Posted on Oct 4, 2004

Union alumni in the news

Doing what she must

This summer, opera director Helena Binder '76 had great success when the Wolf Trap Opera Company performed Gaetano Donizetti's delightful L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love) in Vienna, Va.

Her idea to give the opera a nineteenth-century Wild West setting was called an “imaginative update of this old favorite” by the Washington Times, and she was instrumental in the entire production's staging, set and costume design, and choreography. Binder calls the work the greatest success in her directorial career, a career that is rooted in her experience as a theater student at Union.

Binder remembers two special inspirations: Professors Barry Smith and Hans Freund.

Smith, who taught theater, gave his class a piece of advice that would make a serious impact on her life: “Do what you must do in order to do what you must do.” Freund, a professor of English, taught Binder about the art of acting, often speaking of his own experiences as a Shakespearian actor. He also taught his students the interconnectedness shared by the various branches of the arts. This lesson would eventually lead to Binder's appreciation and embrace of opera as the ultimate art form. For Binder, “opera is the culmination of all the arts. There is drama, art, literature, and, of course, the music.”

The spotlight that shone on the first twenty years of Binder's career was focused onstage. Continuously working in various regional theaters across the country and abroad, she starred in roles ranging from Peter Pan to Shakespeare's Juliet. Binder even performed as lead singer for the rock n' roll band Blotto under the name Blanche Blotto in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These formative years allowed her to gain experience along with a better understanding of how to act.

Her acting also helped develop her love and skill of directing. She started directing both plays and musicals, but it wasn't until she began living in Cooperstown, N.Y., the summer home of the Glimmerglass Opera, that she began to think seriously about turning her attention to the opera.

The opera world has given Binder “a new and ultimately satisfying career, and from that experience I found a new love.” She has directed such notable works as Ermione and Il ritorno d' Ulisse for New York City Opera, The Bartered Bride for the New York City Opera's Education Program, and The Magic Flute for Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. It was in Chattanooga in the fall of 2002 that Binder reconnected with Union alum Robert Bernhardt '73, the musical director of the company and conductor for the production of The Magic Flute. The working experience was indeed magical. One chorus member said Bernhardt was “both musically inspiring and visually clear” and called Binder “a real joy to work with.”

Binder also has made a name for herself as a choreographer for operas across the country. She has choreographed Queen of Spades for the Dallas Opera, Die tote Stadt for New York City Opera, and Bluebeard and La Calisto for the Glimmerglass Opera. She hasn't lost the ability to direct great plays, either. In the mid-1990s she returned to Union to direct both Ten Little Indians and Equus. Binder enjoyed the opportunity “not only to direct, but to teach,” and her experience brought back tremendous memories of her theater days at Union when the Nott Memorial served as a unique, round theater for productions.

Needless to say, Binder spends a lot of time away from home, but she regards travel as “something I must do to do what I must do.” She does, however, enjoy working near her home in Cooperstown at the Glimmerglass Opera and loves her time at the New York City Opera because she has so many good friends in the city.

In the year to come, Binder will be directing productions of Fidelio for the Pittsburgh Opera, Madama Butterfly for the Chattanooga Opera, where she will be reunited with Bernhardt, and L'Italiana in Algieri for the 2005 summer season of the Lake George Opera.

Babs R. Soller '75

Babs R. Soller '75, associate professor of anesthesiology, surgery, and bioengineering at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has been appointed associate team leader for the Smart Medical Systems Team of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI).

Soller will help manage scientists working on NSBRI remote medical care projects. The team's research focuses on identifying and developing new methods of assessing, monitoring, and diagnosing health problems on long-duration space missions. New technologies developed by this team will have immediate benefits to medical care on Earth. Soller received her bachelor's degree in chemistry and her master's and doctoral degrees in physical chemistry from Princeton University.

The NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration space flight. The institute's research and education projects take place at more than seventy institutions across the U.S.

What's it like on “Jeopardy?”
Answer: classes with Professors Sargent and Berk.
Question: What is a great help to a “Jeopardy” contestant?

For Deirdre Basile '86, it was her Union education, and her classes with two professors in particular, that were key in her preparation for competing on the TV game show.

“I could skip right over a lot of information while I was studying for the show because I remembered it from class,” she says. “Having taken a number of classes with Steve Sargent, my favorite professor, I was well prepared for all the medieval history questions. Professor [Stephen] Berk's teachings also stayed with me, and I had an easy time with those questions.”

Basile appeared on the show that aired on June 17, a contest in which she finished second. Her father, actor Brian Dennehy, also came in second place on “Celebrity Jeopardy” in 1999.

The best part of being on the program is hearing from people who supported her, she says. “Even my car mechanic sent me a note congratulating me. I've heard from a couple friends from Union that I haven't heard from in a long time, which was great. The whole experience was fun, if a bit surreal.”

