Posted on May 28, 1999

A lecture by Edward Stanton on his 30-day pilgrimage on the Camino de
Santiago across Spain will have special meaning for Professors Victoria Martinez and
Louisa Matthew and their students. They will be hiking the famous trail this summer.

Stanton's talk on “Walking Across Spain: The Camino de Santiago”
is Thursday, May 27, at 7 p.m. in Hale House's Everest Lounge.

Stanton, professor of Spanish at the University of Kentucky and author Road of Stars
to Santiago, found his journey a life-changing experience. “My life was in a
shambles, I felt exhausted by work, my marriage was foundering,” he said. “When
finally I had the time to make the journey, I prepared my backpack, found a walking staff,
flew to Spain and took to the road. I knew what I was fleeing from, not what I was
seeking. The Camino would teach me that and many other things.”

The area is rich with history. Thousands of pilgrims teemed along the Camino in
search of the remission of sins thought to be the prize for reaching Compostela. James A.
Mitchener calls the route to Santiago the best in Spain and one of the finest anywhere. He
says of Stanton, “Edward Stanton has joined this host of believers and recounts his
adventures with stylish conviction.”

Posted on May 28, 1999

Thursday, May 27, 7 p.m.
Everest Lounge, Hale House
Edward F. Stanton, professor of Spanish at the University of Kentucky, on “Walking
Across Spain: The Camino de Santiago.”

Through Saturday, May 29, 8 p.m.
Yulman Theater.
Cabaret by Kander and Ebb, directed by Diane Sadak. Admission $7; students/seniors
$5. Call ext. 6545.

Friday, May 28, 12:15 p.m.
Science and Engineering, N 304
Physics colloquium with Janet Van Blerkom on “The Musical Sound.”

Friday, May 28, 7 p.m.
Memorial Chapel.
Dr. Sally Downham Miller on “Mourning and Dancing,” a talk on grieving the loss
of a loved one.

Friday, May 28, through Monday, May 31, 8 and 10 p.m.
Reamer Auditorium.
Film committee presents A Civil Action.

Through May 30.
Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial.
Work by painter Stephen Pace on exhibit.

Thursday, June 3, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Reamer Center Patio.
Concert of original works by students of Prof. Tim Olsen's “Jazz Workshop”
class.

Through June 13.
Social Sciences Lounge.
Photographs by Michalena Skiados '99 from 1998 anthropology field study in Barbados.

Posted on May 28, 1999

When Cecilia Oballe and Kris
Gernert-Dott '86 walk through the dark rooms of 243 Park Ave., a fire-damaged
two-story brick Victorian with plywood for windows, they see kids playing, laughing and
learning.

“It takes some vision to see this as a school,” Oballe admitted during a
recent walk through the building that she and Gernert-Dott plan to open this fall as the
Montessori Toddler's and Children's House. “But everybody says we can do
it.”

Encouraged by College officials, contractors, and especially parents, the pair are
moving ahead with plans to start two Montessori programs: one for toddlers 18 months to 3
years, another for pre-schoolers ages 3 to 5. The use was approved last week by the City
Planning Board. Work is expected to start shortly. The construction management firm is
Bast-Hatfield of Clifton Park, which the pair say enthusiastically embraced the project
and is renovating at a substantial discount.

Mostly through word-of-mouth, the Montessori Toddler's and Children's House
is almost fully enrolled at 30 students – 12 toddlers on the first floor, 18
pre-schoolers on the second – in morning sessions Tuesdays through Fridays. Oballe
and Gernert-Dott say they are considering offering an afternoon session. Plans are to have
a one-to-five instructor to student ratio for the toddlers, and a one-to-nine ratio for
preschoolers.

The possibility of the Montessori House presented itself as Oballe was looking to
expand the school she runs out of her Schenectady home. As the College was launching the
Union-Schenectady Initiative, a partnership to revitalize the “College Park”
neighborhood west of campus, Gernert-Dott approached Diane Blake, Union's vice
president for finance and administration, about a new home for the school.

