Posted on Sep 10, 1999

Ad hoc committees have been formed to consider the tenurability of four

assistant professors: James Adrian, chemistry; Roset Khosropour, physics;

Donald Rodbell, geology; and Stephen Schmidt, economics.

Members of the campus community wishing to offer written or oral

testimony on their teaching, scholarship or college service may contact the

chair or other committee members.

For Adrian, members are Brenda Johnson, mathematics; Leslie Hull,

chemistry; Ann Anderson, mechanical engineering; and Adrian Frazier,

English, committee chair (6207, fraziera@union.edu).

For Khosropour, members are Seyfollah Maleki, physics; David Hemmendinger,

EE/CS, Bonney MacDonald, English; and Susan Niefield, mathematics, committee

chair (6163, niefiels@union.edu).

For Rodbell, members are Ekram Hassib, EE/CS; Stephen Horton, biology;

Kurt Hollocher, geology; and Shelton Schmidt, economics, committee chair

(6218, schmidts@union.edu).

For Schmidt, members are Janet Anderson, chemistry; Clifford Brown,

political science; Eshragh Motahar, economics; and Sigrid Kellenter, modern

languages, committee chair (6212, kellents@union.edu).

Posted on Sep 10, 1999

The College welcomes 20 new faculty members this fall.

With others to be announced in upcoing issues, some of them are:

Rachel Brown, visiting instructor of philosophy, earned her Ph.D.

from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She specializes in political

theory, history of political theory and public affairs.

Quynh Chu-Lagraff, visiting assistant professor of biology, holds her

Ph.D. in molecular neurobiology at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at

the University of Illinois-Urbana. Her teaching and research interests

include molecular biology, cell biology and genetics.

Ian Condry, visiting instructor of anthropology, earned his Ph.D.

from Yale University. He has an interest in Japanese culture and society.

His fieldwork has included explorations of the rap music scene in Tokyo and

Nagano.

Valerie Davis-Manna, visiting assistant professor in the Graduate

Management Institute, earned her Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

with a dissertation on “Health Care Policy Implementation: Caregiver

Adoption of Restraint Minimization Policy in Nursing Homes.” She has

taught marketing and management courses at several institutions.

Posted on Sep 10, 1999

Besides the massive renovation of homes in College Park neighborhood,

facilities services staff and contractors have been plenty busy with

projects on the Union Grounds, according to David Grzybowski, director.

The Nott-Seward parking lot has walkways, lights, emergency phones,

improved drainage and yes … pavement with painted lines to keep everyone

parking in neat rows. The capacity is for 200 cars.

The tennis courts north of Lamont House are being resurfaced, with the

two closest to the corner of Humanities and Schaffer Library being returned

to green space, making the view from the library's south study area a

little more appealing, Grzybowski said.

The Lamont House parking lot has been completed after workers have buried

utility lines there.

Summer projects also have included:

— Renovation of Humanities basement to offices and classrooms,

moving modern languages faculty offices from 36 Union Ave.

— Painting of first-floor classrooms and corridors in Humanities

and Social Sciences.

— Conversion of a classroom to four offices in Social Sciences.

— A new elevator in the Reamer Campus Center.

— Preparation of Fero House to house 14 independent students. (AD

Phi, which was to occupy Fero, lost housing privileges for two years as a

result of vandalism.)

— The guest house at 1294 Lenox Rd. has been renovated for

Thurston House (the East Asian Studies theme house) with occupancy for 16

students.

Upcoming plans for this year include the restoration of Abbe Hall (the

former Parker-Rice estate) for use by College Relations, and the restoration

of 3 Library Lane (former Alpha Delta Phi house) for use by the Admissions.

Posted on Sep 10, 1999

Fourteen members of the Class of 2003 were drum majors in high school,

two were Eagle Scouts, 413 worked part-time jobs, and one owned a business.

These statistics and lots of others on activities and achievements come

courtesy of the Gatekeepers in the Admissions Office, who tallied the

numbers while resting their legs and voices between campus tours last

summer.

Also among the findings, 377 of the 541 members (70 percent) of the

first-year class played a varsity sport in high school, and 128 of them were

team captains. Twenty-one percent reported playing a musical instrument, 8

percent were in vocal music, and an estimated 60 percent did some form of

community service.

The survey confirms something that members of the admissions staff have

known all along: that Union students are highly involved in a range of

extracurriculars and that many of them take on leadership roles, said Betsy

Phelps, assistant dean of admissions, who coordinated the project.

One hundred and ninety four were in student government, including 10 who

were class presidents. Two hundred were members of the National Honor

Society, 149 were on honor roll, and one was a National Merit Scholar.

As for perfect attendance awards? Only two.

“Probably they're the only ones who would admit it,” Phelps

said.

For a copy of the report, e-mail Phelps at phelpsb@union.edu.

Posted on Sep 10, 1999

President Roger Hull invited Union's newest students to join in the

College's tradition of “following the courage of their

convictions” during his address at the opening convocation on Tuesday.

“Members of the class have a wide range of interests, and if they

are anything like the students already here, they will add lively and new

perspectives in many, many ways,” the president said.

Hull began with examples of courage from Union's early history – the

founding of the College by frontier settlers; Eliphalet Nott's 62-year

presidency and his introduction of modern languages, sciences and a planned

campus; the purchase of Alaska through William Seward, Class of 1828; and

U.S. President Chester Arthur's (Class of 1848) dismantling of the

patronage system.

Citing more recent alumni, he spoke of Gordon Gould '41 and his long

battle against large corporations to secure his claim as an inventor of the

laser; Norton Reamer '58, who turned his tiny investment office into

United Asset Management with portfolios of more than $200 billion; and

Andrea Barrett '74, who left biology to write, earning the National Book

Award for Ship Fever in 1996.

He also cited Frank Federici '98, who spoke out against hazing, and

earned the Bailey Cup for his contributions for reforming the Greek system;

Mikhail Iossel, writer in residence, who supported himself as an engineer

and night watchman before emigrating from his native Russia; and Prof.

Steven Sargent, who left a career in engineering to teach history.

The College has followed the courage of its conviction as well, Hull

said, sending the largest contingent of students to the National Conference

on Undergraduate Research, volunteering with the local organizations like

Big Brothers-Big Sisters, and investing in the College Park neighborhood.

Bonney MacDonald, associate professor of English, received the Stillman

Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Of MacDonald, one student wrote in her nomination, “I hated Emerson

when I had to read him in high school, but I truly enjoyed him in (Prof.

MacDonald's) class.” Another wrote, “Her enthusiasm kept me

awake at 8:40 classes in winter term.”

MacDonald thanked her students and colleagues, saying, “When

intellectual vigor and true dialogue take place in the classroom, there's

nothing like it.”

Julia Naftulin '02 received the Phi Beta Kappa Prize for outstanding

achievement in General Education. Maureen Farrell '02 received honorable

mention.

In a reception prior to the convocation, the College recognized 629

students who last year made the dean's list. Their names appear on a

plaque in the Reamer Campus Center.