Unfortunately for Basile, she was up against a formidable opponent in Ken Jennings, an all-time Jeopardy champion who weeks after the show with Basile was still winning with earnings approaching $1 million. “He is the nicest person,” Basile recalls. “He doesn't come across that way, people always say to me 'he seems so arrogant,' but he's not. He's fast on the buzzer. He gets all the questions that everyone knows, buts he's so quick. By the time the other contestant and I had gotten the hang of ringing in, he already had 10 or 12 grand to work with. He could play with that, and it took the pressure off him.”

In “Final Jeopardy,” Basile was the only contestant to correctly question the answer: Answer: “In the NATO phonetic alphabet [Alpha, Bravo, etc.], the two that are title Shakespearean characters.” Question: “What are Romeo and Juliet?” She finished with a $12,000 tally and walked away with a $2,000 prize for second place.

While a student at Union, Basile enjoyed watching “Jeopardy” with her Tri Delta sisters. Years later, her daughter became a “Jeopardy” fan and told her mother about the program's contestant search. “She told me I had to do it, so I sent a postcard in and luckily mine got picked.” With about 100 other contestants, Basile was asked 50 “Jeopardy”-type questions. She was one of twelve people selected for a screen test. “Then they say, 'Don't call us, we will call you.'” (Producers called her weeks later and told her to come to Los Angeles for the taping. But they pay airfare and hotel costs only for returning champions.)

Basile was surprised by the stopping and starting during taping. “If [host Alex] Trebek misspeaks or something goes wrong with the set, they stop and repeat things,” she says. “They will even re-tape your answers and questions that have already been asked.”

The show is careful to not let any information get out that could influence a contestant. “We couldn't even look in the direction of the writers during taping,” Basile says. “You can't even talk to anyone in the green room besides the fellow contestants. We had to just sit and watch the other games until it was our time.”

Hip-Hop 101

Nick Conway '97 isn't your stereotypical professor. No tweed jackets for him; he's more comfortable in a t-shirt and pair of shorts. And no Mozart on the office radio; instead, he is carefully studying the “intense lyrical flow” of Harlem-based rapper Immortal Technique.

Conway is the creator and professor of a class titled “Hip-Hop Music and Culture” at Trinity College and Yale University that has been wildly popular with students. Students had to apply to the class by writing essays, and some included graffiti art, recordings of their own music, and even videos of break dancing. When it was time for class projects, some chose to do research papers, while others wrote their own hip-hop and rap songs. “I knew that I always did a better job when I was passionate about the project I was working on, and I wanted to allow my students to explore their own avenue of interest.”

Conway began his love of hip-hop at the age of 11 when he saw the infamous music video for Run-DMC “Walk this Way” featuring the band Aerosmith. Now, he has some 5,000 rap and hip-hop albums in his collection, which overflows several rooms of his parents' house. Add his disc-jockey equipment, and the Conway living room looks like the inside of a radio station. “I have really understanding parents,” laughs Nick, who commutes back and forth between his apartment in New Haven and his parents' home on the outskirts of Albany.

At Union Conway was a math major, but he explored his hip-hop interests in “Music of Black America,” offered by the Performing Arts Department. “The class was a definite influence when I went to develop my own class. I wanted to make the class appealing to students whether they have their own musical ability or were more interested in the history and culture of hip-hop. That was an approach Professor [Tim] Olsen used really well.”

Conway spent six to seven months putting his class together, cutting material so it could be crammed into a semester of learning. Trinity College picked up the class for the fall term, and Yale University added the class to its spring schedule. “Although hip-hop has been around for over thirty years, it has really become a greater entity to people who are in their college years right now,” Conway says. “People in their late teens and early twenties have grown up with this music, and they can't even turn on their television sets without hearing it.”

This fall Conway began graduate courses in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University at Albany. He plans to earn a doctorate (for his dissertation he hopes to research the Latino influence on hip-hop) and then begin teaching full time. He is continuing his Sunday night radio show on WRPI Troy, Wild Style Hip-Hop, which plays underground hip-hop by emerging artists. He goes by the alias DJ Sho'nuff, a nod to his favorite film The Last Dragon, a 1980s cult classic.

When Conway isn't teaching college kids, going to graduate school, or moonlighting as a disc jockey, he still finds time to tutor students in math around the Capital Region of New York. “I'm putting my math degree to good use,” says Conway who enjoys the one-on-one experience tutoring provides.

A track and cross-country star for four years at Union, he continues to run about sixty miles a week, in addition to other training. This season, he came close to the four-minute mile, which he says has always been his goal. Interestingly enough, it isn't the beat of his favorite hip-hop album that keeps him pounding the pavement all year long, but his math skills. “When I run, I count to ten and just play around with addition and subtraction in my head.”

