Posted on Jan 15, 1999

Friday, Jan. 15, through Monday, Jan. 18, 8 and 10 p.m.
Reamer Auditorium.
Film Committee presents Urban Legend.

Friday, Jan. 15 and Saturday, Jan. 16, 8:02 p.m.
Yulman Theater.
Proctor's Too presents The Shoulder, a “chamber opera” about an
elderly farmer who drives a mowing tractor 250 miles to visit his ailing brother. Tickets
$15, $10 for students.

Tuesday, Jan. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Nott Memorial.
Storyteller Jay O'Callahan tells “The Spirit of the Great Auk,” part of
Perspectives at the Nott series.

Thursday, Jan. 21, 1:30 to 3:20 p.m.
Memorial Chapel.
Dancer Ken Pierce presents workshop on Baroque dance.

Thursday, Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m.
Nott Memorial.
Gallery talk and opening reception with Sue Eakin, co-editor of Twelve Years a Slave,
in conjunction with dual exhibit on American slave experience.

Friday, Jan. 22, at 8 p.m.
Memorial Chapel.
Ken Pierce Baroque Dance Company will present a concert, “The Splendor of Baroque
Dance.”

Through Feb. 7.
Arts Atrium.
“Under Pressure,” an exhibit of works by 10 Capital Region printmakers.

Through Feb. 7.
Arts Atrium.
“Sicula Sixhentsa XA Sisonke: The South African Aesthetic” a show curated by
Harris Wiltsher.

Through March 12.
Social Sciences Lounge.
“Three Feet from the Street,” photography by James E. Schuck.

Posted on Jan 15, 1999

Union College was ranked 14th of U.S. colleges in
the number of students who studied abroad during 1996-97, according to a survey by the
Institute for International Education (IIE), published Dec. 11 in The Chronicle of
Higher Education.

Union last year was ranked 8th, 11th the year before.

Union had 249 students – more than 12 percent of the enrollment — study
abroad during the 1996-97 academic year, the period of the study by the IIE.

St. Olaf's College topped the list with 599 students, Colgate University was
second with 427, and College of St. Benedict/St. John third with 417. The IIE survey
ranked institutions that grant bachelor degrees.

An accompanying article in The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that
nearly 100,000 U.S. students who studied abroad in 1996-97 represented an 11.4 percent
increase over the previous year. The statistics are from the organization's annual
report on international education exchange; the most recent edition “Open Doors
1997-98,” was just released.

Highlights of the report can be found on the IIE Web site: www.iie.org/opendoors/.

Posted on Jan 14, 1999

A dual exhibit opening Jan. 14 in the Nott Memorial explores the

American slave experience.

• Twelve Years a Slave: The Kidnapping, Enslavement & Rescue of Solomon Northup.

  Photographs, prints, documents and artifacts retell the story of Solomon Northup, a

  resident of Saratoga Springs, who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery.

• Powre Above Powres: Passing Freedom. Installation exhibit by Terry Adkins, which

  features a series of sculptures and drawings inspired by the story of Solomon Northup and

  attuned to the architecture and geometry of Union's Nott Memorial.

The exhibit opens Thursday, Jan. 14, at 4:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial with a slide

lecture and reception with artist Terry Adkins. A reception and gallery talk by Sue Eakin,

co-editor of the 1968 book Twelve Years a Slave is set for Thursday, Jan. 21, at

7:30 p.m. The exhibits run through March 14.

Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. to 5

p.m.; Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.

A number of events to be presented throughout the exhibit will be detailed in future

editions of the Chronicle. The complete listing follows:

NOTED. EVENTS ARE FREE/OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

• Gallery talk and reception with Terry Adkins: Slide lecture and opening reception

  for Powre Above Powres-Passing Freedom.

Thursday, Feb. 4 (rescheduled from Jan. 14)

4:30 – 7p.m.

• The Narrative of Solomon Northup: Gallery talk and opening reception for Twelve

  Years A Slave – The Kidnapping, Enslavement and Rescue of Solomon Northup. Dr. Sue

  Eakin, co-editor of the 1968 biography Twelve Years A Slave, will give a

  walk-through of the exhibition.

Thursday, January 21

7:30 p.m.

• The Kidnapping of Free Blacks: Panel discussion of the issue of kidnapping free

  blacks prior to the Civil War.

Friday, January 29

7:30 p.m.

• The Role of History in Contemporary Art: Panel discussion with regional

  African-American artists.

Thursday, February 4

7:30 p.m.

• The Art of Liberation Lost and Found: Lecture by Union Africana Studies Department

  Professor A.T. Miller.

Wednesday, February 10

7:30 p.m.

• “The Blacks Are Supreme”?: African-American Workers and Southern Visitors in

  Antebellum Saratoga Springs: Lecture by Jon Sterngass, History Department, Union

  College.

Monday, February 15

7:30 p.m.

• Poetry Reading: Princeton University Professor and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef

  Komunyakaa will present a work written specifically for the exhibition.

Thursday, February 18

7:30 p.m.

• The Literature of Slavery – Narrative, Biomythology, and Fiction: Lecture by

  Carolyn Mitchell, Women's Studies Department, Union College.

Tuesday, February 23

7:30 p.m.

• Daughters of the Dust (1992, 113 minutes, unrated): Film written and directed by

  Julie Dash, followed by panel discussion led by Edward Pavlic, Africana Studies

  Department, Union College.

Sunday, February 28

Olin Center Lecture Hall, Room 115

7:30 p.m.

• Solomon Northup and the Meaning of Freedom: Lecture by Joseph Logston, co-editor of

  the 1968 edition of Twelve Years A Slave.

