Posted on Oct 23, 1998

Members of the College's United Way campaign
team will begin their work as the United Way campaign for Union runs Oct. 26 through Nov
6.

“We're hoping to make this our most successful
campaign and we need every one's help to do it,” say Kathy McCann and Rich
Patierne, campus co-chairs for the drive. “Please consider a generous contribution to
the campaign.”

The College has increased funding over the past two years
by some 58 percent. Last year, the College received the “Spirit of Giving” award
for increasing dollar and donor totals to $34,788 and 362 donors. In 1997, the College
received the “Campaign of the Year” award.

For information on the campaign, call Patierne at ext.
6187 or McCann at ext. 6093.

Posted on Oct 23, 1998

The Union College Jazz Ensemble, under the
direction of Prof. Tim Olsen, will perform on Friday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m. in Reamer
Auditorium. Special guest percussionist Ray Kaczynski will give the local premiere of
Olsen's Immoderate Acts for trumpet and percussion.

Posted on Oct 23, 1998

Union's Chemistry Department
was well-represented at the 216th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in
Boston recently.

Janet Anderson, professor of chemistry,
presented a talk on “Using Mathematica to teach the applications of group theory in
chemistry.”

Mary Carroll, associate professor of
chemistry, presented a talk titled “Use of Instrumentation in a one-term,
laboratory-based, general chemistry course.” Tara Morcone '99,
and Julia Barkin '00, were co-authors.

Morcone also gave a poster presentation on
“Sol-gel-derived sensor for sulfite based on immobilized methylene blue,”
research performed under Carroll's direction. Kristen Slawinski, '99,
was co-author on the poster as were collaborators from the research group of Prof. F. V.
Bright at SUNY Buffalo.

Michael Hagerman, assistant professor of
chemistry, and Samuel Salamone '00, presented a poster on their
summer project “Surface and intergallery polymerization of aniline and
ortho-substituted aniline monomers on Cu(II)-exchanged hectorite.” Co-author was Charity
McManaman '99.

Thomas Werner, professor of chemistry,
gave a talk titled “Water project: a 'real-world' problem for the quant
lab.” Peter Tobiessen, professor of biology, Karen Lou,
visiting assistant professor of chemistry, and Alexandros Polemeropoulos '98,
were co-authors.

In addition, the 1997-98 Chemistry Club officers (Louis
Carrazzone '98, Allison Ciolino '98, George Lombardo '98, and McManaman)
along with advisors Carroll and Hagerman prepared a poster on “Student Affiliate
activities and chapter successes at Union College (1997-98),” which was presented by Kellie
Forrestall '99, Morcone and Salamone.

Posted on Oct 23, 1998

Complimentary tickets for home men's ice
hockey games will be available for students (one ticket per ID) and faculty and staff (two
tickets per ID) each Monday prior to that weeks' home games.

Ticket window hours are 8:30 to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4:30 p.m.
at the Achilles Rink Box Office.

After Monday, tickets can be purchased at $5 for students,
$7 for faculty and staff.

For more information, call ext. 6134.

Posted on Oct 23, 1998

Byron Nichols, professor of political science, this
fall assumes the post of director of graduate honors and fellowships in addition to his
teaching duties. Many other colleges and universities, have similar full- or part-time
positions, Nichols notes.

“I am not replacing those important members of the
faculty who are doing liaison work,” he emphasizes. “But I hope to work with
them to achieve more.”

In large part, his role will be to recruit prospective
students and cultivate current ones who may be appropriate applicants for fellowships and
grants during their senior year, Nichols said. He plans to contact incoming “A”
admit and honors students, send letters to students of high achievement, and send
pamphlets to faculty describing various programs and their criteria for eligibility.

He also plans to establish a Web site for Union
fellowships, scholarships and prizes with links to homepages of national organizations;
meet regularly with directors of national fellowship programs; consult with department
chairs and other faculty to help identify outstanding candidates; work closely with
students throughout the application process; and organize mock interviews.

Several years ago, a student approached Nichols with a
problem: he had applied for a fellowship and had been invited to New York City for an
interview luncheon, but he didn't know how to use the silverware.

So Nichols brought him to his home where he showed him how
and when to use knife, fork and spoon at a formal dining occasion. “My father was a
member of the clergy, so formal dining was natural to me,” said Nichols. “But it
was something new to this student.”

So began Nichols' idea to formalize the
College's program to encourage promising students to pursue honors and fellowships,
and to teach them all the skills – including formal dining etiquette — that will
make them viable candidates.