Posted on Jan 15, 1998

Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic will return to the Schenectady Museum – Union College Concert Series for her second appearance on Friday, February 6, at 8 p.m. in Union College's Memorial Chapel.

The program is to include Sonata No. 16 in G, Op. 31, No. 1 by Beethoven; Images, Book II and L'isle Joyeuse by Debussy; Fantasies, Op. 116, and Paganini Variations, Book II by Brahms.

Born in Dubrovnik, Tomsic gave her first public recital at age five. After playing for Claudio Arrau in London, she came to New York with her family where she studied with Katherine Bacon at the Juilliard School. In 1954, she presented a Carnegie Hall recital attended by Artur Rubinstein, who included a glowing account of the occasion in his memoirs. Tomsic subsequently studied with Rubinstein for two years before returning home to Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Regarded as a pianist of legendary stature in the former Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe, American audiences have only in recent years been reacquainted with Tomsic's playing since her triumphant return with recitals at the Newport Music Festival in 1989 and 1990. Also known as an exceptional orchestral collaborator, Tomsic has performed with the Boston Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony, Monterey County Symphony, and the Louisville Symphony.

She has released over 40 recordings that have brought her world-wide acclaim and renewed attention from American audiences. In addition to “The Art of Dubravka Tomsic” and the “Favorite Encores” recordings, she has recorded concerti by Brahms, Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg, Liszt, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Saint-Saens, and Schumann, and recital works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Mozart and Scarlatti.

Dubravka Tomsic continues to live in Ljubljana and teaches at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

Memorial Chapel is located near the center of the Union campus. Parking is available on campus and on nearby sidestreets.

Tickets, at $20 ($8 for students), are available in advance at the Schenectady Museum (518)382-7890 and at the door at 7 p.m. For more information, call 372-3651.

Posted on Jan 15, 1998

Four weekly lectures begin Feb. 5

From the climate of Venus to the Kyoto summit, Union's Environmental Studies program will explore a range of topics related to global climate change. The four-part seminar series is to highlight the advances in understanding various aspects of climate change, and to address the increasing awareness of the public.

Talks are presented by Union College professors who are involved in aspects of climate change in their scholarship.
These hour-long lectures address various aspects of global climate change and will be followed by discussions with the speakers and other guests. All talks are free and open to the public.

The schedule

February 5, 7:30 PM, Reamer Campus Center Auditorium

The determining factors of planetary surface temperatures: A comparison between the greenhouse effect on Earth and Venus

Dr. Jonathan Marr, Physics Department, Union College

Can we learn anything about global climate change by looking around the solar system? What determines the temperature of a planet? The Moon's atmosphere and climate and the extreme greenhouse effect on Venus are examined in order to better understand the dangers posed to Earth's climate by the burning of fossil fuels.

February 12, 7:30 PM, Nott Memorial

Global warming and El Niño: A geological perspective

Dr. Donald T. Rodbell, Geology Department, Union College

Natural Archives of global climate change over the last several million years preserved in marine sediment, ice cores, tree rings, and lake sediments will be reviewed as background for addressing the current debate over global warming. The last two million years have been some of the coldest in Earth's recent history, and natural climate change is now thought to have occurred over extremely short intervals. El Niño will also be examined from a geologic perspective.

February 19, 7:30 PM, Nott Memorial

Global Warming–What, Me worry? The effect on plants and animals

Dr. Peter L. Tobiessen, Biology Department, Union College

The earth has cooled and warmed repeatedly over the last several million years. Just 10,000 years ago, the Schenectady area was under an enormous glacier that flowed southward to New York City and Long Island. Despite this incredible disruption, most plants and animals survived. Will more species be lost this time?

February 26, 7:30 PM, Nott Memorial

Global Warming and the Global Economy:
The Policy Challenges from Kyoto

Dr. James M. Kenney, Economics Department, Union College

Can the nations of the world reach an agreement to balance their economic needs and the need to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases? What should the U.S. position be? An economist assesses the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the unresolved policy issues, and the consequences for the U.S. and other economies.

For more information go to http://zircon.geology.union.edu/es/98seminar or call John I. Garver, Dir. Environmental Studies, 518-388-6517

Posted on Jan 9, 1998

Brenda Wineapple, Washington Irving Professor of Modern Literary
and Historical Studies, has published an essay, “Gertrude Stein and the Lost Ark:
Woman Is a Woman Is,” in the winter 1998 issue of The American Scholar. Featured
on the magazine's cover, the essay recounts Wineapple's discovery of a Gertrude
Stein manuscript while researching her dual biography, Sister Brother Gertrude and Leo
Stein. The Johns Hopkins University Press has just released that biography in
paperback edition.

Amanda Leamon, assistant professor of French, has published a
book titled Shades of Sexuality: Colors and Sexual Identity in the Novels of Blaise
Cendrars, with Editions Rodopi BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She is also the author
of an article titled “Simultaneity and Gender in the Premier Livre
Simultané,” which appeared in the fall 1997 issue of Symposium.

Posted on Jan 9, 1998

A committee has been formed to review the professional performance of
Gail Golderman, electronic media librarian at Schaffer Library. Committee members are
David Gerhan (chair), Maribeth Krupczak and Annette LeClair. Members of the College
community who wish to provide written comments about her performance, development,
scholarship or service should contact a member of the committee, care of Schaffer Library,
by Jan. 30. Interviews may be arranged by contacting the chair at ext. 6614.

Posted on Jan 9, 1998

Saul Morse has been named Web coordinator at the College.

He will be responsible for the construction and management of the
College's official Web site, Internet publishing training, electronic media planning
and development, and Intranet development. He is working in the College's Office of
Public Relations.

Tim Noonan has been named director of residential life, it was
announced. He succeeds Trish Williams, who has been named associate dean of
students, with responsibility for residential life and multicultural student affairs.

Among other recent appointments, Jerold Johnson has been named
assistant director of student activities; Janet Mattis and Shelly Shineburger
have been named assistant directors in the Career Development Center; Kimberly
Mitchell, co-coordinator of the Science and Technology Entry Program; Rachel
Seligman, director of the Mandeville Gallery; and Virginia Solomon, coordinator
of instructional technology.

James Dunn has been named assistant manager of dining services,
and Page Bonapartian has been named assistant manager of Upperclass Dining Hall.

Among changes in rank or title, Diane Blake has been named vice
president for finance and administration; Alice Marocco, major gifts officer; Lucille
Paludi, assistant to the vice president for finance and administration/budget
specialist; and Kathleen Schurick, associate dean of students.