The champion of unheralded heroes

Sometimes when the bug bites in youth, the itch lasts a lifetime. In the case of Irving Sorkin '40, the bug was a lifelong love of show business-a love finally returned this year when he co-produced a show on HBO.

As a boy, Sorkin spent countless hours at the movies. Even his mother knew she could “induce” her son to finish all his milk by rewarding him with money for the movies.

During World War II, Sorkin, a dentist, served with the Army in Los Angeles, where he often hung out at the Hollywood Canteen, watching the goings-on of the glamorous. After the war, he maintained his practice while pitching movie ideas to nearly every famous Hollywood name over the next five decades.

His particular interest was telling the stories of heroes lost in history-praiseworthy acts of courage that never received their due. One of his pitches was about the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry-the first all-black regiment raised in the North during the Civil War. Years later, the movie Glory was produced. Likewise with a biography of Josephine Baker, the black American chanteuse who took Paris by storm-he pitched her story only to have it produced for TV nearly a decade later. He indeed seemed to be ahead of his time.

His daughter Arleen-an actress, writer, and producer herself-has always been her father's most ardent booster, and she would arrange meetings for her father to pitch ideas. She also regularly carries some of her father's treatments with her, and one day, when she was writing a screenplay for Paramount, she had an opening. Noticing the posters on the producer's wall, she thought of a project that might interest him and gave him a copy of her father's latest story idea. It was the biography of Vivien Thomas-the pioneering black surgical technician whose accomplishments and contributions to vascular surgery helped save millions of “blue” babies from death due to circulatory failure.

The producer called Arleen the next day. At long last, at the age of eighty-five and now retired in Washington, D.C., Sorkin saw one of his story ideas come to life. In May 2004, HBO presented Something the Lord Made. And when the credits rolled, they listed “co-producer Irving Sorkin.” Long the champion of unheralded heroes, he finally received a measure of well-deserved recognition.

Rawson Thurber '97

by Morgan Gmelch '05

Dodgeball, the ball-throwing game, is the basis-and title-of a successful summer movie, the brainchild of first-time feature writer-director Rawson M. Thurber '97. The film is Thurber's second comedic success; his first, a commercial series for Reebok called “Terry Tate, Office Linebacker” received the Cannes Film Festival Gold Lion and was voted the most popular Super Bowl ad in 2003 in a Wall Street Journal poll. Recently, Morgan Gmelch '05 had a chance to catch up with the filmmaker.

Morgan Gmelch: Can you describe what you've done since graduation?
Rawson Thurber: I graduated in 1997 and went right into the Peter Stark producing program at USC. I graduated from that in 1999 with a master of fine arts in producing. I started working as an assistant for a screenwriter named John August; I was essentially his apprentice and assistant for two and a half years, during which I wrote and directed “Terry Tate” and the script for Dodgeball. It's a movie that's really stupid and, I think, pretty funny and occasionally clever. It also has a good heart, very tongue in cheek. I have been very lucky since graduation in a lot of ways. Certainly my education at Union was instrumental in teaching me how to think and analyze.

MG: Did you know you wanted to go into film when you were at Union?
RT: I majored in English and theater arts because there wasn't a film program. But I did end up making a short film-my first short film-for my senior thesis. It was called Palaber, and I directed and co-wrote it. I knew that I wanted to be involved in making better movies than the ones I was seeing, but I didn't know exactly how I would go about doing that. There weren't any courses at Union for this. I kind of made it up as I went along.

MG: Were there any film clubs at Union at the time?
RT: There weren't, so when I was a senior, my friend, Mike Ferguson, and I created a club in order to get the funding we needed to make my short film. We formed a club called the Visual Landscape Art, VLA.

MG: Were there any professors at Union who gave you guidance?
RT: Peter Heinegg [English] was my advisor and my favorite professor. He gave me great advice all the way through my years at Union. In the Classics Department, Professor [Scott] Scullion had a tremendous influence on me. Professor Bill Finlay [Theater] taught the first directing class I ever took. It was electrifying for me, and I would say that was really the turning point. I draw on all of their teachings to this day when I'm reading and writing scripts, working with actors, and thinking about stories.

MG: Did the liberal arts education of Union prepare you for a career in film?
RT: Undoubtedly. I had a wonderful experience at Union College. Not only the liberal arts background but the quality of the professors and size of the school were great. I got to really know my professors intimately. It also allowed me to be very active on campus -I won political office a couple times, I was on the radio station WRUC, I wrote a column for the Concordiensis, I played football my freshman year, and I was a member of a fraternity [DU].

MG: What was the inspiration for Dodgeball?
RT: I've always been a comedy geek and a sports nerd, and I wanted to put those two worlds together. Some of my favorite movies growing up in the mid-80s were Caddyshack, Revenge of the Nerds, and Stripes, and I liked a lot of the sports films like Bad News Bears and Bull Durham. Not only is Dodgeball an homage to those movies, it is also a satire of them. Sports are taken so seriously in this society, but when I think of dodgeball we played in school, I laugh. Everyone has a visceral memory of dodgeball-you're either getting hit or hitting someone. There is a nostalgic connection to it.