“Things came together at the right time, so I encouraged them to explore it
because it fits so well with what we are trying to do in that neighborhood,” Blake
said. “I look at that neighborhood as a place that values education, and the
Montessori school fits right in with that.”

The College bought the building for a “reasonable price,” and has worked with
Oballe and Gernert-Dott to arrange for financing and renovation, Blake said.

As a number of parents have commented, the exterior of the brick building makes it look
like a school. Inside, even through the soot of a fire that appears to have caused only
superficial damage, the building looks inviting with its fireplaces, parlors and large
windows. A vacant lot on the building's south side will be used for parking, and the
back yard has plenty of room for a playground.

Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, left medicine in 1906 to start Casa di
Bambini (Children's House) for about 60 young children of working parents in
Rome. The premise of what has become the “Montessori Method” was simple:
children learn, with some assistance, by absorbing knowledge from their surroundings and
their interest in manipulating materials. Among Montessori's early American promoters
were Thomas Edison and Helen Keller.

Oballe, who is married to Union geology professor Donald Rodbell, is a certified
Montessori instructor. Gernert-Dott, associate dean of admissions at Union, plans to lend
her talents to both the Montessori School and the College's admissions office.

Photo above: 'Takes
some vision' – Cecilia Oballe, left, and Kris Gernert-Dott '86 (with
daughter Tori) stand before what will be the Montessori Toddler's and Children's
House at 243 Park Ave.

Posted on May 24, 1999

Schenectady, N.Y., May 24, 1999 —
The Talmud says, “When a man's
passions bewilder him, he should put on black clothes and travel to a place
where he is not known.” That is exactly what Prof. Edward F. Stanton, author
and professor of Spanish at the University of Kentucky in Lexington did.
Stanton will present a lecture on his personal journey Thursday, May 27, 1999, at 7 p.m., in Everest Lounge of Union College's
Hale House. The lecture is titled “Walking Across Spain: The Camino de Santiago.”

Stanton, author of a new book, “Road of Stars to Santiago (The University Press of Kentucky), found
his journey a life-changing experience. He says, “My life was a shambles, I
felt exhausted by work, my marriage was foundering. When finally I had the time
to make the journey, I prepared my backpack, found a walking staff, flew to
Spain and took to the road. I knew what I was fleeing from, not what I was
seeking. The Camino would teach me that and many other things.”

The area discussed by Stanton is rich with history,
since thousands of pilgrims teemed along the Camino de Santiago in search of
the remission of sins that was thought to be the prize for reaching Compostela.
James A. Mitchener calls the route to Santiago the best in Spain and one of the
finest anywhere. He says of Stanton, “Edward Stanton has joined this host of
believers and recounts his adventures with stylish conviction.”

Stanton, a prominent speaker in the U.S., Spain and
Argentina, has a Ph.D. in Hispanic languages and literature from UCLA with a
dissertation on Federico GarcRa Lorca. In addition to publishing and teaching on
modern Hispanic literature, Stanton works on comparative literature and popular
Spanish culture and has published on such topics as Hemingway in Spain and the
contemporary pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

The lecture, in addition to being of general interest
to the public, will come alive for students of two Union professors, Victoria
Martinez and Louisa Matthew, who will be hiking the famous trail this June and
July with their students. At the present time, the students are taking a
pre-requisite course in preparation for their trip.

Hale House is located near the center of Union's campus. Parking is
available on side streets. For more information about the lecture, contact
Professor Martinez at (518) 388-6359 or Professor Matthew at (518) 388-6371.

Posted on May 21, 1999

John Miller, technical director of Yulman Theater, designed the
lighting and worked with students from the Schenectady City School District's School
of Fine Arts on their production of “Twelfth Night, Or What You Will” by William
Shakespeare at Proctor's Theater recently. The program, in conjunction with The Blue
Roses Theatre Company and Proctor's, focused on involving Schenectady students with
professionals in the field. It was made possible by a grant from the Henry M. Butzel
Family Foundation. “Theatre is a great educational experience,” Miller said.
“The process teaches us what we can accomplish through cooperation, collaboration and
leadership, and it teaches us respect and trust in ourselves and for others as we work
together.”