Tuesday, March 2

7:30 p.m.

• Passing Freedom: Performance/concert with Terry Adkins and Union College students

  and faculty using four 18 foot-long brass horn sculptures created by Terry Adkins.

Thursday, March 11

7:30 p.m.

Posted on Jan 10, 1999

Union College's Environmental Studies Program presents, A winter seminar series of seven free public lectures:

Thursday, Jan. 21
KILLER LAKES OF CAMEROON, WEST AFRICA

Dr. Curt Stager
Paul Smith's College, Paul Smiths, NY
5:00 PM, 115 Olin Center

Tuesday, Jan. 26
BACTERIAL ECOLOGY: FROM OCEANIC DEPTHS TO BALLSTON LAKE

Dr. Peter Tobiessen
Union College
12:30 PM, 207 Bailey Hall

Thursday, Feb. 4
THE EVOLUTION AND SEDIMENTARY RECORD OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, VERMONT

Dr. Patricia Manley
Middlebury College, Middlebury Vermont
5:00 PM, 115 Olin Center

Thursday, Feb. 18
RECORDS OF CLIMATIC CHANGE FROM LAKES IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN CULTURE

Dr. Jason Curtis
University of Florida, Gainsville
Florida
5:00 PM, 115 Olin Center

Thursday, Feb. 25
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY OF THE TROPICAL ANDES: THE RECORD FROM LAKE TITICACA (PERU/BOLIVIA)

Dr. Geoffrey O. Seltzer
Syracuse University, Syracuse New York
5:00 PM, 115 Olin Center

Thursday, March 4
MERCURY CYCLING IN LAKES

Dr. Elizabeth A. Henry
Exponent, Schenectady NY
5:00 PM, 115 Olin Center

Thursday, April 29
SEDIMENT RECORD OF BALLSTON LAKE AS AN ARCHIVE OF WATER QUALITY

Paul T. Gremillion
Union College, Schenectady New York
5:00 PM, 115 Olin Center

All talks are free and open to the public.

All afternoon talks start at 5:00 PM, with refreshments served at 4:30.

For information, please call (518) 388-6770.

Room assignments and times are subject to change.

More information: http://zircon.geology.union.edu

Posted on Jan 8, 1999

Schenectady, N.Y. (Jan. 8, 1999) – Less than two months after Union College announced the Union-Schenectady (US) Initiative, a broad-based community-revitalization program, College employees have come forward to take advantage of the program's home-ownership incentives.

James Dunn, assistant manager in Dining Services, Gloria Taylor-Neal, assistant director of the Academic Opportunity Program, and Donald LaVare, Jr., a Campus Operations Department worker, all accessed the College's Community Mortgage Program to purchase homes in the US Initiative target area, defined by Seward Place, Union Street, and Nott Street. Dunn bought a multi-unit home on Park Ave., Taylor-Neal a single-family on Seward Place, and LaVare will soon call a two-family residence on South Ave. home. Others at Union, including Rebecca Fisher, international student program assistant, have expressed a strong interest in buying a home in the area soon.

“This is the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Dunn said. “My goal was to buy a house within the next two years; the College made it happen by making the entire process easy and affordable.”

Union's Community Mortgage Program, offered to employees, features no down payment, no closing costs, payroll deduction, exterior façade improvement funds, and a fixed interest rate two percent below local banks' no-points first mortgage rate.

“These incentives are very attractive to buyers, particularly first-time homeowners,” said Joe Farry, vice president of Prudential Manor Homes Realtors who helps Union employees purchase homes in the US Initiative area. “I'm very impressed by the amount of activity, especially so soon after the announcement of the program in October. It's really taking off.”

“I would never have had a chance to purchase a home without this program; it will definitely help a lot of people,” LaVare said. “The staff at Union were great. Without them, I wouldn't be moving at all.”

“We are very pleased at the initial response,” said Union President Roger Hull. “Already we've had three purchases, and more staff are close to making the decision to buy. This is proof positive that what we envisioned – a revitalized neighborhood of committed homeowners – is becoming reality.”

For Taylor-Neal, the US Initiative enabled her and her husband to purchase a home immediately, which was a priority. “We adopted a baby girl in September, and we felt it was important to raise her in a home.” she said. “The program was very timely indeed.”

In addition to the Community Mortgage Program, the US Initiative includes a number of incentives designed to spur the neighborhood's revitalization:

• The College will make available scholarships funds of up to $1 million a year to cover the full cost of tuition for children of qualified homeowners. To be eligible, homeowners (and their children) must reside in the area for five years preceding access to the benefit, continue to live there during the period of matriculation at the College, and maintain their property in accordance with the standards set by the to-be-established Union-Schenectady Neighborhood Association. Union is one of two colleges in the nation to offer the scholarship plan for community revitalization.

·

• The College has acquired 30 properties in the US Initiative area, which, following extensive renovations, will be owned and maintained by the College for use as student housing and faculty residences. The process of acquisition and renovation is expected to take 12 to18 months, with an estimated cost of $3 to $4 million.

·

• The College will create the Office of Community Outreach to serve as a center for the exchange of ideas, suggestions and community-focused activity. Staffed by Union students, staff and volunteers from the community, the Office will feature a homework center and tutoring program for local children.

·

• Union's Security Office will be relocated to an address yet-to-be identified in the US Initiative area.

“Projects like this are all about momentum and activity,” added Diane Blake, vice president for finance and administration at Union. “We set out to jump start this area, and our employees are stepping forward. We're looking forward to welcoming others from outside the College to join us in this important effort.”