Posted on Feb 21, 1997

Robert V. Wells, the Chauncey H. Winters Professor of History and Social Science, has been awarded a grant to be the Fulbright Senior Lecturer at the Center for American Studies at Odense University in Denmark.

The nine-month appointment is to begin in September. Wells is to teach American history for advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as offer at least one seminar.
All teaching is in English.

Wells, who specializes in early American history and demographic history, earned his
bachelor's degree from Denison University, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. On the
Union faculty since 1969, he became full professor in 1980. He was the Washington Irving
Professor of Modern Literary and Historical Studies from 1986 to 1993. He was named
Chauncey Winters Professor in 1994. He was a fellow at both the John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation and at the Charles Warren Center at Harvard University.

He has completed a book on the culture of death in early American history.

The Center for American Studies is a cross-disciplinary research center recently
established through the cooperation of the humanities and social sciences faculty at
Odense University and the Fulbright Commission in Denmark.

Wells is one of about 1,600 U.S. grantees who will travel abroad for the 1997-98
academic year under the Fulbright Program. Established by legislation introduced by former
Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program is designed to “increase mutual
understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Wells joins a number of other Union “Fulbrighters,” among them Tim Olsen,
music, at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen (1990-1991); Andrew Feffer,
history, at the University of Oslo, Norway (1994-95); Martha Huggins, at the Federal
University of Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil (1981-1982), and again in Sao Paulo, Brazil
(1991); Josef Schmee, Graduate Management Institute, at the University of Munich, Germany
(1980-1981); Manfred Jonas (emeritus), history, at the University of Saarlund (1973-1974);
and Edward Craig (emeritus), electrical engineering, at the University of Liberia in
Monrovia (1979-1980).

Posted on Feb 21, 1997

Friday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m., Nott Memorial. The last concert in the music faculty series – “Something Old, Something New” – will be the Huntley Trio (Elizabeth Huntley, harp; Michael Emery, violin and viola; and Jan Vinci, flute) performing three
recent works by Prof. Hilary Tann as well as solos and trios by Debussy.

Saturday, March 1, 8 p.m., Memorial Chapel. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe Wind Soloists perform a program of music to include works by Janacek and Mozart in the
Schenectady Museum-Union College chamber concert series.

Through March 6, Nott Memorial. “Till We Have Faces,” an exhibit of paintings and drawings by Wonsook Kim Linton, which will be on display in the second-floor Mandeville Gallery. Many works in the exhibit were inspired by the book by C.S. Lewis of the same title. The artist's inspiration derives from her unique understanding of the relationship between self and world; East and West. The richness of her Korean youth is
continuously reaffirmed through the language of her adopted West. Her works tend to serve
as records of experience, which are drawn from various sources. They may stem from
literature, ancient myths, folklore, or the joys and sorrows of everyday life.

Through March 22, Yulman Theater. “Charles Steckler, Stage Designs” is
a 25-year retrospective of production photographs of the professor's theatrical design
work. Steckler has been resident designer at the College since 1971 and has designed over
60 productions in the Nott Memorial Theater and more recently in the Yulman Theater. A
reception with the artist will be on Thursday, Jan. 30, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Through March 30, Arts Atrium. Good Shots, photographs by and of people
with mental disabilities. Prof. Martin Benjamin directed the joint project between the
College and photographers from the Schenectady Association for Retarded Citizens. The
photographs reflect the lives of the retarded, their families and friends in unexpected
and poignant ways.

Posted on Feb 21, 1997

The College's Board of Trustees has approved a 1997-98 budget that President Roger Hull says has as its primary purpose the strengthening of the College's academic program while limiting increases in student charges, providing fair and competitive compensation for faculty and staff and preserving campus facilities.

The $74.1 million budget represents a 5.1 percent increase over the current year.

The 1997-98 budget reflects a number of priorities. Among them:

An increase in tuition and other costs that is only about one percent over inflation.
The total for tuition, room and board and other fees is $28,465, a 4.2 percent increase
over this year.

A commitment to meet the financial need of all accepted students. The College will
increase its financial aid budget to nearly $15.5 million, a 7.3 percent increase over
this year. The financial aid expenditure represents about 34 percent of budgeted tuition
and fees revenues.

To provide fair and competitive compensation, faculty and administrative salaries, as
well as hourly wages, are to increase by four percent; three percent to match anticipated
inflation, one percent to recognize merit.

A continued commitment to fund deferred maintenance and facilities renewal, at $600,000
and $400,000, respectively. (Construction of the F.W. Olin Center and the renovation and
expansion of Schaffer Library are funded by gifts and do not affect the College's
operating budget.)

The trustees also approved for tenure and promotion to associate professor Chris
Duncan, visual arts; William Garcia, modern languages; Louisa Matthew, visual arts; and
Jill Salvo, biology.

Posted on Feb 7, 1997

Prof. Hilary Tann will trace the evolution of Japanese influences on her music over the last decade in a faculty colloquium titled, “Something Old, Something
New” on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 4:30 p.m. in Reamer Campus Center Auditorium. (A concert of the same title will be Feb. 21 — see story this issue.)

“My attempt to share my life (as a composer) will focus on the way in which my
first encounter with the musical language of another country (“something new”)
reconfigured my musical thinking (“something old”),” she said. “The
music of Japan, specifically the ancient music of the Japanese vertical bamboo flute,
continues to be a source of inspiration and joy to me.”

During the colloquium, Tann will use musical examples — on tape and performed by
violinist Michael Emery, concertmaster of the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra. Emery is to
perform “The Cresset Stone,” a meditation for violin solo.

Tann holds degrees in composition from the University of Wales at Cardiff and Princeton
University, the latter from which she earned her Ph.D. in 1981. A member of the Union
faculty since 1980, her compositions for chamber ensemble and full orchestra have received
performances and broadcasts in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. In 1989, she was accepted
as a house composer by Oxford University Press. Two of her chamber works are available on
CD; four more are to be released this year.

Posted on Feb 7, 1997

Union employees donated nearly $30,000 to the United Way campaign, it was announced by President Roger Hull. A total of 325 contributors donated $29,467.40, representing increases of 27 percent and 32 percent, respectively, over last year. The
numbers this year also represent the highest donor and dollar totals of this decade, Hull said. “By supporting so well an organization that helps so many, we proved, in a very tangible way, that Union College continues to play an extremely important role in
Schenectady,” he said.