Posted on Jan 15, 1999

Donald T. Rodbell, assistant professor of geology, organized and co-chaired a
theme session of about 30 papers titled “Terrestrial Records of Late-Glacial-Holocene
Climate Change in the Americas” in October at the Geological Society of America
annual meeting in Toronto. He presented a paper, co-authored by Paul Gremillion,
assistant professor of civil engineering, on the results of a sediment core, which spans
the last 2,000 years, from the bottom of Ballston Lake. Rodbell also co-authored three
papers, two of which were with students Jeremy Newman '97, Chris Moy
'98 and Peter Castiglia '99 on lake sediment's records of recent
global climate change from high-elevation lakes in the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Andes.

Terry Weiner, professor of political science, and Jennifer Schwartz
'98 presented a paper at the Northeast Political Science Association meetings in
November in Boston. The paper, titled “The Politics of Pre-School Special Education:
A Case Study of the Pataki Reform Effort in NYS,” was based on Schwartz's senior
thesis, which explored the reasons New York State has been unable to increase compliance
with federal guidelines on integration and mainstreaming of disabled children.

Posted on Jan 15, 1999

An exhibit of color photography by James E. Schuck in the Social Sciences lounge
explores the fascinating and often beautiful world that lies beneath our feet.

“Three Feet from the Street,” a series of a 19 two-by two-foot color
photographs of streets, sidewalks, bridge gratings, potholes and manhole covers, runs
through March 12.

Schuck's photographs show a world that has no scale, except for a blade of grass,
a cigarette butt or a footprint. Some appear as satellite photographs of mountainous
continents, others as lakes in the middle of deserts. Some look like starry skies. But a
closer look reveals that nearly all have some small clue that they are part of the city
underfoot – tire marks, pieces of broken glass, gum wrappers, paint, oil.

Schuck created the images by tripod mounting a Hasselblad pointing straight down at the
street. He used a Carl Zeiss 80 mm lens, with a minimum focus distance of three feet
– hence the name of the exhibit. His work often drew curious crowds, particularly for
one picture taken near a drive-through window at a McDonald's.

Posted on Jan 15, 1999

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson is to speak on Monday, Feb. 1, at 6:30 p.m. in
Memorial Chapel. Distribution of tickets for this campus-only event will be announced
shortly.

Posted on Jan 15, 1999

Renowned storyteller Jay O'Callahan will ply his craft on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at
7:30 p.m. in Union College's Nott Memorial.

He will tell a story titled “The Spirit of the Great Auk.”

His talk is part of Union's Perspectives at the Nott, a series of talks that are
free and open to the public.

With nothing more than a chair and a glass of water, storyteller and performer Jay
O'Callahan has thrilled audiences worldwide. In his newest story, “The Spirit of
the Great Auk,” he tells of a lone kayaker's four month journey in the North
Atlantic.

Posted on Jan 15, 1999

One year ago, Rachel Seligman, director of the Mandeville Gallery, and Clifford Brown,
professor of political science, had never heard the name Solomon Northup.

This week, after a year of exhaustive research with students on the free man from
Saratoga who in 1841 was kidnapped into Louisiana slavery, they will begin sharing
Northup's story and the American slave experience in a special dual exhibit in the
Nott Memorial.

Twelve Years a Slave: The Kidnapping, Enslavement and Rescue of Solomon Northup
and Powre Above Powres: Passing Freedom opened Thursday in the Nott Memorial.
Seligman curated the Northup exhibit with assistance from Khayree Miles '01 and
Wendyanne Ramroop '01. Brown conducted research for the show with help from Heather
Buanno '98, Heath Fradkopp'00, Miles and Ramroop.

After reading Solomon Northup's autobiography Twelve Years a Slave, first
published as a bestseller in 1853, Seligman and Brown agreed to ask Terry Adkins, an
internationally renowned sculptor and musician, to create a site-specific installation for
Union in response to Northup's story. Adkins' exhibit, Powre Above Powres:
Passing Freedom, reflects on the themes of the book and is tailored to the unique
architecture of the Nott Memorial.

“Then we came up with the idea of supplementing Adkins' exhibit with another
exhibition to retell the story of Northup's life – a presentation of the source
and the art it inspired,” Seligman says. The result, two complete exhibits in the
Mandeville Gallery and Dyson Hall, is a remarkable exploration of both Northup's
experience and the general themes of slavery.

Seligman and Brown decided to include students in the research, and asked Buanno,
Fradkoff, Miles, and Ramroop to help. “It was a fabulous opportunity for students to
do original research, and we could not have completed the exhibit without them,”
Seligman says.

“Our aim was to build from the core of the text supporting documentation to tell
Northup's story visually,” Seligman explains. “Therefore, we had to go back
and search for various items and places referred to in the book.” Dozens of
photographs, prints, documents and artifacts, including the bill of sale into slavery,
retell the story of the kidnapping and eventual rescue of Solomon Northup.

“Most everything you see in the exhibit represents an enormous investment in
time,” Brown explains. The students, along with Brown, conducted research in local
libraries and historical societies, searched for Solomon Northup's living ancestors,
and traced Northup's journey to Washington and Louisiana as they collected new
information and took photographs for the exhibition.

“This exhibit is significant because it touches on so many different areas of
interest,” Seligman concludes. “It is regionally and historically important,
Solomon Northup's narrative is superbly written, music plays an important role in his
spiritual survival, and Terry Adkin's work is an evocative and provoking commentary
on slavery.”

The exhibits are on display through March 14.