Posted on Feb 6, 1998

Galen Wood Ewing, who taught chemistry at the College from 1946 to 1957,
died Jan. 19 at the age of 83 in Las Vegas, N.M.

After Union, he held positions at New Mexico Highlands University in Las
Vegas, N.M., and at Seton Hall University, from which he retired in 1979. After
retirement, he continued to teach at New Mexico Highlands University and at Carleton
College.

He earned a B.S. from the College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. from
the University of Chicago.

He was author of a number of books including Instrumental Methods of
Chemical Analysis, Chemistry: A Survey of Principles and Analytical
Instrumentation: A Laboratory Guide.

Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Alice Katherine Ewing.

Posted on Feb 6, 1998

Gary Y. Okihiro, professor of history and director of Asian American
studies at Cornell University, will speak on “Whose History Is It Anyway?” on
Monday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

A nationally renowned expert in Asian American studies, Gary Okihiro is
the author of several award-winning books on Asian American history and has built Asian
American Studies programs at Cornell University and elsewhere. Okihiro is editor of the Journal
of Asian American Studies and has served as president of the Association of Asian
American Studies. Also a scholar of African and African American history, Okihiro
addresses larger questions of ethnicity and gender in America. His lecture examines the
nature of history and the place of Asians in American history.

A reception will follow in Old Chapel.

The lecture is sponsored by the English Department, Minerva Committee,
Internal Education Fund, East Asian Studies Program, Women's Commission and History
Department.

Posted on Feb 6, 1998

Humorist Bertice Berry, a popular college-circuit lecturer and host of
USA LIVE, a daily live interactive talk show, will speak on “Diversity on College
Campuses” on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. in Reamer Campus Center Auditorium.

Berry is keynote speaker for the College's celebration of African
Heritage Month sponsored by the College's African and Latino Alliance of Students.

Berry earned her master's and Ph.D. in sociology from Kent State
University and quickly developed a reputation for using humor as a tool for learning,
becoming one of the most sought-after lecturers on the college speaking circuit.

Her schedule now includes more than 200 appearances a year. She has been
a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN's Sonya Live, Crossfire, Black
Entertainment Television (BET), National Public Radio's Morning Edition
and many other national programs.

Her books include Bertice: The World According to Me; Straight
from the Ghetto, and the recent I'm On My Way But Your Foot is On My Head: A
Black Woman's Story of Getting Over Life's Hurdles.

Berry also is an accomplished singer and starred in “The Little
Black Girl Who Did,” a musical play adapted from her book, Bertice: The World
According to Me.

Other events in the College's celebration of African Heritage Month
include:

— Tuesday, Feb. 17, 7 p.m., Reamer Campus Center Auditorium.
Prof. Adrian MacFarlane, professor at Hartwick College, speaks on the theme of the
month-long celebration: “Digging Deeper to Soar Higher.”

— Wednesday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m., Reamer Campus Center Auditorium.
“Black Jeopardy” transforms the popular game show into an education experience
as contestants test their knowledge of black history.

— Feb. 23 through 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Reamer Campus Center
Atrium. Vendors of African-American arts and crafts.

— Saturday, Feb. 28, 5 p.m., Old Chapel. “The
Production,” a student variety show, is a tribute and celebration of black history.

Co-sponsored by the History Department, Africana Studies and the
Academic Opportunity Program. For more information, call ext. 6961.

Posted on Feb 6, 1998

Friday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m., Memorial Chapel. Pianist Dubravka Tomsic
performs a program of music by Beethoven, Debussy and Brahms in the Schenectady
Museum-Union College chamber series.

Friday, Feb. 6, through Monday, Feb. 9, 8 and 10 p.m., Reamer Campus
Center Auditorium. Film, Devil's Advocate, presented by the film
committee.

Monday, Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m., Nott Memorial. Gary Y. Okihiro,
professor of history and director of Asian American studies at Cornell, on “Whose
History Is It Anyway?” (see story this issue)

Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m., Reamer Campus Center Auditorium.
Humorist Bertice Berry, a popular college-circuit lecturer and host of USA LIVE, a daily
live interactive talk show, speaks on “Diversity on College Campuses” as
keynoter for the College's celebration of African Heritage Month. (See story this
issue.)

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m., Nott Memorial. Washington
personality Linda Chavez, head of the Center for the New American Community, speaks on
“Inside Washington: A Political Perspective.”

Thursday, Feb. 12, 4 p.m., Nott Memorial. Gary Prevost '69,
of the political science department at St. John's University in Minnesota, will talk
on “Cuba After the Pope: Is the Cold War with America Over?”

Thursday, Feb. 12, 4:30 to 6 p.m., Arts Atrium. Opening reception
for “Then to Now: Former Photography Students Exhibit Recent Work.”
Photographers include Timothy Archibald, Markus Fenger, Mitchell Friedman, Adam Licht,
Trinh Thai and Tina Tryforos. Archibald will give a slide lecture on Feb. 12 from 2 to 3
p.m. in Arts 215.

Thursday, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m., Nott Memorial. Prof. Donald
Rodbell, geology, speaking on “Global Warming and El Niño: A Geological
Perspective.” The lecture is the second in the four-part series on global climate
change sponsored by Environmental Studies.

Friday, Feb. 13, 8 p.m., Performing Arts Studio. Prof. Tim Olsen,
piano and trumpet, joins Loren Schoenberg, saxophone, in a performance of new and classic
jazz works. Schoenberg, a Grammy-winner and curator of the Benny Goodman Archives at Yale
University, will give a lecture on Feb. 13, at 1:30 p.m. in Arts 215.

Through Feb. 16, Arts Building, second floor. Selections from
Fall 1997 photography students.

Through March 6, Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial. Abstract
drawings and sculptures by Prof. Chris Duncan on display.

Posted on Feb 6, 1998

Don't ask Eric Cohen for the fish basket and fries. The menu board
on the wall of his studio is only a relic.

The upper Union Street building that still looks and smells like the
fish fry joint it used to be is where Cohen turns amorphous blobs of hot glass into things
like bud vases, cups and sculptures.

When the junior art major from Rockville Center arrived at Union in the
fall of 1995, fresh from a glass workshop in Eugene, Ore., he was eager to continue his
art. So he created his own program.

He approached his sculpture professor, Chris Duncan, with a proposal to
do an independent sculptural exploration in glass and steel and set up his studio. Now in
his junior year, he has moved far beyond his first independent study.

“Glass is an exceptional medium because you get to work with it in
its different states,” said Cohen. “You start with a solid and work with a
liquid only to return it to the original state, but the new shape is one that you have
created. It is also important to understand that a piece that took hours to blow can
easily break with one careless slip of the hand. It is a real test of patience,” he
said.

Cohen took time away from his studio this past August to intern with the
Amses Cosma Co. near New York City. There he observed a new approach to working with
glass. Cohen observed techniques for mixing and formulating colors, creating molds that
were later cast into sconces (decorative lighting fixtures), as well as etching and
sandblasting.

“There are many techniques to blowing glass,” he said. “I
have so much to learn and that is exciting.” The highlight of the experience was
working on the restoration of a Polish Synagogue in the heart of New York City, a project
that gave him experience with his minor in art history, he said.

Cohen's thirst for the arts runs in the family. His sister, Nina
Cohen, a '97 Union grad, was an art history major who works for a New York City
gallery. His grandmother was a stone sculptor whose creations were part of the Cohen
household.