Posted on Aug 1, 2001

After making the rounds on
Capitol Hill recently for support of a Union initiative, I walked to the
Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson is one of my heroes, and I always enjoy the
beauty of the memorial.

On this visit, I was struck by Jefferson's observation, chiseled into the marble, that “…laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As
that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of
circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.”

In keeping pace with the times, we need to recognize that there are limitations as to what we can do, and I think it is important to understand those limitations as Union embarks on several changes.

Perhaps the most basic characteristic to recognize is that we are a small college. I happen to think smallness is a virtue because it encourages the kind of close student and faculty interaction that has long been a hallmark of our liberal education. But, at times, smallness can be limiting. It limits the range of academic programs that we can offer, for example, and it means that we cannot be everything that different constituencies might want us to be. In other words, we cannot be all things to all people, since we face practical and very real constraints as we work to make Union even stronger.

I think it is necessary to make this point because recent correspondence and
comments from some alumni and friends suggest dismay at some of our recent
actions. Not only have I no problem with contrary opinions, I am delighted when alumni have a strong interest in their college, an interest that often prompts them to examine its affairs with special watchfulness and to sound an alarm when they feel the institution is on a wrong course.

The key question, of course, is what is the proper course. One need not be a
Jeffersonian to recognize that there cannot be any attempt to preserve the
College as it was at any arbitrarily-selected time. Frankly, such an effort
would be foolish, if only because no one could agree on the moment to be
preserved. For example, we have talked of internationalism. However, in the
1930s, internationalism might have been an exchange student or two; by the
1960s, thanks to Fred Klemm, it meant sending significant numbers of students
abroad for the first time; and today, it means seventy percent of a class
studying on six continents.

I prefer to think that continuous change is itself the one permanent
characteristic of the College. Only by constantly evolving will we meet our
most basic duty, which is to provide the best possible environment for
learning. Indeed, I think that only by doing so does the College preserve the
value of the diplomas it has already granted. Certainly, when those entrusted
with this magnificent institution follow our best judgment in preparing the College for its present and future role, we run the risk of being wrong. Yet, when informed judgment points definitely to a particular course, we must have the courage to act, however that course diverges from the paths of the past. To do otherwise endangers the future health of the College, and there is no more certain way of defaulting on the obligation owed to those who have gone before – the obligation to improve and prosper – than to do nothing.

What, then, is our course? Our course is to produce graduates who have the broadest possible education, who recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, and who eagerly engage in life-long learning for the betterment of themselves and the society of which they are a part. To do that, we must continually strive to create an academic program that challenges students to think, to question ideas
critically, and to come to their own conclusions. And that, I believe, means
continually challenging our own assumptions about Union and by seeking to make the College a community characterized by energy, a range of interests, a taste for innovation, and a respect for serious effort.

Am I implying that those characteristics are not part of the Union fabric? Of course not. Union has an enviable reputation based solidly on the intellectual and personal
achievements of our students and faculty.

Am I suggesting that we must continue to reexamine what we do so that Union will continue to bring out the best in the people here? Yes, most definitely yes. Our students face a complex and rapidly-changing world; it is our duty to provide the best opportunities we can for them to acquire the knowledge, intellectual skills, and habits of mind they will need to succeed. And that cannot be done by remaining ever under the same regimen. To do so, in the words of Thomas Jefferson carved on the wall of his memorial, would be like requiring “a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy.”

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Posted on Aug 1, 2001

On May 10, in conjunction with the Steinmetz Symposium and Prize Day, our annual Scholarship Recognition luncheon was held on campus.  More than 150 scholarship donors and student recipients were in attendance. Tom Gutenberger, vice president for college relations, welcomed all of the attendees and President Roger Hull thanked the many donors for their generous support.  Dennis Sanabia '01, recipient of the William and Mabel Ketz Scholarship, and Olivia Leong '01, recipient of the Joseph Ushkow Scholarship, spoke on behalf of the scholarship recipients.

There are more than 500 endowed scholarships at the College. Endowed scholarships are important to Union
for two reasons — they help attract the best and brightest young men and
women, and they help to build a strong financial base for Union by increasing
endowment.

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Posted on Aug 1, 2001

Tania Magoon '01, a Union Scholar
who had a double major in chemistry and classics, reads the Iliad — in Greek — to relax.

But she put down Homer's epic long
enough last summer to develop an improved testing procedure that could be a boon to lab technicians and prosecutors alike.

