Posted on Sep 18, 1998

Among new members of the College community this fall are:

Jason Nistico, circulation supervisor, Schaffer Library; Colleen DeAngelo, textbook
clerk, bookstore; James Haas, rink maintainer; Michael Zeglen, lead cook, Upperclass
Dining; Eleonara Esposito, line server, Dutch Hollow; Beth Persons, line server, Dutch
Hollow; Harry Key, utility person, Dutch Hollow; Roberta Carlson, stock person, Dutch
Hollow; John Robich, officer, Campus Safety; and Dean Scacchetti, officer, Campus Safety.

Also, Gregory Roman, building supervisor, athletics; Dean Edwards, assistant men's
basketball coach and building supervisor, athletics; Heather Quaintance, senior systems
analyst, Office of Computer Services; Jouri Kolomiets, assistant crew coach; Kenley Smith,
assistant crew coach; David D'Agostino, assistant coach for women's basketball
and baseball; Elizabeth Edgecomb, residence life coordinator; and Carolyn Akpan, assistant
director of educational studies.

Also, Gloria Taylor, night cleaner; Deborah Miller, capital gifts assistant; David
Casso, landscape specialist; Mark Badurak, assistant athletic trainer; and Michelle
Fulton, officer manager/receipts coordinator, Annual Giving.

Posted on Sep 18, 1998

Trying to sell the old Toyota? Or, looking for a ride to Ithaca next weekend?

The College's new Web site can help. Among its features are areas for classified
ads and a ride board.

It also boasts a site-wide search engine, alumni discussion forums, personal Web page
registration, a new on-line site map and more detailed information for prospective
students and alumni.

“The site should be easier to navigate and it is extendable so that it will fill
the needs of the College for the years ahead,” said Saul Morse, webmaster, who
designed the site and launched it over the summer with collaboration from the
College's Web policy board.

The site can be found at www.union.edu.

Posted on Sep 18, 1998

This fall, the College welcomes 18 new faculty members. Continued from last week, they
are:

Kofi Benefo, assistant professor of sociology, earned his Ph.D. and
master's in sociology from the University of Michigan, a second master's in
sociology from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor's degree from the University of
Ghana. His interests include African culture and fertility, household demographics and
economies in sub-Saharan Africa, and sociology of the family.

Mark Brandriss, visiting assistant professor of geology, earned both his
master's and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University, and his bachelor's degree
from Wesleyan University. His teaching and research interests include igneous and
metamorphic petrology, geochemistry, hydrothermal systems, stable isotopes and
paleoclimates.

Tia Gafford-Williams, post-doctoral fellow in Africana studies, earned her Ph.D.
from Temple University, her master's from the University of Central Arkansas, and her
bachelor's from the University of Arkansas. Her interests include 18th-century
American literature, African and African American literature, the Harlem Renaissance and
women's studies.

Melinda Goldner, visiting assistant professor of sociology, earned her Ph.D.
from Ohio State University, master's from Washington State University, and
bachelor's degree from Tufts University. Her teaching and research interests include
health, illness and medicine; social movements; gender and family.

(Continued next issue.)

Posted on Sep 18, 1998

Plans are under way to renovate two homes the College owns on Lenox Avenue — the
Parker-Rice House at the corner of Lenox Road and Union Avenue, and the guest house at
1294 Lenox Rd., said David Grzybowski, director of Campus Operations.

The College this summer received permits from the Schenectady City Zoning Board of
Appeals to use Parker-Rice as the new home of College Relations (now housed in North
College and Fero House) and to use 1294 Lenox Rd. as a theme house for students, it was
announced by President Roger Hull. Both are expected to be ready for occupancy by next
fall.

The College also received a permit from the city to build a 40-car parking lot east of
Achilles Rink at the former site of the Delta Phi house, which has been demolished.

Among campus projects recently completed (or nearly complete) by Campus Operations
staff and contractors:

Renovations to Old Chapel to convert it to a versatile student social space. It will
include exterior stairs and an elevator to connect it with the Rathskeller and a patio in
Mrs. Perkins’ Garden;

Construction of a disabled access ramp and interior renovations of Memorial Chapel;

Replacement of roof, windows and exterior masonry at Alumni Gymnasium;

Renovations to the west-facing Library Plaza to add pavers, benches, stairs and ramps;

Exterior painting of Social Sciences and Humanities; and

Addition of 20 parking spaces east of Memorial Field House.

Among projects to be started soon are the addition of two new tennis courts next to the
four existing ones along Union Avenue, which will allow for the conversion to green space
of two courts nearest Humanities and Schaffer Library.

Posted on Sep 18, 1998

Historical novelist Thomas Mallon, hailed by John Updike as one of the most interesting
American novelists at work, will speak on “Photography and Historical Fiction”
on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

The talk is free and open to the public.

Mallon is well known for his historical novels, among them Henry and Clara, part
of this fall's freshman preceptorial discussions, which includes frequent references
to the College. His essays and reviews have appeared in GQ, Harper's, The
New Yorker, Architectural Digest, and in many other periodicals.