapped up.  The most recent exhibition featured selections of artwork from the Edith C. Graham Collection of Haitian Art at Trinity College.  A parallel display in the gallery lobby featured a large painting created by students at Hartford’s CREC Montessori Magnet School in collaboration with Trinity College students. The painting, coordinated by art teacher Lena Stein, was inspired by the Montessori students’ study of Haitian art in the Graham Collection.  For more information on the Edith C. Graham Collection of Haitian Art at Trinity College, visit: http://www.trincoll.edu/AboutTrinity/News_Events/trinity_news/090809_HaitianArt.htm. 

Members of the Trinity College community recently particpated in “The Friendship Walk,” the first ever walk to fundraise for and raise awareness about Best Buddies Programs throughout the state of Connecticut.  The Trinity College Best Buddies chapter is off to a very successful start and worked hard to fundraise and send about 15 members to the walk, including the Bantam mascot. 

Best Buddies is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  For more information, visit www.bestbuddiesct.org.