MG: Are sports an easy way to achieve comedy?
RT: I have used sports with my comedy because I know that world pretty well. I've played sports my whole life and always been a fan. I know the intricacies of that world and the hypocrisies and ridiculousness associated with it, little things in sports that I always find annoying or frustrating. The two sportscasters in Dodgeball are my attempt at satirizing play-by-play and color commentators because so many of them say the most asinine things.

Because he wanted to do it

In the early 1970s, psychologist Jeffrey Greene '65 was sitting in his office at Morristown Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania when he was struck with an idea that came out of left field-“I thought it would be really great to make a wooden sailboat with my own hands.”

Greene had always had a talent for drawing and art, but he had never tried to apply his artistic ability to the functional art form of woodwork. “My job at the hospital just wasn't very fulfilling, and woodworking felt like the right thing to do,” he recalls. “I wanted to make the boat just because I wanted to do it.”

Greene set up a workshop in a rented garage, and soon he began creating his own unique pieces of furniture. They were crude at first, but as time went on he improved rapidly. With the support of his father (a professional artist) and his wife, Valerie, he decided to leave the field of psychology and focus on his ability as a furniture maker and designer. Jeff and Valerie packed their bags and moved to New Hope, Pa., where Greene could refine his skills under the tutelage of master furniture makers Phillip Lloyd Powell and James Martin.

More than thirty years later, Greene is still creating custom furniture pieces at his wood studio in Doylestown, Pa., where he lives with his wife and two children, Leah, 20, and Sammy, 15. Now a master craftsman and artisan in his own right, Greene chooses to work with rare, solid woods, which help him create a design that is balanced in “beauty, function, and strength.”

Greene begins his projects like a researcher. He meets with his clients and asks them to give him as much information as possible about what they are looking for. “I ask for pictures, descriptions, anything the customer can think of, and then I try to give the project my own creative twist.” He relies heavily on freehand drawing as a design exploration, producing ideas that range from the conservative to the contemporary.

After Greene's clients approve the drawings, the actual woodworking process begins. Though a layman may picture a studio full of high tech industrial power tools, Greene's workplace is anything but. “To do artistic work that really stresses attention to detail, I have to work with pretty basic tools,” he says. “I use a ten-inch table saw, an eight-inch jointer, a twenty-inch planer, and an awful lot of hand-tools.”

Greene says a custom dining table with extension leaves takes him approximately a month from the drawing stage to completion, a remarkably fast turnaround considering the high quality of his work.

Greene has several trained employees and participates in an apprenticeship program that brings up to three young woodworkers to Doylestown each year to learn the art of furniture making. In this very competitive program, Greene has served as a mentor to apprentices from California, Brazil, and even Tel Aviv.

He also co-owns (with his wife) the Greene & Greene Gallery in nearby Lambertville. The gallery serves as a showcase for Greene's furniture and the work of other artists, including ceramics, wearable art, fiberglass art, and beautifully crafted jewelry, all selected by Valerie Greene.

Although Greene has strayed from his training in psychology, he doesn't regret his decision to major in the subject. “Psychology was a subject I found extremely interesting and still love to discuss today.” Greene has fond memories of his professors in the social sciences, especially Dr. Clare Graves. “I remember having his psychology class first thing in the morning. It was his charismatic personality that got me out of bed each morning and into the classroom.”

Greene took advantage of the liberal arts curriculum by exploring the Art Department. “I took several art classes but I think I undervalued my talents at the time. Artwork had always come easy to me, and I don't think I realized that it was a viable career path.”

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Posted on Oct 4, 2004

Jennifer Blessing, assistant director of human resources, received the 2004 Anthony Salerno Volunteerism Award at “Community Celebration,” the annual awards event sponsored by Schenectady County United Way. Blessing was cited for her work since 1996 as a community investment volunteer. Since 1998, she has been a member of the investment steering committee, where she was the first volunteer to lead a committee in review of collaborative projects.

Michelle Chilcoat, assistant professor of French, has written an article, “Idéologie et romanticisme: habitude et réflexion,” accepted for publication in L'Année stendhalienne (No. 4, 2004). The journal is edited by internationally renowned Stendhal scholars. In the article, she situates the classic French author Stendhal between enlightenment and romance epistemologies, suggesting that both are integrated in his literary production.

Lorraine Morales Cox, assistant professor of visual arts, presented a paper, “The Intersection of Critical Race Theory and Visual Activism,” at the Cultural Studies Association's second annual conference at Northeastern University. The paper deals with the possibilities of visual arts to challenge viewers to contemplate their racial and gendered consciousness. The paper considered the work of Adrian Piper and highlighted the recent work in critical race theory.

