Posted on Sep 12, 1997

Workers this week were finishing a new pedestrian walkway along the construction site for the F.W. Olin Center that will connect Reamer Campus
Center with the roadway between Science and Engineering and Campus Operations.

Under the new pattern, shown in the accompanying map,
pedestrians enter or exit Reamer from the north patio doors facing Jackson's Garden.
A paved walkway goes east from Reamer toward the roadway between Science and Engineering
and Campus Operations.

“Due to the heavy construction traffic there is
concern for potential injury to pedestrians,” said Paul Mantica, director of campus
safety. “To avoid that and make the area more safe, we have created a new path to
direct pedestrians to a less-congested area about 30 yards to the north of the Olin
site.”

The east door of Reamer Campus Center will remain open,
but only for pedestrian traffic to and from Social Sciences.

Pedestrians may use the current walkway from the east side
of Reamer to Campus Operations when construction is not under way at the Olin site –
weekdays from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. and weekends.

Construction vehicles enter the Olin site from a gate near
Science and Engineering. Vehicles making deliveries to Reamer access the building from a
second gate about 50 yards to the west. The pedestrian walkway traverses both roadways.

Meanwhile, access to the west entrance of Science and
Engineering and the walk from Social Sciences to Alexander Lane is unchanged. Workers have
finished a new sidewalk between Science and Engineering/Bailey Hall and the Schaffer site
and Alumni Gymnasium. They also will fine grade and seed the areas near the sidewalks.

At Schaffer Library, the structural steel was completed in
mid-August, said William Shafer, capital projects manager. Fireproofing, ductwork and
plumbing were being installed this week. Work on the exterior walls will continue this
fall.

At the Olin site, masons this week were adding block to
the north and south walls, Shafer said, and forms for the west entry were being poured
this week.

Posted on Sep 12, 1997

Judging from the shoes freshmen are wearing this week, not every drop of “post-Victorian green” paint hit its mark on Saturday.

A number of freshmen are boasting footwear that commemorates their involvement with community service day, an effort that saw nearly 500
members of the Class of 2001 fan out to various work sites around the city as part of
their orientation. The day, organized on campus by Assistant Dean of Students Kate
Schurick, was coordinated for the second year with Schenectady 2000, the city's
revitalization effort.

Perhaps the most visible symbols of the work day are four
freshly-painted railroad bridges at Green Street, Front Street, North Jay Street and Nott
Street. Among the 18 projects, freshmen also painted guardrails, removed debris from three
parks and a section of bike path, and landscaped the Schenectady Museum.

“This is a great way to get to know the city where
we'll be living for the next four years,” said Corey Mathis '01 of Dalton,
Mass. “It's also a great way to get to meet people, especially those in our
class that we may not meet otherwise.”

President Roger Hull, a founder of Schenectady 2000,
joined the painters at the Nott Street Bridge. “Part of being a liberally educated
person is recognizing that there is a civic responsibility to contribute something back to
society,” he said. Dean of Students Fred Alford joined the group at the North Jay
Street Bridge.

Posted on Sep 12, 1997

President Roger Hull opened the first faculty meeting of the year on Tuesday by stressing the importance of undergraduate research, international study and community service. In addition, he stated the need to develop social alternatives.

He congratulated the faculty on their commitment to undergraduate research, citing the 46 students who attended the National Conference on
Undergraduate Research, “one of the largest contingents for any college, regardless
of size.” He also praised the Steinmetz Symposium, which last year had presentations
from some 250 students, calling it “the best day of the year on this campus.”

Of Terms Abroad offerings, he urged the development of
more exchange programs. They are less expensive to the College than study abroad programs,
he said, and they allow students to rejoin the campus without “double culture
shock.”

He reiterated the College's commitment to community
service beginning with the annual community service day by freshmen. “Turning
students loose on this city is good for the city and good for the students,” he said.
“This city is starting to change and will change dramatically in the next three
years.”

