Posted on Nov 7, 2003

A student representing the Student
Forum has been invited to speak at Thursday's faculty meeting about the AAC
semester proposal, it was announced at Wednesday's faculty meeting by Clifford
Brown, chair of the Faculty Executive Committee.

Meanwhile, Dean of Faculty
Christie Sorum has sent a letter to parents of students explaining the possible
switch to semesters. Her letter and other information on the issue can be found
at a new web site: http://www.union.edu/calendardiscussion.

With faculty this week discussing
the most recent AAC proposal, a motion was expected at Thursday's meeting to
revisit the issue of length of semester, according to Brown.

“According to the procedures we
are operating under, the [current] AAC proposal … is non-amendable,”
Brown said. “To make any change, it would have to be sent back to
the AAC and then brought back to the floor for a vote.”

Brown said the FEC decided to
proceed with the debate as planned but “then allow a motion to this effect to
be brought to the floor on Thursday at the end of the debate, with reasonable
time to discuss it.”

If the AAC makes a change, the new
proposal could be discussed at a faculty meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 12, Brown
said, with a vote possible shortly after that.

Posted on Nov 7, 2003

A team of Union engineering students
will face off against their counterparts from Dartmouth
College next week on the
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) TV Network's new show, Robot
Rivals.

The competition will be taped on
Nov. 13 in Knoxville, Tenn.
The air date has not been set.

Robot Rivals premiered last spring. The show pits student teams in
a grueling competition to build a robot to complete a task. In previous shows
teams have had to build robots that climb flights of stairs or cross a river
with a self-contained bridge. Each team gets access to the show's “robot
laboratory” and a team of experts who can assist. The robot must be designed,
built and prepared to compete in a matter of hours.

“This competition is a great
opportunity for our engineering students to show that they are some of the
brightest in the nation,” said Bob Balmer, dean of engineering. “The producers
of the show researched the best engineering colleges in the country and of
course found Union to be one of them.”

If Union
defeats Dartmouth, they will
advance to the second round the next day. 
Fourteen teams from all over the country are competing in the single
elimination tournament. If Union wins in the first and
second rounds they will return to Tennessee
in December for the semi-finals. The champions will receive the J.F.
Engelberger Trophy which is presented by the “father of industrial robotics”
himself and a $2,000 prize awarded to the College's robotics club.

Posted on Nov 6, 2003

“I've got to admit it was a surprise,” says Greg Eisenhut. “Once they got to college, we didn't think we'd have to chase them around so much.” The “chasing” going on in the lives of Greg and Kathy Eisenhut of Mohawk, New York, revolves around the sports schedules their three children, all of whom play sports year round and all of whom played on different teams last year.

Their oldest daughter, Meredith, graduated from St. Lawrence in 2002. She played soccer, basketball, and softball. In her senior year, she walked away with the title, “National Athlete of the Year – 2002.” Her younger brother and sister are Union's own Cliff and Erika Eisenhut.

Cliff, a senior, decided to pursue his education at Union upon his acceptance for early admissions. “I fit in here,” says Cliff of his first visit to campus. “I felt really comfortable on the tour, and it was what I was looking for academically. I was looking for a small liberal arts college. And from the time I first visited, I loved it here.”

In his three and a half years, the political science major- psychology minor, competed in football and baseball. He is a member of Chi Psi fraternity, and participates in charity events such as the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Currently, he maintains a 3.63 GPA and plans to attend law school after graduation this spring.

“Cliff is an active, gregarious person on Union's campus,” says Gary Reynolds, the College's former head baseball coach who also works with Cliff on the football field. “He is an outstanding student and athlete, having been All-Academic UCAA in both football and baseball as a junior.”

Erika, a sophomore, decided on Union after visiting her brother here. “I looked at one other school in our league,” the youngest Eisenhut says, “But since we come from a small town, I really like the small [college] atmosphere.” She plays soccer, basketball and softball; worked on the America Read program helping school
children with their reading; and made the dean's list with a GPA between 3.8. Though she has yet to determine her major and minor, she studies psychology and math and is thinking about getting her MBA in a five-year program. She is the second three-sport athlete at Union since 1996 (Molly Flanagan played soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse during her freshman year in 2002-03).

“Erika is a coach's dream,” explains Brian Speck, head coach of the women's soccer team and assistant coach of the softball team. “Not only is she a terrific athlete, but she is also a terrific person with a great attitude and work rate. She is always willing to try new things to improve her game.” Last year (her freshman year), Erika was the recipient of the freshman athletic award. “Erika was an easy choice for the award,” says women's basketball coach Mary Ellen Burt. “Not only did she excel on the playing field and in the classroom, but she meshed so well with all her teammates on every team. Her energy and enthusiasm are contagious and there is always a smile on her face.” Her strength endures through three grueling seasons in three different sports, even though she is only a sophomore. “She's very, very fast,” says Coach Pete Brown of the women's softball team. “I think it also needs to be recognized that she is not only starting on an NCAA team, but she is a top player as well.”