Chris Duncan, associate professor of visual arts, has installed a sculpture, “Lost World,” on the SUNY Ulster campus in Stone Ridge. The work is part of the exhibit “Stepping Out (doors)” and is at the main entrance to the campus. His eight-foot-high steel and wood structure employs abstract gesture and representational elements to reflect on the nature of the observed world. The show was organized by sculptor Iain Maichell in celebration of the college's fortieth anniversary.

Megan Ferry, Luce Junior Professor of Asian Studies and assistant professor of Chinese, has written an article, “Women's Literary History: Inventing Tradition in Modern China,” that is to appear in Modern Language Quarterly (66.3, September, 2005). This article stems from a book-length manuscript on early 20th-century Chinese women writers.

Robert L. Fleischer, research professor of geology, gave a talk to the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. The annual lecture, a Jones Seminar with the title “Serendipitous Radiation Monitors,” described how past radiation doses can be measured by studying accidental tracks that have been left in ordinary solids such as eyeglass lenses, decorative glasses at Hiroshima, an optical filter on the moon, and frame glasses from living rooms.

William García, associate professor of Spanish, has published an article, “De locos y cocolos: identidades híbridas en el teatro de Carlos Canales” in a special issue of Latin American Theatre Review (Spring 2004) dedicated to Caribbean theater. The article centers on the characterization (representation and performance) of hybrid national identities in five monologues by Puerto Rican dramatist Carlos Canales. Also, he participated in the “Theater in May” Festival in Havana and attended a workshop on political cabaret taught by renowned performers Jesusa Rodriguez and Liliana Felipe at Casa de las Americas.

Karin Hamm-Ehsani, assistant professor of German, presented a paper titled “Screening the Transnational Turkish Community in German Film” at the 9th International Cultural Studies Symposium at Ege University in Izmir, Turkey. The paper explores recent cross-cultural films and their representation of identity formation and negotiation by the second- and third-generation Turkish migrants in Germany. The symposium, “City in [Culture in] City,” was organized by the Ege University Department of American Culture and Literature, the Department of English Language and Literature and the American Studies Association of Turkey (ASAT), the Cultural Office of the American Embassy, and the British Council.

Christine Henseler, assistant professor of Spanish, gave a lecture at Harvard University in honor of retiring University of Kansas Professor Robert C. Sprires at a conference titled “Narrative Aspirations: Spain, Modernity, and Literature.” The title of her talk was “Uncovering Lucía Etxebarria: The Visual Power of Female Authorship in Contemporary Spain.” Also, her interview with contemporary Spanish writer Espido Freire was accepted for publication by the academic journal Letras Peninsulares. “Del bien y del mal: una entrevista con Espido Freire” for the Fall 2004 issue.

Héctor A. León '91, associate dean of admissions, was one of fifteen African American and Latino business and community leaders honored at the Capital District Black and Latino achievers recognition awards banquet. Proceeds of the event go toward programs for youth of color at the YMCA, where León has worked with students on college admissions and the application process. Keynote speaker was Coretta Scott King, founder and chair of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

Daniel Mosquera, assistant professor of Spanish, had an article in Dispositio: American Journal of Cultural Histories and Theories published by the University of Michigan (Vol. 25, No. 52, 2004). The article, “In Search of the Political within and without the Politics of Theory,” deals with the accomplishments of the Latin American Subaltern Studies Group in the context of larger geopolitical issues related to the emergence and institutionalization of subaltern studies. He also had a paper accepted for the 2004 Modern Language Association conference in Philadelphia: “Of Marketplaces and Passion Plays: An Inquiry into the Chalco-Amecameca Inquisition Investigation and Nahua-Christian Devotions.” It is part of a panel dealing with “Public Spectacles and Clandestine Performances in Colonial Latin America.”

Cheikh M. Ndiaye, assistant professor of French, published an article, “La Mort, signe de révélation de soi dans une si longue lettre de Mariama Bâ et dans L'Interdite de Malika Mokeddem” in Francographies, a Francophone review for the SPFFA (Society of French and Francophone Professors in America) (Issue 12, Nouvelle Série 2003: 69-77). He also published in the same review, “Voix d'une femme exilée: L'écriture de l'espace et de la mémoire chez Calixthe Beyala,” in 2002 (Issue 11, Nouvelle Série: 135-143).

Frank Wicks, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Richard Wilk, professor of mechanical engineering, have been awarded a $10,000 research grant from the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, a subsidiary of National Grid. Their research will identify and evaluate more efficient methods of interfacing electricity from wind turbines, solar panels, and fuel cells with the electric power system.

Wilfried Wilms, assistant professor of German, published an essay, “Taboo and Repression in W.G. Sebald's On the Natural History of Destruction.” This essay examines critically Sebald's provocative engagement with the traumatic histories of World War II and its aftermath. The essay appeared in W. G. Sebald: A Critical Companion, (eds. Anne Whitehead and Jonathan Long, University of Edinburgh Press, UK, 2004) A paperback of this volume is being prepared by a publishing house in the United States.