Magoon, a native of Pittsfield,
Mass., began her research under the guidance of Professor of Chemistry Tom
Werner. Their goal was to develop a method to separate the narcotic and inactive
forms of the compound propoxyphene, the ingredient in narcotic painkillers.

In only three weeks, she hit pay
dirt.

“I went in to Professor Werner's
office and said, 'I guess I can go home now. I'm done,' ” she recalls.
Actually, Magoon admits, there was much to be done to refine the method, which
was based on earlier research by Michelle Nerozzi '00 and Jen Jakubowski '00.
The project, funded by a grant from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, was part of
Werner's collaboration with scientists at the New York State Forensics Center
in Albany.

The active ingredient in
widely-prescribed painkillers such as Darvon, propoxyphene is among the top ten
most abused substances, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. The
drug's popularity has spawned an illicit trade that authorities are trying to
curb. But success in prosecuting cases has been limited by a tedious and
subjective laboratory procedure that may not hold up in court.

Magoon may have made it easier for
laboratory technicians to detect propoxyphene, a so-called “chiral drug” that
consists of mirror-image molecules, only one of which is the active agent. The
problem – for scientists and for prosecutors seeking convictions for drug
charges – has been that the test involves a tedious and highly subjective observation
of crystal patterns in the sample. There was no “hard copy” of the test
results, only an interpretation.

Magoon found that a cyclodextrin
compound introduced in capillary zone electrophoresis would yield two “spikes,”
one for the L (inactive) form of propoxyphene, another for the D (controlled)
form.

“This has really helped us because
we haven't had the analytical time to do this on our own,” said Warren Hull, a
forensic scientist for the state lab. “For us, this is a new technique, and we
hope we can adapt this directly to other techniques.”

The research by Magoon and Werner
was supported by a Pfizer Pharmaceuticals program known as SURF (Summer
Undergraduate Research Fellowships). At Prize Day this spring, Magoon received
the Robert G. O'Neale Prize (for the highest standing in classics), the
President's Commission on the Status of Women Senior Scholarly Activity Award,
and the Robert M. Fuller Prize (to a chemistry senior for unusual ability in
original experimental work). She received a National Science Foundation
Fellowship (the first to a Union student since 1992) and will enter Harvard
this fall to begin work on a Ph.D. in organic chemistry.

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Posted on Aug 1, 2001

Dinh-Hoa Nguyen '50 was awarded the Union College Eliphalet
Nott medal, posthumously, at a recent alumni event in San Francisco.

Dr. Nguyen, a native of Vietnam,
received a bachelor of arts degree in English and went on to earn a master's
degree and doctorate from New York University. He became one of the most
influential figures in America's Vietnamese community.  He taught English, Vietnamese, linguistics,
and literature for more than forty years and directed the first U.S. center for
Vietnamese studies at Southern Illinois University.  His autobiography, From the City Inside the Red River:  A Cultural Memoir of Mid-Century Vietnam,
was published last year.  He was the
author of several popular bilingual dictionaries and language textbooks as well
as numerous articles and essays in international journals and encyclopedias.

President Roger H. Hull established the Eliphalet Nott Medal in 1995 in recognition of the College's bicentennial. The Nott medal recognizes the perseverance of alumni who have attained great distinction in their fields.  The medal is named for
Eliphalet Nott, president of Union from 1804 to 1866.

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Posted on Aug 1, 2001

On The Plan for Union and social life

Re: The Plan for Union, as reported in the Spring Union College magazine:

Most of the document deserves the highest praise. In years past, Union touted the accomplishments of Eliphalet Nott (and still does) and its
role in being the birthplace of the secret Greek social fraternity system (undoubtedly given little emphasis today). President Nott did not have the good sense to step down in his prime, and the College went into a long period of decline. I think the same can be said for the Greek system. It had its day, and we are clinging to it for reasons that are not apparent to me.
Those who are shunning Union because of secret fraternities and sororities do so for philosophical reasons; exclusivity does not fit into their idea of a unified society. I think that is the question the Board of
Trustees at a respected educational institution should address. We got a compromise.

Yes, I assume that there are those alumni who will disown (probably already have) Union if we tamper with the Greek system. But there are those of us who give the Board of Trustees an “F” for not answering the question. I have the feeling that the board concluded the Greek system is a sore which will go into decline or underground and at some later year, when the bulk of the alumni have limited Greek affiliations, it will be abolished for good.

