Posted on Mar 7, 2003

The African Company Presents Richard III, which opened this week in Yulman Theater, is based on the real story in 1821 of the first black
theatrical group in America
as it battles racial prejudice with violent interpretations of white theater. The troupe's motto: “Say ya Shakespeare like ya want.”

African Company continues Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, at 8 p.m. Last performance is Sunday, March 9, at 2 p.m.

Written by Carlyle Brown, the play
is directed by Joanne Yarrow.

The seven member cast includes
Phil Chorba, Jamera Simmons, Ijeoma Genevieve Mbamalu, Charles Holiday, Jhulian Newell-Little, Andre Lake and Vanya Konn.

“The play is not about the black
experience,” said Yarrow. “It's about the perseverance of the human spirit.”

In 1821, the first black
theatrical troupe in the country, the African Company of New York, was putting on plays in a downtown Manhattan
theater to which both black and white audiences flocked, according to the
playwright's notes. Shakespeare is the chosen cultural battleground in this
retelling of a little known, yet pivotal event in American history. Knowing they are always under prejudicial pressures from white society, and facing their own internal shakeups, the African Company battles for time, space, and audiences and togetherness. Their competition, Stephen Price, an uptown,
Broadway-type impresario, is producing Richard III at the same time as the African Company's production is in full swing. Price has promised a famous English actor overflowing audiences if he plays Richard in Price's theater. Fearing his large white audiences will be lost to the African Company, Price manipulates the law and closes down their theater.

For more on the Yulman production
of African Co. see: http://idol.union.edu/~simmonsj/theater/africanco.html

For tickets and information, call
the Yulman Theater box office at (518) 388-6545.

Posted on Mar 7, 2003

Dawn Edmiston has been named
director of marketing and communications at Union,
following a national search. In this newly created position, Edmiston will
develop and oversee an integrated approach to the College's marketing and
communications efforts.

“Dawn's wealth of expertise will have a campus-wide impact. She will play a critical role in positioning and advancing the mission of the College,” said Dan Lundquist, vice president of admissions, financial aid and communications. “She has a deep appreciation for and familiarity with higher education. That, with her industry-based knowledge, is a powerful combination.”

Edmiston most recently managed the cross-industry marketing efforts for IBM Business Consulting Services – Washington Consulting Practice. Prior to joining IBM, Edmiston worked at Discovery Communications Inc. (Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel (TLC),
Travel Channel, Animal Planet and Discovery Channel Online) where she oversaw the international marketing strategies for consumer products and services in Asia-Pacific and Europe.

She has worked in marketing and communications roles with Visibility Public Relations New York, John Robert Powers Guam, Washington Performing Arts Society and Trustco Bank.

She is a graduate of Columbia University and Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, and also studied at London Business School.
She is an adjunct faculty member at University of Maryland University College.

Posted on Mar 7, 2003

Stephen Ritterbush, managing
partner of Fairfax Partners, has been named to the College's Board of Trustees, it was announced by Stephen Ciesinski, chairman of the board.

Ritterbush earned bachelor's
degrees in civil engineering and political science from Union
in 1968.

“I am delighted to welcome Steve
Ritterbush back to his alma mater,” Ciesinski said. “His
leadership and experience will serve the board and this College very well. I
look forward to working closely with him to advance Union College.”

“The undergraduate degrees I
received from Union provided a great bedrock for my career, and the bonds of friendship forged there remain important to this day,”
Ritterbush said. “I am personally excited to become a trustee during this
important period of growth and opportunity for the College.”

Fairfax
Partners in Vienna, Va.,
is a private equity investment firm. Ritterbush has founded more than 25 companies
including ISR Solutions, the world's largest privately held security systems
integration company; and AppNet Systems, Inc., a company that provided a variety of web-based services ranging from inventory management to web page design, that ultimately was sold to an internet service provider. Currently, he is chairman of HealthAspex, a third-party benefits administration company and serves as president and CEO of TRAXUS Technologies, a supply-chain systems
integration and security company.

With Johnson & Johnson,
Ritterbush formed two investment partnerships that nurtured the growth of medical device and drug technology companies. Today, two of the portfolio companies are Indigo Medical, a Johnson & Johnson-owned company and a leading developer of less invasive laser surgery; and CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading developer of drugs for dental and dermatological diseases.

Besides his Union degrees,
Ritterbush also earned a master's of science degree in oceanography from the Department of Geophysics at the University of Hawaii; and a master's degree in law and diplomacy and a Ph.D. in international economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University. Ritterbush was also a Rockefeller Foundation fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.  While at Union he
studied at the University of Stockholm, Sweden, in 1968.