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Posted on Oct 4, 2004

Announcing the Waldron Club

In 1912, Charles Waldron '06 started an alumni fund designed to encourage alumni involvement with, and support of, the College. Now in its 93rd year, The Union Fund gives alumni, parents, and friends of Union the opportunity to invest in the College's present and future success. The main component to The Union Fund is the concept of annual giving. It is this annual giving that the Waldron Club will recognize and celebrate. Regardless of the monetary amount, Waldron Club members will receive recognition once they have made a gift in two consecutive fiscal years. Special recognition will be given to those giving consecutively for five, ten, fifteen, and twenty or more years. Your support to Union is vital to the College's success, and we look forward to welcoming you to the Waldron Club. For more information visit www.union.edu/Alumni.

Report of Gifts changes

The College Relations Office has announced changes in how the annual Report of Gifts is presented. Beginning this fall, donors will receive their class lists from their Union Fund representatives. Alumni and friends who want to review the entire Report of Gifts are invited to visit www.union.edu/ Alumni/ and click on the Report of Gifts link.

Intern gets inside the Phantom Gourmet

Three issues ago we reported on the Phantom Gourmet phenomenon and the three Boston-area alumni in back of it-Dave Andelman '92, Mike Andelman '94, and Dan Andelman '97. Recently, the Holden (Mass.) Landmark, a weekly newspaper, provided an update.

The newspaper reported on the unusual summer internship of Julia Croft '05, whose career interests include television production and being a food critic. After spotting the story about the three brothers, she approached them about being an intern, and they signed her up.

The first day on the job, she was given a list of fast food items to buy for the filming of a fast-food episode. Other assignments included going on the road with the film crew to videotape restaurants and working on the show's website.

Did she learn the identity of the Phantom Gourmet? Absolutely not. “The camera guys don't even know who it is. No one knows. It's a complete secret.”

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Posted on Oct 4, 2004

Every fall, Dan Lundquist, vice president for admissions, and Kimmo Rosenthal, dean for undergraduate education, take long looks at the incoming class, and here is what they found about this year's students:

The outreach efforts of the Admissions Office continue to show results, as the College competes for students with an increasingly diverse group of colleges and universities. This year's applicants included students who also applied to such places as Tulane, Kenyon, the University of Richmond, Rutgers, Loyola (Md.), George Washington, the University of Delaware, Villanova, and Carnegie Mellon.

As always, the Admissions Office takes a look at these overlap applications to see who comes to Union and who chooses to go elsewhere.

The majority choose Union when the choice is with Skidmore, Boston University, Dickinson, Syracuse, RPI, Lafayette, Providence, Rutgers, Gettysburg, Villanova, Fordham, and others.

The choice is a toss-up when the other institutions include Hamilton, Lehigh, Trinity, Franklin and Marshall, Holy Cross, New York University, Brandeis, George Washington, Tulane, Connecticut College, and others.

The applicants tend to select the other institution when the choice is with Colgate, Bucknell, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Colby, Boston College, Middlebury, Kenyon, Wesleyan, Vassar, and Richmond.

“It is no surprise that the best-qualified applicant pool has yielded us the best-qualified class,” Lundquist says. “Increasingly, Union is competing with many of the most famous names in the small college category, and and we are seeing slow-but-sure progress.”

As for numbers: the year began with 554 first-year students and twenty-five transfer students. About sixty percent of the first-years were in the top ten percent of their high school class, and the average SAT score was 1250.

Declared majors for the Class of 2008 has continued a trend of the last few years, Rosenthal says. Social science majors have gone over the forty percent figure, sciences have dropped to twenty-five percent, the number of interdisciplinary majors keeps growing, and first-year students are signing up for more diverse class schedules than in the past.

He reports that the most popular choices for the incoming students were mechanical engineering, psychology, political science, biology, and economics (he also cautions that students can-and do-end up in majors different from what they first declare).

Because academic interests are more than intended majors, he also looks at course schedules, and he says that enrollments in arts, theater, and English courses were up this fall, that more than twenty students wanted to take a General Education science course in biology or chemistry in the fall, and that enrollments in Japanese and Chinese were up substantially (not all were first-years, of course).

The College's General Education program requires first-year students to choose one of three history sequences-American, European, or ancient. During GenEd's first decade, enrollments were forty percent American history, forty percent European, and twenty percent ancient. This year's class breakdown was fifty percent American and twenty-five percent each for European and ancient.

“We have about half a dozen declared first-year majors in interdisciplinary programs, the most ever,” he says. These include American Studies, East Asian Studies, and neuroscience. The number of organizing theme majors keeps growing every year. “I have had first-years inquire about organizing theme majors and about how flexible traditional majors can be.”