Though Cliff and Erika maintain hectic schedules, neither would have it any other way. They feel that success in sports helps them succeed academically. “It's about commitment and time management,” says Erika, stating that the less free time she has and the harder she works, the more likely she will succeed all around. “I feel like it helps me with efficiency,” says Cliff. “I know that I don't have a lot of time on my hands between practices, games and other things. So I have to take my study time and make the most out of it.”

An intense schedule has worked well for Cliff and Erika, and could prove to be beneficial to most athletes. “I think athletes do better in school, especially when they are busy, because they have to be disciplined,” says Coach Speck.

Since both play two or more sports year round, their coaches tend to give them a bit of a break during one sport's off-season while they're training for the other. “It's probably easier doing three sports,” confesses Erika. “I look at my basketball team during off-season, which puts in about four or five hours a day as opposed to two to three hours a day during the season. Plus, I think if I did something year round, I'd burn out. I have to do something new. I can't do the same thing for a long time.”

As for Cliff, he has been working with Gary Reynolds year round for football in the fall and baseball in the spring. “He knew it was a big time commitment,” says Cliff. “He understood that during football season, it was football time and during baseball season, it was baseball time.”

“It is important to support your child in whatever they do,” says Greg who, along with his wife, attended numerous sporting events in support of their three children. Growing up, neither Greg nor Kathy participated in sports. That all changed after marriage and children. In 1986, Greg started the soccer program in the Eisenhuts' hometown. The program has grown to the largest youth organization in their community with a quarter of the neighborhood kids participating. Kathy started coaching soccer and is now the high school varsity soccer coach. While Greg describes himself as the loud cheerleader-type of coach, Kathy says she is quite the opposite, rather quiet and stoic.

Though they may have different ideas on coaching, Kathy and Greg's commitment to the sport and coaching has influenced their children to play as a group effort rather than for individual gain. “My wife and I taught the kids to be team players,” Greg explains. “And as a team player, you want to make everyone on your team better.”

For Cliff, the team player ethic has helped him maintain a certain level of patience, especially in his first two years playing Union football. He came onto the Dutchmen football field as a kicker but since the team already had a kicker; Cliff sat on the bench for nearly the first two years of his career. “Cliff never showed any resentment or frustration toward his position at all,” says head coach John Audio. “He handled it very well.” As it turned out, his patience and team mentality paid off for him. “Cliff has made himself into a premier Division III place-kicker,” informs Coach Reynolds. “We have had three or four quality kickers during my stay here at Union that have exceeded the norm at our level. Cliff is one of these kickers. Just like he had to replace big shoes, so will the next Union place-kicker.” Cliff has impressed Reynolds on the baseball field as well – only more as a person than as a player. “Cliff has not had the impact as a position player in baseball that he has had in football,” Reynolds states. “However, as a person and a team member, he will take a personality from baseball that will be difficult to replace.”

The Eisenhuts' parental support was demonstrated very diplomatically last year during a soccer game when Union played St. Lawrence on their home field with an Eisenhut sister on each team. Greg and Kathy decided that they would not cheer in favor of one team over the other. They lined themselves up at the fifty-yard line – mom sat behind one team, dad sat behind the other. Neither said a word, not even when Erika kicked the winning goal in a break-away leading Union to a 2-0 victory. “It was weird playing against my sister,” Erika said. “I'd never had to play on a team with her or against her, so it was definitely different. But it was fun!”

Though they go to school on the same small campus, Cliff and Erika rarely see each and have to schedule time for sibling bonding. “We don't see each other that much or on a daily basis,” says Cliff. “She may come to my frat parties, so I may see her there, or I'll see her around campus, but I don't find it to be a stressful situation at all.” Erika agrees. “I like it. Since we both play sports, our parents are out here every weekend,” she says. “If anything, it made my transition here better. It's nice to know that there's someone there for you all the time.” And they both agree that it's a bonus to get to see each other play in
their games. In fact, the playing time has sparked a little bit of friendly sibling rivalry between the two. They are now totaling points, in football for Cliff and in soccer for Erika, to see who can score the most. “It pushes us both to do better,” says Cliff, though neither has decided what the winner gets from the loser.

“Whoever wins gets to go home for Thanksgiving,” Cliff says. “How's that?”

UCAA Football Rookie of the Week

Steve Angiletta
WR (Plantsville, CT)

Had three catches for 109 yards including a 66-yard touchdown after Hartwick had moved to within 3 points in the Dutchmen's 37-27 win over the Hawks. He also had four punt returns for 49 yards.

Posted on Nov 6, 2003

The many accomplishments of senior tennis standout Lauren Stellato have been detailed time and time again in this column as well as on the tennis team's web site. This past week Stellato added another accomplishment to her outstanding resume as she was voted the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association's “Player of the Year” by the conference's coaches.

Stellato, who last year won the New York State Singles Championship out of the No. 1 position, recently became the first Union tennis player in history (men or women) to win back-to-back state titles. Her 4-0 record at the state tournament gave her a record of 18-2 for this year and a career record of 75-14 (all out of the No. 1 position).

Stellato will have the opportunity to add to her Union record of 75 victories this spring when the Dutchwomen play a limited schedule.

• Player of the Year–Lauren Stellato
• All-Conference Singles Player-Lauren Stellato
• All-Conference Doubles Players–Lauren Stellato/Jennie Werts