Posted on Feb 19, 1999

The Union-Schenectady (US) Initiative, announced in October as a
broad-based plan to revitalize the neighborhood to the immediate west of the campus, will
address a critical College issue – increasing housing options for students.

“We have, as of February 1, acquired 37 properties in the US Initiative
area,” said Diane Blake, vice president for finance and administration. “The
majority of the residences on Seward Place will be used to house students, which will help
generate revenue and move us closer to our long-range goal of becoming a true residential
College. In all, we're planning to house 100 students on Seward Place.”

Students will begin moving into renovated apartment-style housing in September.
Residences will have three to four bedrooms with a total of eight students per house.
“Apartment-style housing is what students have been asking for,” Blake added.
“It really is a win-win-win; the students' needs are met, the College expands
its housing services and a neighborhood gets a boost.”

Posted on Feb 19, 1999

Friday, Feb. 19, through Monday, Feb. 22, 8 and 10 p.m.
Reamer Auditorium.
Film: Meet Joe Black.

Friday, Feb. 19, 8 p.m.
Memorial Chapel.
Chamber series presents Brentano and Borromeo String Quartets in a program of works by
Haydn, Thomas Adés and Mendelssohn.

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m.
Nott Memorial.
“The Literature of Slavery – Narrative, Biomythology and Fiction,” by
Carolyn Mitchell, Women's Studies. Part of the College's dual exhibit on the
American slave experience.

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m.
Olin 115.
William S. Helmer, former environmental counsel with the state Attorney General, on
“Navigability of Waterways in the Adirondacks: The Adirondack League Club v.
Kligerman et. al.,” a case that has implications for the recreational use of rivers
in New York State.

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 7:30 to 10 p.m.
Olin Auditorium.
“First Light” ceremony for Union College Observatory.Yervant Terzian, chairman
of astronomy, Cornell University, will speak on “The Magnificent Universe.”

Thursday, Feb. 25, 11:30 a.m.
Memorial Chapel.
Founders Day convocation.

Thursday, Feb. 25, 5 p.m.
Olin 115.
“Paleoclimatology of the Tropical Andes: The Record from Lake Titicaca” by
Geoffrey O. Seltzer, Syracuse University.

Through March 12.
Social Sciences Lounge.
Exhibit of color photography by James E. Schuck titled “Three Feet From the
Street.”

Through March 19.
Arts Atrium.
Photography exhibit “Looking at Youth” features works by Donna Fitzgerald and
Mark McCarty.

Posted on Feb 19, 1999

The “mud lot” at the
College's northwest corner will soon be a memory.

Plans are under way to pave and line the Nott-Seward lot, long a source of aggravation
and muddy shoes. The upgrade is part of the project area for the Union Schenectady
Initiative in the Seward-West neighborhood.

Plans also call for sidewalks, parking islands, new lighting and emergency phones,
according to David Grzybowski, director of facilities services. The lot will hold about
200 cars, he said.

Work will be done this summer, with completion by the fall.

Modernization of the former Guest House at 1294 Lenox Rd. begins soon to prepare it for
use as a 16-bed theme house this fall.

Among other projects, restoration of Abbe Hall (the former Parker-Rice building) at
Lenox Road and Union Avenue is to start in late spring. Within a year, Abbe Hall will be
the home of College Relations. Renovation of the new home for Admissions (the current AD
Phi house) is to start July 1, with targeted completion by June 2000. Work on the
now-vacant Fero House (which will be the new home for AD Phi) is to start April 1, with
completion by this fall. Among renovations will be a new dining and kitchen area. (Alumni
Affairs, most recently in Fero, has moved to 27 Terrace Lane.)

Two tennis courts will be added next to Lamont House. Courts to the south of the
Schaffer Library reading area will be returned to “green space.”

Posted on Feb 12, 1999

Feb. 1, 1999

1. The minutes of Jan. 25, 1999 were approved.

2. The AAC heard a presentation by Josh Mondlick on the problems associated with the
common lunch hour. Many students attended. According to the data presented, because of the
common lunch hour, by 12:45 p.m. there is not sufficient seating available in the
Upperclass Dining Room to meet the student demand. Currently, there are 310 students
needing seating; prior to the schedule change there were 270 students. Josh proposed a new
scheduling system that would allow for two meeting times on Tuesday and Thursday, each two
hours and fifteen minutes long. The Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule would revert to the
pre-common lunch hour. Considerable discussion ensued. Student visitors to the AAC spoke
in favor of this change. The AAC will continue the discussion at its next meeting.

3. Linda Stanhope reported that President Hull had assured her that he had not made the
statement attributed to him in Concordiensis that if the Board of Trustees decides
that it will not entertain any formal proposals concerning the calendar change, “the
idea will be killed and that will be the end of it.”

Posted on Feb 12, 1999

How to improve the College's housing and social life – with
special attention to the Greek system – is the assignment of a new committee of
students, faculty and staff.

Formation of the committee – which is calling itself U2K (for Union 2000) –
follows a report last fall that made a number of recommendations about the future of the
Greek system at Union. The report, prepared by a different committee, suggested a number
of steps that would, it said, “preserve the traditions of Greek life that are
consistent with an academic community that values open inquiry, seriousness of purpose,
diversity of opinion, and a broad and equitable choice of residential and social
options.”

The U2K committee will look at housing, pledging, rush, social life and student-faculty
relations. Its members include Kate Stefanik '01, Liz Kaier '01, Matt Berry
'00, Noah Trugger '01, and Charon O'Neal '00; Professors Suzanne
Benack, Alan Taylor and Scott Scullion; John Vero '97, Dean of Arts and Sciences
Christina Sorum; and Dean of Students Frederick Alford.

The committee invites comments, which should be sent to Alford.