The College offers formal interdepartmental programs in a number of areas, from Africana Studies to Environmental Studies to Women's and Gender Studies. In addition, students who have a special interest in a particular topic involving multiple disciplines can create an organizing theme major that combines work from several academic departments, and there are a number of new interdisciplinary courses in Converging Technologies. As of last spring, nearly 200 students had either organizing theme, interdisciplinary, or double majors (combining work in two departments). More than 250 students had declared minors.

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Posted on Oct 4, 2004

Ross Marvin, an intern in the Office of Communications, returned to Union this fall as a sophomore and a member of Blue House in the College's new Minerva House system. We asked him to give us an insider's look at all the changes.

Throughout my first year at Union many rumors circulated about the new Minervas. On one side were those who glorified the unveiled Minerva houses. I remember one particular tour guide who compared the plan for Union to the residential system found in the popular Harry Potter books. I'm still not sure what this means, but for a long while I associated the Minerva system with myth, full of wizards, sorcerers, and Union students. On the other side were those who were convinced that the system would push fraternities underground.

As the Minervas began to shape up, I wanted to separate myth from legend, fact from fiction-to find out what people, particularly my fellow students, felt about the Minervas. So during the opening weeks I spent a lot of time talking to different types on campus. Overall, I found optimistic, forward-looking thinkers who were dedicated to being involved with their houses in an effort to improve both social and academic life on campus.

September 4: First-year arrival

The weather on the day the first-year students arrived was fantastic. Does the College have a benefactor who ensures beautiful weather for freshman arrival and orientation? I doubt anyone could dislike Union's campus when the temperature is in the mid-70s without a cloud in the sky.

First stop was Golub House, where Chi Psi used to be. A smiling upperclass girl sitting at a table in the great room welcomed us and told us to feel free to browse the building. Though I had seen floor plans of the new buildings online and had a general idea that each house was going to be equipped with the same basic amenities, I was anxious to see my first house in person.

The great room was a nice bright room with hardwood floors that one could envision as a good meeting place for house governance. The sunny atmosphere of the entire house gave a welcoming feel. I saw a bright, yellow kitchen, equipped with beautiful stoves, tons of cabinet space, and a large refrigerator. On the fridge, someone had scribbled a note in bright marker that read: “Sodas and freeze pops inside, help yourself!” Though my oversight of breakfast had left me both hungry and thirsty, I left the goodies for the freshmen, but the sign had already made a strong impression on me. I felt like the people at Golub House were extending a hand to the incoming students. They were saying, “What's yours is mine, and you are a part of this house.”

Down the hallway, I found myself in another room that would satisfy any college student's desire to “hang out.” The den of Golub House was equipped with a gigantic flat screen television surrounded by armchairs and ottomans. On the floor was a funky area rug, and on the wall a built-in-bookcase held a stack of board games that should ensure late night fun throughout the year. Down another hallway bulletin boards welcomed the incoming freshman and announced house activities. The nearby seminar room, equipped with a blackboard and two long tables, would rival a law firm's conference room. Here, students will be able to plan house activities and hold house government meetings as well as study sessions.

I was thoroughly impressed with the layout of the house, and felt a little perturbed that I hadn't applied to live in my house if this is what all the buildings were going to be like. [Although every student is a member of one of the seven houses, only 300 or so students live in the houses.-Editor].

We walked down to South College where we visited Yellow House. Yellow had opened last fall and was considered the “flagship house” of the Minerva system. We ran into Elizabeth Buck, a sophomore, who attended a party at Yellow House in the spring and fell in love with the building: “I lived in Davidson last year, and it was a nice place, but Yellow House is a definite step up. It's the place I want to be.”

Elizabeth politely excused herself to give Tom Mazzarino, a freshman from Long Island, a tour. On the way, Tom told me that though he hadn't really known that much the Minervas, he viewed them as an added attraction at Union. Elizabeth took Tom through rooms that were similar to those I found in Golub. She also showed him her room, to give him an idea of what the rooms in the houses look like. Her double room was beautiful. Equipped with brand new furnishings, the white walls and hardwood floors gleamed in the sun. The place even smelled new and fresh and brought a grin to Elizabeth's face as she walked in. “Here's what you have to look forward to,” she said to Tom with a laugh.

It was now about 10:30 a.m., and parents and students were scurrying about trying to make sure they were in the right place at the right time. One freshman caught my eye. Bilal Mahmood was a year behind me in high school and had been a friend of mine for a few years. We talked for a little while about his first impressions of Wold House, which is located in North College.

“It's really amazing to me that they were able to transform this old building into something that really looks brand new,” he said. “And having a nice TV like that will insure that the place is packed whenever a big game is on.”