Hull applauded the success of Theme Houses and social
alternatives like last year's fashion show and garden party for providing a range of
social alternatives to an increasingly diverse student body.

He also announced that the campus community will have a
celebration on Oct. 24 for the successful completion of the $150 million Bicentennial
Campaign.

Dean of Faculty Linda Cool announced that Andrew Curran of
modern languages, and Dianne McMullen of music were named MacArthur Assistant Professors.
Funded by the John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the distinction honors junior
faculty who show great promise.

Cool, who on Monday presented the Stillman Prize for
Excellence in Teaching to Ashraf Ghaly, cited five other finalists for the award: Bonney
MacDonald, English; Eshragh Motahar, economics; Seyfollah Maleki, physics; Karl
Zimmermann, mathematics; and Bradley Jordan, modern languages.

She also announced that 31 honors scholars had entered
with the Class of 2001 in a program to be taught by Joyce Madancy, Hugh Jenkins and Scott
Scullion. Three multimedia classrooms – two in Humanities and a third under
development in Steinmetz 106 – will be used by students and faculty this year.

The College is about to embark on accreditation studies by
the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology for engineering, the American
Association of Collegiate Schools of Business for the Graduate Management Institute, and
Middle States Association of Colleges.

Cool also announced new administrative appointments:
Virginia Solomon as coordinator of instructional technology; Rachel Seligman, director of
Mandeville Gallery; David Hannay, acting dean of engineering; Rebecca Fisher, language
laboratory coordinator; Thomas McFadden, director of Schaffer Library; and Joseph Zolner
'76, director of GMI.

The faculty discussed a proposal from the Academic Affairs
Council for a revision in class schedule that would create a lunch period for all days but
Friday. Faculty will continue to discuss details of the proposal with the intention of
implementing a change in the upcoming winter term.

The faculty welcomed 16 new colleagues on Tuesday. They
will be profiled in the next issue of the Chronicle.

Posted on Sep 12, 1997

President Roger Hull urged members of the Union community to join together in elevating the College to “the next level of excellence.”

Union is a college that teaches theory and practices its applications, he told the audience at the convocation to start the College's 203rd
year on Monday. Examples include a sustained effort to foster study abroad that has made
Union one of the top dozen colleges in America, broad support for undergraduate research
and encouragement of community service by students.

The capstone effort, he said, “must be to bring
liberal arts and technology together so that, in fact and not only word, all of our
students will be broadly educated and technologically aware.”

Noting the improvements to come with the addition of the
F.W. Olin Center and an expanded Schaffer Library, the president said that Union is at
“an ideal point where we can — at last — turn our attention to bridging the
two cultures at Union and setting a national example and standard.”

The convocation also saw:

o the
investiture of Walter J. Hatke as the May Baker Professor of Fine Arts;

o the awarding
of the Stillman Prize for Excellence in Teaching to Assistant Professor Ashraf M. Ghaly of
the Civil Engineering Department (Ghaly announced he will use the funds to create a prize
in civil engineering.);

o the honoring
of 602 students whose grade point averages last year earned them Dean's List honors;

o the awarding
of the Phi Beta Kappa award for excellence in General Education to Nikhil Sudan '00,
and honorable mention to Sarah Shoemaker '00.

Posted on Sep 12, 1997

o Sept. 27, 8
p.m., Memorial Chapel. The Schenectady Museum-Union College chamber concert series opens
with the Borromeo String Quartet with Colin Carr, cello, performing works by Schubert.

o Sept. 29, 7:30
p.m., Nott Memorial. Andrea Barrett '74, winner of the National Book Award last year
for Ship Fever and Other Stories, will describe her work on a new novel about an
arctic explorer.

o Through Oct.
19, Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial. Exhibition of sculpture, furniture and jewelry by
internationally-known artist Daniel Barrett of Schenectady. Gallery talk and reception on
Sept. 18 at 3 p.m.

o Through Oct.
30, Arts Atrium. Paintings and drawings by Barbara Mungall.