I was a member of a fraternity and joined in my junior year because that seemed to be the only way to have a social life on the campus in the years immediately following World War II. I now regret my decision to have become a member of a so-called secret and exclusive society. Frankly, as far as I could see, the only secrets were the secrets, and they were not worth knowing anyway.

The name of our college is Union. As I understand it, that name came about because our Dutchmen founders wanted to abolish the exclusive attachment to one religious institution; evidently, a rather radical move in those times. Enough said.

The name of Union's home is Schenectady — an Indian word which means “where the trails meet.” I wish we could say that those trails meet at a Union College which is a Union in name, spirit, and public perception. Greek organizations, in my opinion, tarnish that perception.

Burk Ketcham '48
Tacoma, Wash.

I went to Union from 1976-1978 and transferred to Hofstra University for my final two years, largely because of the structure that existed between the student body and the Greek system.
By not wanting to pledge a fraternity and put up with the hazing that existed at the time, my friends and I felt very much “disconnected” from the Union community because the Greek system virtually controlled the social life on campus. My friends and I brought an old fraternity (Zeta Beta Tau) back to life, based on academic achievement and a social environment not focused on alcohol or hazing. I believe we accomplished our objective. However, my involvement consumed valuable time that I should have used to study, and I felt the only way I could improve academically was to transfer. I truly regret that decision today because I loved Union!

My point is that the new Plan for Union is a dramatic change of direction and introduces new concepts to the Union community. I believe that when they are implemented, Union will be a stronger community that offers an exciting and stimulating experience for the student body.

I have a daughter who excels in high school both academically and in athletics. I am focused on very specific criteria in assisting her search for a college. Without question, academics are number one, and I believe that Union is among the best in that category. Past the academics, I am interested in knowing that her college will offer programs that make her transition to college easy and seamless and will offer a social environment that is not focused on alcohol or based entirely on a Greek system. I believe the Union plan addresses these items.

Dave Swinkin
Hamden, Conn.

The Plan for Union is quite disturbing as it does a great job addressing symptoms rather than problems.

I will be the first to admit that I was not a model student during my tenure at Union, and that the bulk of my learning came outside of the classroom. Nonetheless, the leadership and interpersonal skills I developed as fraternity brother have had a dramatic impact on both my personal and professional life. To underestimate the fraternity experience diminishes the value of the whole college experience. This letter is really about the “college experience” and Union as a brand.

We would all agree that Union is a “brand” with inherent equities, strengths, and weaknesses. And as marketers, we must be objective with regard to our brand's strengths and weaknesses. While many potential students end up elsewhere, it may not be because of the Greek system, but because Union does not offer the “college experience” they are looking for.

A couple of thoughts:

– Schenectady: Not a positive for candidates, especially when compared to college cities like Boston, DC, Philadelphia, or even Durham. The Greek system is the backbone of the social life on a campus that is an island in the community.

– The weather: At $20K plus a year, why not go to college in a nice climate?

– Sports: The Union administration has yet to understand the role sports play in the social life of both students and alumni; perhaps even the role sports plays in alumni contributions. To go back to the brand issue, sports keeps alumni engaged with the Union brand. A visit to a Big 10 school might be in order.

– Curriculum: If you want to attract a more diverse student body, expand the breadth of the economics major to actually include business courses. Strategic planning, brand positioning, general management, public speaking, negotiating, and management courses would certainly be compelling offerings in today's marketplace.

– Image: Union does not get the “ink” it deserves in the ranking of top colleges/universities.
I have represented Union at several college fairs in Wisconsin, and am dismayed at the College's lackluster reputation in these parts. Once again, going back to the brand issue, what is Union? What does it represent? Why would should it be considered? What is its point of difference? To me, this is THE strategic issue facing Union in the twenty-first century, not who has the most square footage per student.

Mark Ziskind '82
New Berlin, Wis.

While at Union I was a member of Phi Sigma Delta and became president (master frater) of the chapter. As a fraternity alumnus I cast my vote with the faculty — abolish the system. It has no place in today's society.

Charles Sills '57, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.C.C.P.
Rumson, N.J.

As a recent graduate of Union, I feel compelled to offer my opinions about The Plan for Union.

While at Union, what struck me the most was our ability for balance. I believe myself to be an intellectual — a reader, a writer, a teacher, and a natural learner — and, as contradictory as it may seem, also a partier. I learned just as much from my experiences outside the classroom as inside. Union is one of the last Utopian college experiences: an intellectual life is present (if you are intelligent enough to find it) as is a social life. Yes, I agree that other social options are long overdue, but they need to be appealing options, in addition to the Greek party life.

