Posted on Apr 4, 1997

A collection of illustrations depicting European perceptions of
Africa from the 16th through the 18th centuries will be on display April 12 through June 1
in the Mandeville Gallery in the Nott Memorial.

“Africa in the European Imagination: Visions of the Kongo, Angola
and Matamba 1600-1750” is open Sunday through Thursday noon to 10 p.m., and Friday
and Saturday noon to 5 p.m.The exhibit will be accompanied by a series of five lectures by
historians and art historians, all in the Nott Memorial. (See schedule below.) The
illustrations represented in this exhibition appeared in some of the most important travel
accounts published during the Portuguese colonization of the African West Coast. For
details, call ext. 6729.

The lecture series schedule:

• April 15, 7:30 p.m. “Slavery and Resistance in 17th Century
  Angola: The Era of Queen Zingha.” Patrick
• Graille, University of Paris X – Nanterre. (Funded by the Minerva
  Committee, Union College)
• April 24, 7:30 p.m. “A Country So Immersed in Rudeness and
  Barbarity: Africa through the Eighteenth Century Prism.” Sarah Jordan, Albion
  College, Mich.
• May 12, 4:30 p.m. “The Circulating Image in the Eighteenth
  Century.” A roundtable discussion with Louisa C. Matthew and Charlotte N. Eyerman,
  Union College.
• May 14, 4 p.m. “The Art of Forgetting: Endarkening a
  Continent.” A.T. Miller, Union College.
• May 20, 7:30 p.m. “Africa on Display: Imagining Africa Then
  and Now.” R. Nii Nartey, Siena College.

Posted on Apr 4, 1997

Barbara Boyer, professor of biology, presented a paper at the eighth International Symposium on the Biology of the Turbellaria in Brisbane, Australia,
in August, and an invited paper at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Albuquerque in December. She published three papers in 1996: “Differentiation of the body wall musculature in Macrostomum hystericinum marinum and Hoploplana inquilina as models for muscle development in lower Spiralia,” co-authored with D. Reiter, P. Ladurner, G. Mair and R. Reiger, in Roux's Archives of
Developmental Biology; “Modified spiral cleavage: the duet pattern and early
blastomere fates in acoel turbellarian Neochildia fusca,” in The Biological
Bulletin, and “Dual Origins of mesoderm in a basal spiralian: Cell lineage
analyses in the polyclad turbellarian Hoploplana inquilina” in Developmental
Biology, the latter two co-authored with J. Henry and M. Martindale.

Joseph B. Board, Robert Porter Patterson Professor of Government,
in December delivered an oral report to the Swedish Ministry of Finance on
“Affirmative Action in America: Judicialization or Juridification?” Part of the
study is to be published by the Administrative Political Commission of the Ministry. In
January, he published on op-ed essay in Sydsvenska dagbladet, Malmö, Sweden, on
the proposed extension of NATO to the Baltic area. With Swedish and Norwegian colleagues,
he also has received a grant from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation to conduct
research on Western constitutional democracy. He recently finished editing the English
version of an official history of the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament) published by the
Riksdag Printing House.

Robert Baker, professor of philosophy, is speaking this month on
the adoption of the national medical code of ethics at a meeting of the American Medical
Association in Philadelphia. “Ethics and American Medicine: History Change and
Challenge” commemorates the 150th anniversary of the AMA and its 1847 Code of Ethics.
Baker is to facilitate a panel on “The Code and Its Historical Context,” and
give a talk on “The First American Medical Ethics Revolution.”

George Gmelch, professor of anthropology, recently published,
with W. Zenner, “Urbanism and Urbanization” in Cross Cultural Research for
Social Science (Simon and Schuster). The article examines anthropological
understanding of these two processes. Four other articles – “Nomads in
Cities,” “Caught in the Middle,” “Ritual in American Baseball,”
and “Lessons from the Field” have recently been reprinted in different
anthologies in anthropology.

Posted on Apr 4, 1997

The layout process for pile driving at the Schaffer Library construction site is expected to begin by the end of next week, and pile driving itself could begin by April 14, according to William Shafer, capital projects manager. Pile driving is expected to last about two or three weeks, or through the end of April.

Progress has been slowed somewhat by groundwater being three feet above
normal, Shafer said. Contractors have inserted a drainage system and sump pumps to lower
the water level.

Work continued this week remove a 13-inch thick concrete basement slab,
Shafer added.

A wheel washing station on South Lane is being used to minimize mud on
campus and city streets. Those with concerns about the work site are invited to call
Shafer at ext. 6085.

Meanwhile, crews are completing the replacement of natural gas lines at
the site for the F.W. Olin Center to the east of the Reamer Campus Center. Bids are
scheduled to be opened April 8. The contract will be awarded by mid-April, with work
slated to begin on April 28.

Posted on Apr 4, 1997

A committee has been formed to conduct a reappointment review of Todd Burgman, Graduate Management Institute. Members of the campus community are invited to send comments on his teaching, scholarship and service to James Lambrinos, committee chair.

Posted on Apr 4, 1997

As if robins weren't enough, other harbingers of spring are due to arrive starting on Monday: hundreds of accepted candidates and their families
strolling the campus to give the College one last look before decision time.

The Admissions Office is sponsoring “On-Campus Days” for the next three Mondays – April 7, 14 and 21. Admissions also this month will have
Saturday and Sunday programs for accepted candidates.

During the “On-Campus Days,” members of the Union community
are being asked to park off-campus or on peripheral lots to help make inside parking
available for visitors.

During last year's “On-Campus Days” the College hosted
283 students, 66 percent of whom enrolled in the freshman class.