Posted on May 17, 2002

Converging technologies took on a new meaning
during Steinmetz Symposium on Friday when seniors
Scott Bichan and Heather Babcock were having some
trouble getting their musical shoes to work for a TV reporter.

In a moment of inspiration that looked like it came straight out of MacGyver (the TV series whose main
character had knack for finding solutions in tight pinches), Bichan solicited a piece of chewing gum from the audience. Seconds later, he used the chewed gum to reattach a loose wire on one of the shoes' circuit boards.

And Babcock, who was wearing the shoes, went
on with the show.

Posted on May 16, 2002

Schenectady, N.Y. (May 16, 2002) –
Ambassador Dennis Ross, who for more than 12 years played the leading role in
shaping U.S. involvement with the Middle East peace process, will speak on Tuesday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Chapel at Union College.

His talk, part of the Frederick E.
Miller Lecture Series in Honor of Anwar Sadat, is free and open to the public.

Ross led U.S. involvement in the
Middle East peace process and in dealing directly with the negotiations. As the architect of the peace process, he was instrumental in assisting the Israelis and Palestinians in reaching the 1995 Interim Agreement, and he brokered the Hebron Accord in 1997. He facilitated the Israeli-Jordan peace treaty and worked to bring Israel and Syria together.

Ross, recently appointed director
of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he believes the Clinton administration has laid the foundation for eventual Arab-Israeli peace. “The taboos have been broken and the core issues have been de-mystified. The question is not whether there will be peace, but when. Of course, the 'when' is profoundly important because the potential for more violence, more victims, and more pain, remains quite real.”

Ross is the first chairman of a
new Jerusalem-based think tank, the Institute for Jewish People Policy
Planning, funded and founded by the Jewish Agency.

A scholar and diplomat with more
than two decades of experience in Soviet and Middle Eastern policy, Ross worked closely with Secretaries of State James Baker, Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright.

Prior to his service as Special
Middle East Coordinator under Clinton, Ross served as director of the State
Department's Policy Planning office during the Bush administration. In that
position, he played a prominent role in U.S. policy toward the former Soviet
Union, the unification of Germany and its integration into NATO, arms control
negotiations, and the development of the Gulf war coalition. He served as
director of Near East and South Asian Affairs on the National Security Council
staff during the Reagan administration, and as Deputy Director of the
Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment.

President Clinton has awarded
Ambassador Ross the Presidential medal for “Distinguished Federal Civilian
Service” and Secretaries Baker and Albright presented him with the State
Department's highest award.

For calendar listings:

Speaker: Ambassador Dennis Ross, architect of U.S. role in
Middle East peace process

Date: Tuesday, May 28

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Place: Memorial Chapel, Union College

Cost: free and open to public

Information: 388-6131

Posted on May 16, 2002

Schenectady, N.Y. (May 16, 2002) – In celebration of Women's Health Awareness Month several Union College and community organizations will gather in front of the Reamer Campus Center to promote awareness of various women's health issues. The
event runs Thursday, May 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Union College groups involved in the fair include Safe Space, G.E.T. AWARE, Womyn's Union and Union College Health Services.  Several external organizations (Planned Parenthood, the YWCA, the American Cancer Society, the Girl Scouts and St. Clare's Hospital) have volunteered to set up informational tables.

Each group involved will cover a unique topic related to women's health, ranging from looking at cytology slides through a microscope, to learning how to give a breast self-examination, sexual assault awareness, and reproductive health.

The Women's Health Fair at Union is sponsored by the Obenzinger Scholars and is open to women and men of all ages from the Capital Region. For more information, call Fred Papali at 388-8226.

Posted on May 16, 2002

Nikki Stone '97, who won a gold medal in freestyle aerial skiing in the 1998 Olympics, is now busy as a motivational speaker.

Stone retired from skiing in 1999 after winning medals in thirty-five World Cup events. Her perseverance-including training and competing while still a student and recovering from a serious back injury-forms a basis for her talks. (Her perseverance was recognized by the College in 1998, when she was awarded an Eliphalet Nott Medal, given to alumni who through perseverance achieve great distinction.)

Stone took winter terms off to launch herself into the air at World Cup events. Taking classes in the fall and the spring, she graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology. A native of Massachusetts, she now lives in Park City, Utah, and, with her husband as her manager, operates “Podium Enterprises.”

Still involved with the Olympics, she was part of a group that went to Greece to bring the Olympic flame to the start of its cross country journey across America. She also helped design the uniforms worn by the athletes in the opening ceremony and is involved with charities such as Olympic Aid.

Posted on May 16, 2002

The Schenectady connection

I recently saw part of an old 1940s war movie starring Errol Flynn called Objective, Burma. In the scene I saw, a war correspondent is interviewing a man in Flynn's unit. The young man tells the correspondent that he grew up on Crane Street in Schenectady and went to Union College. Thought you would be interested.

Ian MacDonald '55
Beacon, N.Y. 

From the editor:

One of the screenwriters on Objective, Burma was Ranald MacDougall, born in Schenectady in 1915. His other screenwriting credits include Mildred Pierce and Cleopatra, and he directed a few movies in the 1960s. He died in 1973 in Los Angeles. Objective, Burma, released in 1945, was nominated for an Academy Award.

Readers who know of other Union and/or Schenectady references in the movies are invited to send them to us:

Union College magazine,
Office of Communications
Union College, Schenectady, N.Y. 12308 or magazine@union.edu

More on civil engineering

Union College could have had a strong Civil Engineering Department that interacts with other departments to develop engineers who could tackle the nation's infrastructure problems and develop land with an environmental and community conscience.

By working with the political science program, for example, our engineering undergraduates could understand how governments set policy and issue approvals for the development of new airports, highways, railways, and public transportation systems-issues that will become more critical as our nation's highways and airways become more crowded. Or biology and civil engineering undergraduates could have worked together on water quality issues. Here on the West Coast, storm water runoff from developed projects enters creeks with salmon in them. Since salmon are now an endangered species, providing clean water to them is critically important to ensure survival of the species.

Civil engineers are trained to solve technical problems, but they also need to communicate and work effectively with other disciplines and non-engineers to ensure that the best solutions are implemented. Union had the opportunity to create the civil engineers of the future, and I am disappointed that the College did not continue to maintain a strong Civil Engineering Department.

Kathryn A. Gardow '80, P.E.
Kathryn Gardow &
Associates, Inc.
Seattle, Wash. 

The House System

Re the article on the new House System in the most recent magazine:

I have spoken with numerous alumni about the changes being implemented and have yet to meet one who truly supports Union's plan. I am hopeful, like others, yet I don't believe the changes will work or were necessary.

Once, there was hardly a
college in the country that could offer the education and social development that Union offered. Now Union wants to be like other colleges to achieve higher rankings. Changing Union to make it more statistically attractive is a mistake and negates what Union is about. The school should go back to concentrating on more than academics as a way of measuring itself and take stock in the successes of its alumni. The new plan is forced socialization, will never work, and should be repealed.

Douglas Wilk '87
Harrison, N.Y.

We welcome letters. Send them to: Office of Communications, Union College, Schenectday, N.Y. 12308 or
blankmap@union.edu.