Nothing is ever going to supplant the true college party, nor should it — not the best concert in the world, not the best speaker, not the best/contrived “social” space. I think most students enjoyed meeting their friends at a myriad of parties, dancing as though they were at a nightclub, listening to bands that they were lucky to find on a college campus (that never needed any publicity), and feeling comforted to know they could walk home.

Even though I never considered officially joining the Greek system, I grew to appreciate its presence. It is my fear that Union, in trying to control so many things, and please so many different entities, will not compromise, but conform. Too many Union students do that already. What is going to keep us unique? I hope the administration will continue to treat Union students as adults and realize that they cannot monitor every social space, nor “register” every party, because then no real fun will be allowed to take place, and no true lessons will ever be learned.

Heather Leet '99
Boca Raton, Fla.

I am a Union Scholar and a film studies major. I am also a member of the oldest Greek organization on campus, and I've started a Theme House. During my three years here, I have done my best to make my stay here live up to my initial expectations for undergraduate education. Finally, with the Plan for Union, the College has decided to move in the right direction, and it has met my efforts with equal motivation and shared ideals. I now feel a closer tie to the College, and disappointment in the fact that I will not be here when these changes go into effect. I am much more likely now to do whatever I can after graduation to support the College in the future.

Alexander W. Chase '02

As a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, I am at a loss to understand why such an important part of what made Union a great experience for myself and many of my classmates has been determined to be contrary to the best interest of the College.

Beyond the countless contradictory, misleading, and confusing statements and comments contained in The Plan for Union, the attached reports, and the appendices, is the seemingly complete misunderstanding of what constitutes a fraternity. Fraternities and sororities are not “theme” clubs. They are, in effect, families away from home. This is a relationship that cannot be adequately explained unless you are or have been a participant.

The Plan, while severely limiting housing options, seems to assume that every student has the same interests, the same abilities, the same motivations and needs. “All houses will be expected to contribute intellectual, cultural and social events to the campus, participate in the orientation of new students, sponsor community service projects and field teams for intramural competition”. How does the College intend to enforce this expectation? Where in The Plan is
the criteria defining these activities? What is the punishment for failure to achieve these expectations?

Beyond that, what's described in that statement seems to me to be one of the roles fraternities and sororities fulfill as part of their current existence. The intent of The Plan, therefore, would seem to be a desire to create randomly assigned fraternal organizations. Such an outcome, of course, is a practical impossibility.

I understand that all Colleges must assess their strengths and weaknesses to compete for top students and for attracting and keeping a talented faculty, but to eliminate fraternities and sororities, which will ultimately happen as a result of this plan, is the wrong approach. There are numerous statements that place the blame for Union's failure to attract top students and faculty on the dominance of the Greek system. I contend that the reason the Greek system is dominant at Union is because it offers opportunities, experiences, and friendships that are not available elsewhere.

I would hope that the College embarks on one more piece of information gathering. Please survey alumni of ten, twenty, and thirty years ago to see how many former classmates still play an active role in their current life. I believe you will discover that fraternity and sorority members have maintained significantly more Union contacts than non-participants in the Greek system. To me, such a measure of success should outweigh the current belief that Union needs to become a carbon copy of other generic institutions.

Martin Tagliaferro '76
Ann Arbor, Michigan

I was delighted to receive and read The Plan for Union. I was particularly fascinated by the extended and insightful discussion of social spaces. It is alarming to read that only twelve square feet per person is available in independent on-campus housing. However, on further thought, perhaps the configuration of the space is more important than the total square footage. For example, if one plans to use the social space for activities involving reclining, then a two-by-six foot space should be ample unless one were terribly obese. On the other hand, constantly socializing in a three-by-four foot space might be difficult unless one could have an adequate support system — such as a strap suspended from the ceiling.
I was dismayed to learn that Union ranked only twentieth on a list of “party schools” and agree with you that this is hardly a distinction for which we can feel pride. Has our ranking improved lately, and if
Not, what steps are being taken to secure a higher ranking? We should at least be shooting for the top ten.
While fairly comprehensive, The Plan for Union seems to have some significant gaps. For example, I couldn't find any mention at all about where the Social Predestination Room will be or where the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning is in the administrative hierarchy.

