Posted on May 28, 2004

Senior mechanical engineers
Marissa Post, Jason Fishner and Adam
Retersdorf will talk about their adventures as participants in the television
show “Robot Rivals” on Tuesday, June 1, 
from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Reamer Campus Center Auditorium.

The show's producer will be
present to premiere the final episode, which pits the Union team against the University
of Pittsburgh.

Without giving away the ending, you
can plan to see a big, funky electronic trophy and one of those oversized
checks.

Union's
team filmed the episodes last fall for the Do-It-Yourself Network in Knoxville,
Tenn.

Posted on May 28, 2004

Three juniors pursuing degrees in
medicine, computer science, and philosophy have founded a new company and
become tenants in the U-Start Business Incubator associated with the College.
Their firm, Exousia Health Inc., develops new software platforms and application
services to assist the healthcare industry with emergency preparedness and
remediation.

Chief Executive Officer Christopher
Macomber is in his third year of Union's 8-Year
Leadership in Medicine Program through which students earn a bachelor's in
science from Union College,
a master's in business administration from the Graduate College of Union
University, and a medical degree from Albany
Medical College.
Macomber, an Albany native, founded
Exousia in January 2004 to promote the interest of patients and to improve communication
within the healthcare sector.

Edward Maas, director of
technology, is pursuing a bachelor's degree in computer science while also
working as a senior consultant for Brainlink International Inc. in New
York City. He spent the past two years designing and
supporting enterprise web applications as well as maintaining computer network
infrastructures specifically focused on the healthcare industry. Maas
is from New York City.

Jeffrey Marshall, director
of communications, is a philosophy major also working on a master's degree in
bioethics at the Graduate College of Union University. Also with aspirations
toward a medical career, Marshall
plans to attend the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the fall of 2005. His
interest in Exousia developed out of his concentration in medical ethics, and a
desire for improvement in patient care by providing resources physicians need
to provide care. He is from Gloversville, N.Y.

“Our company's product is
extremely viable and timely in that communication between various sectors of
the health care industry has been identified as an important barrier that
hinders the overall quality of care in this state and nationally,”
Macomber said. “We have chosen Schenectady
as our headquarters because we have a commitment to this area, which we see as
traditionally home to small business development, a breeding ground for new
technology, and one that is rich in healthcare professionals.”

Macomber
added, “As students of Union College,
we hope that through this company, we will be able to give back to the
community that has embraced our educational institution.” In years to
come, the three founders of Exousia plan to give a percentage of company
profits to local and medical-related charities, he said.

“These students exemplify the
professionalism, excitement and achievement new business owners can offer this
community,” said Jon Lemelin, executive director of U-Start. “We are
looking forward to having them join our facility and benefit from the support
we can offer as they further develop their ideas and plans.”

Posted on May 28, 2004

As
if we didn't already feel good enough about the $1.6 million grant received
last week from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, we can read some of the
comments from anonymous reviewers of the grant proposal:

“In
this well written proposal … that expands on the success of the previous HHMI
grants [in 1993 and 1998], the interdisciplinary theme combining biology,
engineering and computer sciences is skillfully woven through all components.
The creation of a new Center for Bioengineering and Computational Biology ties
it all together. Union is a choice institution for accomplishing these goals
because of its long tradition of combining the liberal arts and engineering.”

“Overall,
the research program for undergraduates is well conceived. The relatively high
productivity of Union College faculty is documented.”

“The
support requested for two new faculty fits well with the interdisciplinary
theme of the proposal. The hiring of a new faculty member with specialty in
bioengineering will strengthen the center concept.”

“The
curricular development activities are innovative. An excellent set of new
interdisciplinary courses covering bioinformatics and new research
opportunities will result from this effort.”

“It
is impressive that 95 percent of the 180 primarily disadvantaged students who
participated in [Summer Science Workshop] are attending or have graduated from
four-year colleges.”

Interestingly,
the College received $7,400 more than it asked for; HHMI apparently rounds up.

The
grant, to begin this September with an organizational year, will change the way
biology students learn and introduce students from other disciplines to biological
problems, said Leo
Fleishman, department
chair of biology and lead author of the proposal with help from faculty in
biology and mechanical engineering.

Among
the main components of the grant are:

—
the creation of a new Center for Bioengineering and Computational Biology to include
two research laboratories, design facility, outreach area with virtual
bioengineering lab for use by other colleges and high schools, computer
teaching center, and teaching laboratory for bioengineering courses.

—
research opportunities for six students per year for summer research in
interdisciplinary research combining biology with engineering, computer science
or other disciplines. Four opportunities will be at other institutions (Albany Medical College, the state Health Department's Wadsworth Lab and Syracuse University), two with Union-based teams that will include a post-baccalaureate
research scholar.

—
two new faculty hires (with summer salary and equipment). One has already been
made in engineering. The second, in biology, will be in two years.

—
funds for two-faculty teams (biology and another discipline) to create new
laboratory modules based on application of engineering and/or computing to
solutions of biological problems. These will be inserted into laboratories
throughout the biology curriculum. A new interdisciplinary course in
bioinformatics will be created and a laboratory will be developed for the
introduction to bioengineering course.

—
four new years of support for a redesigned Summer Science Workshop.

Posted on May 28, 2004

President Roger Hull on Tuesday
urged faculty to help minimize so-called summer melt in the Class of 2008 by
having “a constant stream of contact” over the summer through emails, phone
calls and letters.