Ritterbush serves on the Dean's
Council at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and is a director of the Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute.

As a student at Union, he was active in the All College Council, a class officer (president for three years), and a member of WRUC, the College radio station. A captain of Union's lacrosse team, he is remembered for scoring five goals in a season finale 13-9 win over RPI, while his broken hand was in a cast. He also scored 4 goals and 3
assists in Union's 12-7 win over Syracuse in 1966.

Posted on Mar 7, 2003

Seared dry scallops and Maine
lobster claw served in hand-rolled spinach.

Cappellini nests with truffle oil
and lobster jus lie.

Lamb lettuce with jicama, radish relish
and crispy brie.

Perhaps not everyday fare for most
students. But those culinary works of art garnered some recognition for the impressive skills of Union's chefs.

The trio of Stefan Krul and
Dan Raymond and Executive Chef Will Roy brought home three medals in “Cuisine Magic 2003,” a competition sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation and sponsored by the Northeast Health Foundation at the Empire State Plaza on Sunday, March 2.

The Union chefs won gold medals
for their appetizer (the scallops dish) and New York
State product (baked polenta stuffed with white beans), and a silver medal in the overall competition. The Union menu also included an entrée (baked stuffed chicken in a granny smith apple) and dessert (Vienna spirals rolled in pistachio croquant with raspberry coulis).

Union's chefs competed alongside their counterparts from seven of the area's finest restaurants in a point system in categories ranging from appetizer to dessert.

“It's an honor to have our chefs and our program recognized along with the most respected chefs and restaurants in the area,” said Callie Stacey, director of catering and resident dining. “There was a good deal of surprise [among the competitors] that Union has that level of
excellence.”

“It was a challenge for them to gear up for this competition, to go beyond their regular duties here and create an entirely new menu,” she said. “They really rose to the occasion.”

And the most often-asked question after the competition: “Do Union students eat that kind of food every day?”

Well, yes. Variations of the dishes have been appearing on the menus for a while, Stacey notes. On Monday, for example, students enjoyed a version of the Vienna spirals dessert. And chicken Normande, which uses the same ingredients as the stuffed
chicken dish, has been a favorite at Krul's demonstration station.

Posted on Mar 6, 2003

There is music in the air, thanks to David Stone '06 and Ed Moulton '37.

Stone, a first-year student, is at the console of the College's chimes at the top of Memorial Chapel. Moulton, who played the same chimes some sixty-five years ago, is the man who made the thrice-weekly concerts possible.

“I'm honored to be doing this,” said Stone, who works the levers on the eleven-note “chimola” to ring out such tunes as “My Country Tis of Thee,” “Ode to Old Union,” and “Amazing Grace.” (The
chimola has eleven wooden handles, or levers, that Stone presses down to strike a note. The levers are connected to metal rods that extend upward about fifteen feet to where the bells are.)

Stone climbs the steep, dark stairs to the chapel belfry to play each Monday and Wednesday between 12:30 and 12:50 p.m., and Friday afternoons. He also plays during special College events.

Though the bells toll on the quarter hour, it has been more than thirty years since there has been a regular chime player on campus. It seems likely that Peter Smith '70 was the last regular. Smith, who has performed chimes concerts at a number of alumni events, showed Stone the ropes last fall.

Stone, an economics major and music minor who makes money playing piano at weddings and parties, became interested in the chimes when he heard “First Watch,” a composition by Professor Hilary Tann, performed on the carillon at Albany City Hall. He soon received scores for some fifty tunes–including eight Union songs–that Moulton transposed in the scale of F just for the Union chimes.

Moulton was paid $150 by President Dixon Ryan Fox in 1937 for
a year of service at the chimes. He recalls hearing the 9:45 bells and racing to the belfry in time to play a few tunes to call students to 10 a.m. chapel. “I must have missed it a few times, or been late due to snow, but nobody ever called me on it,” recalls Moulton, who went on to a career as an accountant and a lifelong hobby as a musician (including the directorship of the Schenectady Light Opera).

Moulton played the chimes at his 65th ReUnion last June. “The stairs were steeper than I remember, and at the end of he day
the palms of my hands were sore,” he said. “But it was such fun.”

Stone is collecting a repertoire of songs from Moulton and
Smith, and he is transposing a few tunes himself. He
welcomes suggestions from both on-campus and
off-campus listeners.