Roy H.Webster '42
Portland, Oregon

On engineering

Your magazine for alumni and friends is excellent … I look forward to it. But the current issue raises a very disturbing question. Why don't the pieces by President Hull (“Preserving and adding”) and Dean Balmer (“Engineering for the twenty-first century”) inform us that “converging technologies” at Union will result in the elimination of our 156-year-old civil engineering program? Readers, I think, especially those with careers in engineering and science, will be shocked to find that drastic action to be a part of The Plan for Union. I feel, as I'm sure you do, that the alums should have all the important facts about the plan before it is adopted.

George Sauer '50 BSCE, MCE (RPI)
Mesa, Arizona

The “Up Front” section [of the spring magazine] raises an interesting point. To draw directly from the article, “Edmund Burke was right. As he said, 'Let us add, if we please, but let us preserve what they have left.' ” If this is indeed President Hull's belief, why is he considering closing civil engineering? What could result from requesting changes in a nationally-ranked program versus closing it forever? Irreparable damage to the reputation of the engineering programs as a whole, due to the lack of Union's name appearing with other well-known engineering programs.

In a later paragraph, he states, “In our case, in the case of any historic institution, there is an obligation to be sensitive to tradition. However, there is also an obligation to recognize the need for change – not for the sake of change but for the well-being of the institution. Change without concern for tradition is wrong; adherence to tradition without adaptations to present and future needs is foolish.” Again, I feel that President Hull has hit the nail on the head. While it is true that civil engineering has perhaps not evolved with the times, if this is a determining factor in cutting programs, what of the “classics” of college education? Does this mean that, as California considered several years ago, we should adopt new trends in English (see eubonics), or cut down on the number of history professors? I think not.

Finally, as a civil engineering alumnus, I find it interesting to note that the removal of the civil engineering program was not mentioned in Dean Balmer's rosy article on the future of engineering at
Union. Could it be that he feared the backlash of alumni support with regard to partnerships with industry and summer internships?

While I am not suggesting the civil engineering program be left unchanged, I do not feel that the closure of the program is warranted at this juncture.

Scott Zollo '94
East Northport, N.Y.

See the article “Faculty committee looking at engineering” in “The College” section for an update. — Editor

Teas with Skidmore

In the fall of 1940, as an out-of-town freshman living (frugally) off campus, I was impressed by the fact that Dr. Dixon Ryan Fox, then president of Union, recognized the lack of suitable females for dates for Union freshman. (Union was all male at that time, and classes were held on Saturday a.m. until noon!)

As a result, Dr. Fox arranged with (sort of nearby) Skidmore College (all female at that time) for a Saturday afternoon (4 p.m.) “tea” to be held on the Union campus at Hale House. The number of Skidmore students bused to Union equaled the number of Union freshman who signed up to attend the tea.

Upon arrival, shortly before 4 p.m., the Skidmore students were ushered upstairs and, after “freshening up,” were lined up according to height, as were the Union students located on the first floor. The “pairing” occurred as the two lines met at the bottom of the stairs.

My memory stops there, and I conclude that I know of no lasting relationships resulting from this arrangement.

John M. Waner '44
Newcastle, Maine

John M. Waner was recently honored by the town of Newcastle. The annual town report, sent to all property owners, was dedicated to him for being “a faithful member of the Town of Newcastle's Budget Committee. Many thanks for being watchdog of the town and school budgets.” — Editor

Arthur's footsteps

Re the letter in the last issue about painted footsteps for Chester Arthur: The footsteps from his statue to the bushes and back were there at least from 1955-1959! They were usually painted in green paint, but no one knew who did the painting.

Joe Coons '59
Bellingham, Wash.

Re: Fred Wyatt '32

I realize that your announcement section is basically just a quick blurb. However, dad's service to Union was considerably more than stated. Just to name a few, he started the outing club and the Freshman Record; he was an All American in lacrosse, played in the 1932 Olympics, and later was inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame; he coached freshman football and varsity lacrosse; he convinced the board of trustees to dedicate the field house to those who had fallen in WWII from Union, and to start the financial drive he gave one year's salary to Union; he was the director of admissions, the director of alumni affairs, and the director of placement; and for years after his graduation he led the annual fund campaign as the class representative.

He served in WWII and Korea aboard the Lexington and Yorktown at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and retired from the Navy after twenty-eight years of service. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College for four terms and was a regional director of the Red Cross. He was buried at Arlington in his Navy uniform with a Union pin on his lapel. He loved Union, and the number of family and friends that are Union alumni would fill several pages. As you may be aware, Taps is the final tribute at a military funeral. How fitting that Daniel Butterfield, a Union alumnus, wrote it.

Scott Wyatt '88
Boyds, Md.

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