Posted on Jun 1, 2001

With nearly 1,000 alumni and friends registered on Wednesday morning, ReUnion 2001 was on pace to break last year's turnout of more than 1,300.

ReUnion runs through Sunday with a variety of events ranging from the traditional (parade and fireworks) to the unusual (trolley tours to the Erie Canal).

The annual ReUnion parade at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday will be followed at 11 a.m. by the presentation of Alumni Gold Medals to Robert M. DeMichele '66, Richard J. Killeen '51, and David A. Viniar '76; and the Faculty Meritorius Service Award to Stephen M. Berk, the Florence B. Sherwood Professor of History and Culture.

ReUnion 2001 also marks a return to one large alumni dinner instead of separate events for classes, Famulare said. “Alumni remember this and they have been asking to return to this one large dinner for the Society of Alumni,” he said. “We'll do a special tribute to the 50^th ReUnion Class of 1951, and end the evening with fireworks near the Nott Memorial.”

Members of the Union family coming to ReUnion range from an alumnus of the Class of 1935 to a student from the Class of 2004 (attending with his parents), Famulare said. One alumnus is coming from Chile, another from Switzerland.

For details, visit the Web site: go to Reunion web site

Posted on Jun 1, 2001

Meeting the Fridge

Rich Romer '88, formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals, remembers well his first meeting with William “The Refrigerator” Perry of the Chicago Bears.

“That's not going to look good on TV,” Romer remembers thinking after the 400-plus pounder ran over him on a kickoff return.

The next time, though, Romer got the best of Perry, leaving him on the ground at the end of the play.

“Find the biggest guy and punch him in the mouth,” Romer said.

It's an approach that might work better in, say, pro football than in the business world. But Romer made his point at the inaugural Athletics Senior Appreciation Dinner on Tuesday: take on the best and you'll learn how to win.

Romer, the keynoter at the dinner that honored 78 senior athletes, said that what he learned at Union in the classroom and on the field was the best preparation for finding success in life.

Romer, a mechanical engineering major who played defensive end for Union football, graduated with an armload of academic and athletic awards. After graduation, he went on to play for a year with the Bengals, which won the AFC conference title and went to the Superbowl. He is a product and marketing manager for Plug Power.

Prizes included sophomore female athlete of the year, Jill Ring; sophomore male athlete, Ridgley Harrison; freshman female athlete, Victoria Kuzman; and freshman male athlete, Adam Retersdorf. Val Belmonte presented the athletic director's awards to the senior athlete of the year, Melissa Matusewicz, and to the coach of the year, Brian Speck.

The event, held at the Edison Club in Rexford, ended with a video of the year's athletic highlights that also included a portrait of each senior.

Posted on Jun 1, 2001

Faculty are to vote by mail ballot on whether to approve an interdisciplinary minor honors program that would be open to students who apply during the fall of their sophomore year.

Steve Leavitt and Karen Brison, directors of the Union Scholars program, described the “second scholars” program known as the Seward Interdisciplinary Fellows at a meeting of the faculty on Tuesday.

“Prospective students who were not invited to apply (as Union Scholars) will have a chance to participate,” Leavitt said. “The (Seward Interdisciplinary Fellows) program is for high-performing students already here.”

Open to students from any discipline who have at least a 3.5 GPA, Seward Fellows would take at least seven courses from at least two departments and complete a faculty-supervised independent project that will be supported by up to $1,000. Fellows would be allowed to take one extra course tuition-free if they maintain at least a 3.2 GPA.

Students who apply would be asked to complete a form and write an essay that “makes logical sense in terms of a theme of courses, much like we ask of organizing theme majors,” Leavitt said.

The Union Scholars Program has 51 members of the incoming class. The targeted enrollment for the first year of the Seward Interdisciplinary Fellows would be about 20, Leavitt said.

The Academic Affairs Council has approved the program.

Faculty also are to vote by mail ballot on a number of faculty governance positions. The positions and candidates are: two at-large AAC positions (Tom Jewell, Mary Carroll and George Shaw); SAC (John Cramsie, Jon Marr); FRB (Jim Adrian); FAC chair (Bill Zwicker); and FAC alternate chair (Karl Zimmermann).

Faculty approved changing the minimum term of junior faculty member of the FRB from two years to one. The change allows junior faculty not to serve during a review year, explained Tom Werner, chair of the FEC.

Kimmo Rosenthal, associate dean for undergraduate studies, urged faculty to limit the use of incomplete grades and to address them before the deadline. “As painful as it might be, we have to try to enforce the rules,” he said. “This is fundamental in terms of fairness to other students.” There were 197 incompletes given at the end of last term, he noted. Registrar Penelope Adey said that long outstanding incomplete grades affect her office's work with the committee on standing, class ranking, Latin honors and monitoring seniors for graduation requirements.

Dianne Crozier, associate dean of admissions, gave a report on admissions, which saw a 41 percent admit rate (compared to 47 percent last year) and a yield rate of 34 percent (29 percent last year).

Faculty approved the granting of degrees to 466 undergraduate students, and 152 graduate and continuing studies students.