About 560 students have reserved
for the Class of 2008, but with a number of other institutions making
unprecedented use of wait lists (as cited in a May 25 article in the Wall Street Journal), it is important to
work to minimize the losses, Hull said.

“It is absolutely crucial in terms
of the financial health of the institution that we hold as many students as
possible,” he said at a general faculty meeting. “We need to do everything we can to make those students
feel connected to the College.

“The admissions office has done
its job,” he said. “It's in your court to help us hold those students.”

Clifford Brown, chair of the
Faculty Executive Committee, also urged his colleagues, noting that it was “not
a hard sell” to contact the students simply to welcome them to Union
and see if they have questions.

Christie Sorum, dean of faculty,
said that students have been categorized according to their interests and
expected majors. Names and contact information are available from department
chairs.

There will be a mail ballot,
likely due by June 4, for several faculty governance positions, said Clifford
Brown, chair of the Faculty Executive Committee. Nominated candidates were:
David Cotter and Brad Lewis for Faculty Review Board senior member-at-large;
Aaron Cass, Chris Duncan, Andy Feffer and Jay Newman
for Academic Affairs Council; Michelle Angrist (unopposed) for FRB junior
member-at-large; and Julius Barbanel and Cherrice
Traver for Student Affairs Committee.

Faculty approved the granting of
degrees to 501 students at Commencement on June 13. Faculty will gather for
breakfast at 9 a.m. at the Yulman
Theater to robe for Commencement, Sorum announced. The processional will begin
at 9:40 a.m., join the graduating
seniors and take a route through campus that includes a walk through the Nott
Memorial. The recessional will go the opposite direction through the Nott. It
is important, Sorum told her colleagues, not to stop until they reach the
flagpole west of the Nott.

Trevor Simon '06 invited faculty
to donate and participate in the Relay for Life starting on Friday. The 12-hour
charity walk raises money for cancer research. Last year's inaugural edition
raised some $55,000, the second largest amount of any college in the country.

Posted on May 28, 2004

The College has created a new
position aimed at improving student retention, it was
announced by Steve Ciesinski '70, chairman of the
Board of Trustees in his report on the spring meeting of the board on May 21
and 22.

The
Director for Student Support Services will focus on identifying students with a
high risk of encountering academic difficulties, either because they have a
history of poor grades (students on Academic Warning) or because faculty report
a significant number of absences or otherwise poor performance.

“The position's focus will be to
get the proper attention to reverse the problem,” Ciesinski wrote in his
report. “While few students encounter this issue, we want to be 'first
responders' to those who encounter academic difficulties.”

To view the full text of the
chairman's report, please visit: http://www.union.edu/N/DS/s.php?s=4546.

In other highlights of the meeting,
the chairman also reported that the former Psi Upsilon house will become known
as Beuth House, thanks to the generosity of trustee and former Psi U member
Phil Beuth '54. Beuth House joins Golub House and Wold House as named houses,
and the College anticipates announcing more names in the next few months, he
said.

After recent elections, all seven
Minerva houses have both students and faculty in leadership positions.
Renovations to North College
are on schedule for completion in mid-July, and the renovations in the Chi Psi
and Psi Upsilon buildings are on schedule for completion in mid-June.
Renovations to the Sigma Phi building will begin in July.

The Inn at College
Park, (the former Ramada Inn) opening this fall,
proved to be a high priority option in the spring housing lottery. Two new
Theme Houses have been authorized by the Student Affairs Council: Bon Appetit
House, organized around the concept of high quality student-prepared food
dishes; and Ozone House, which  seeks to
promote environmental awareness.

Through March 31, Union
had received $7,557,581 in private support, up $1,055,507, or 16 percent, over
the same period last year, and there are more than $15 million in outstanding or
pending gift requests that should be decided by June 30. The Union Fund was
ahead of last year's figures by 505 alumni donors and $251,000, putting us in a
great position to achieve our goals of 40 percent participation and $3.9
million, he said.

“The performance of the endowment
continues to show excellent results. We are now comfortably positioned in the
top 25th percentile of peer institutions for both the last year and the last
three years. The Investment Committee is satisfied with how our portfolio is
balanced and with the individual managers we are using. We hope that the alumni
and other gift-givers are now feeling that they are getting a strong ROI on the
gifts they provide.

“In news about the trustees, I'm
very pleased to announce that Trustee Bob DeMichele '66, who has done such a
wonderful job as chair of our Investment Committee, was named a Life Trustee —
a well-deserved honor for his unique contributions to the Board. Trustees
Estelle Cooke-Sampson '74, Robert F. Cummings, Jr. '71, William
J. Curtin '82, Christine I. Reilly '75, and David A. Viniar '76 were all
reelected to four-year terms, and we said farewell to outgoing Trustees Phil
Beuth '54, Gerald Barandes '54, Paul Wintrich '60, and Student Trustee Matt
Gerien '04.

“I have said repeatedly that the
College is in excellent condition overall. In many respects, we are really
'over-achievers,' in that we get by far the most out of our resources when
compared to our competition. Our biggest challenge to even better performance
is to increase our endowment materially, and we plan to unveil a program for
this initiative at Homecoming weekend next fall. I hope you will all join us
then, as it promises to be an event you won't want to miss.”