Robert Sharlet, Chauncey Winters Professor of Political Science,
and a University of California-Berkeley research team have won a $250,000 grant from the
Carnegie Corporation for a book on “Russia on the Eve of the Twenty-First
Century.” Sharlet has also recently published four works, including “The
Politics of Constitutional Amendment in Russia,” lead article in Post-Soviet
Affairs, 13:3 (1997); “The Progress of Human Rights” in Developments
in Russian Politics ed. by S. White et al. (Macmillan, 1997); “Bringing the Rule
of Law to Russia and the Newly Independent States (NIS)” in The International
Dimension of Post-Communist Transitions in Russia and the New States of Eurasia ed. by
K. Dawisha (M.E. Sharpe, 1997); and “The Politics of Constitution-Making in Russia
and the NIS,” American University Journal of Law and Policy, 12:1 (1997).
In June, he also gave a presentation at a European conference on parliamentary democracy
held at the University of Umea, Sweden.
George Gmelch, professor of anthropology, and Sharon Gmelch,
professor of anthropology and director of women's studies, have published a book, The
Parish Behind God's Back: The Changing Culture of Rural Barbados (University of
Michigan Press). An ethnography of Barbados' rural and most remote parish, the book
also looks at the global forces — notably television, migration and tourism –
that influence, shape and impinge on the lives of villagers today. It also details some of
the experiences of Union students who have lived and worked in rural Barbados as part of
Union's anthropology research term abroad.
Martin Strosberg, professor of management at the Graduate
Management Institute is co-author (with Daniel Teres, professor of medicine and surgery at
Tufts University) of Gatekeeping in the Intensive Care Unit. Published by Health
Administration Press, the book explores the ethical, legal, medical, managerial and public
policy issues arising from resource allocation in intensive care units in the age of
managed care.
Louisa Matthew, associate professor of art history, and Charlotte
Eyerman, assistant professor of visual arts, both spoke in the Fall 1997 lecture
series at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls titled “The Permanent Collection in
Context,” a journey through the history of Western art. Matthew spoke on “The
Renaissance,” Eyerman on “The 18th and 19th Centuries.”
Patrick Allen, director of educational studies, recently received
an award as an “Educator of Excellence” from the New York State English Council.
The Council cited outstanding teachers and programs throughout the state at its annual
convention last month in Albany.
Hilary Tann, professor of music, has composed “From the Song
of Amergin” for harp trio, performed recently at Williams College; and “Of Erthe
and Air”(for flute, clarinet, and frame drums), performed by Dinosaur Annex at Paine
Hall, Harvard University. Also, the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, conducted by
Gerhardt Zimmermann, is to premiere “Here, the Cliffs,” a violin concerto which
Tann completed earlier this year.
A book by David R. Gerhan, professor, Schaffer Library — Bibliography
of American Demographic History, the Literature from 1984 to 1994 (Greenwood Press,
1995) — has been recognized as one of the “Best Bibliographies in the Field of
History,” a tribute awarded by the American Library Association's Reference and
User Services Association (the History Section of its Bibliographies and Indexes
Committee). The award is given biennially “to honor outstanding English-language
book-length bibliographies in the field of history.”
John Sowa, professor of chemistry, has been named to a Community
Advisory Panel by Schenectady International Inc. and the Chemical Manufacturer's
Association. He was an observer at a recent emergency drill at SII's Rotterdam
Junction plant. Sowa also received OSHA Hazardous Materials training as a member of a
Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).
Jean Sheviak, associate professor, Schaffer Library, is a member
of the New York State Electronic Doorway Library Action Committee, which has completed
work on a draft of the third statewide technology plan, “Doorways to Information in
the 21st Century: Every New York Library an Electronic Doorway Library.” She was
elected president of the Board of Trustees of the Capital District Library Council and to
a term on the SCCC Library Resources Committee.
Diane Keller, director of academic computing; Ted Gilman,
assistant professor of political science; and Mary Parlett, senior computer
information consultant; gave a presentation on electronic classrooms at a recent meeting
of the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC) at Franklin & Marshall College. David
Cossey, executive director of computer services, was organizer and moderator. Cossey
was re-elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of CLAC, and was re-elected
as chair of the board for the 1997-98 year. Cossey also spoke on “Internet2, Other
Networking Developments and Other Technology Developments of Interest” for a group of
academic library directors at their recent meeting, “Academic Libraries 2000: The
Economics of Electronic Information.”
Margaret Schadler, research professor of biology, presented a
paper titled “DNA Profiles Indicated That Captive Pine Voles Can Become Highly Inbred
in a Laboratory Colony” at the 77th Annual Meeting of the American Society of
Mammalogists at Oklahoma State University. The paper presented evidence from DNA
fingerprinting that pine voles trapped in the wild will inbreed to the degree that little
or no genetic difference can be distinguished among members of the population.
David A. Cotter, visiting assistant professor of sociology, has
published a paper titled “All Women Benefit: The Macro-Level Effect of Occupational
Integration on Gender Earnings Inequality” in the October issue of The American
Sociological Review. The paper, written with JoAnn DeFiore, Joan Hermsen, Brenda
Marsteller Kowalewski, and Reeve Vanneman, shows how, even after accounting for
individual- and occupational-level characteristics, the level of occupational integration
in a metropolitan labor market reduces the difference in women's and men's
earnings. The paper resulted from an NSF-funded research project on the determinants of
work-related gender inequality.
Martin Benjamin, professor of photography, and his wife, Donna
Fitzgerald, are exhibiting the photographs Made In Italy at LuLu Gallery
through Dec. 2. The couple lived and traveled in Italy for four months in the fall of 1995
while leading a Union term abroad. The show consists of 40 black and white 16- by 20-inch
prints of photographs depicting life in Italy. They were made in Florence, Urbino, Buono
Convento, Venice, Pisa, Arezzo, Siena, Montalcino, Lucca, Rome and Sicily.
Karen N. Williams, counselor for the Health Professions Programs
and adjunct associate professor of biology, and George H. Williams, professor of computer
science, published, with two of their colleagues, a paper “Screening for Postpartum
Depression: An Antepartum Questionnaire” in the April 1997 issue of the Journal of
Reproductive Medicine. The paper represents the culmination of more than 20 years of
research conducted at Maimonides Hospital, Albany Medical Center, Ellis Hospital and Union
College.