I agreed that with the right snacks, the houses would be packed to standing-room-only capacity on such nights, and then waved goodbye to Bilal, who was in a rush to get his picture taken for his student I.D. I walked across campus in search of some upperclassmen, and in Wold House I met Jaime Werner, the house communications committee chair. A senior, Jaime has always been involved in campus activities and wanted to ensure that her house got off to the right start.

“I'm in charge of the house's website, publications, and documentation of the year's activities,” she said. “The documentation is particularly important since we are truly setting a precedent for how the Minervas will be integrated into campus life. In my opinion this integration will determine whether the Greek system will survive or die.” Mary Annese, a senior who is the House Council Chair in Beuth, poses a counterargument. “Most of the partying at Union during my time here has been fraternity related. It's going to take a lot of work to change the atmosphere here to incorporate the houses into the social life here. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad the fraternities are still around. They are an integral part of the Union tradition, but I hope there is room the Minervas as well.

As I exited Beuth House, I noticed a father taking his daughter's picture, and I decided to ask them what they thought of the new house. I immediately bombarded the girl with several questions in amateur reporter fashion.

“Pretty nice isn't it? Are you a freshman? What's your name?”

“Ha,” laughed the brown-haired girl. “My name is Jacqueline Young, I'm actually a senior, but he still does this to me every year. Yeah, the building is really fantastic. I'm going to be living here this year.” Dean of Residential Life Tom McEvoy had told me that not many upperclassmen had signed up for Minerva housing, but I had already met several who would be calling a Minerva their home. Jacqueline said that several of her friends would be living with her in Beuth.

Jacqueline's father, Ed Young, graduated from Union in 1972, and he seemed impressed by the renovations to these buildings on campus. “There is a great feeling of potential coming from these buildings. I just wish they could have refurbished the old Delta Phi building, where I was a brother. It's sad to know that building is no longer here but at the same time spectacular to see renovation across the campus on this scale.”

I waved goodbye to the Youngs and walked back to my car after a long day. I would find out what the Minervas would be like as a social space when I returned to campus the next night for the House System's opening night of orientation activities.

September 5: First Night

When I got to campus in the early evening hours, I was eager to see the incoming students meet one another in their new houses. Each house had its own activity planned for First Night, and the weather was, once again, spectacular.

The first thing I noticed was several students wearing ponchos, which would make one think I was mistaken in my judgment of the weather. However, a more careful look revealed what was going on. I noticed paint smeared all over the ponchos. Sure enough, they held cans of paint and were flinging paint with great care at a canvas. Ah, yes! This was the Jackson Pollack party sponsored by Wold House. Even Dean Tom McEvoy got in on the action, using a stunning blend of colors to create his masterpiece. The idea seemed to be a hit with several students gathered around the canvases waiting their turn as “artist.”

I heard commotion all over campus. Golub, Beuth, and Orange Houses were putting on quite a party themselves. Golub House sponsored the ultimate meet and greet-sumo wrestling and a sticky wall! In their huge suits, new roommates and new acquaintances got to know each other by stepping into the sumo circle. Orange House was busy tie-dying Union College tee shirts that were given out as freebies to the participating freshmen-savvy, given a college student's love of free giveaways. Beuth House was sponsoring the ever-popular bungee run-a huge inflatable platform, which allows two people to test their strength by running as far as they possibly can before succumbing to the force of the bungee.

Just as a freshman was snatched from his feet and jolted backward by the bungee chord, I noticed my friend Greg, who lived in West College with me last year. It turns out that he was living in an oversized single in Beuth House. His room, in his words, was “insane.” He had brand new furniture, hardwood floors, and an impressive personal bathroom. Because he was on the first floor, Greg had a nice social option. In the evening he could step outside and watch the big-screen television or listen to the deluxe stereo system, and when he was tired he could walk about ten feet to his room. “It really feels like this is my house,” laughed Greg, who has made a habit of taking his shoes off before entering Beuth House, a habit he formed at his own home.

Greg thinks the House System will be great for campus life. “Although there are a lot of good hangout spaces here on campus, the Minervas provide another option. Plus, you get to use a great kitchen, an amazing stereo, and feel like you really have a say in the place that you live for the year.”

I thanked Greg and headed back down campus in the direction of South College to see what was going on in Green and Yellow Houses. In Green, the smell of popcorn lured students in. I asked three freshmen about their impressions. While all three agreed that they hadn't really considered the House System in their decision to come to Union, the night's events made them realize what an added bonus they were in store for.

When I walked into Green, the lights were turned down low and people sat on comfortable couches in front of a projector screen where student films were being shown. Freshmen seemed particularly receptive to the film fest. It was an opportunity to look at the work of current Union students and realize that they were now a part of this community.

Yellow House also took an artsy approach to First Night. Union's house rock band, Unknown Element, was playing a spirited set to a large crowd that transformed the building into a sort of hipster coffee house. Sprawled out on couches, beanbags, and at tables, the freshmen enjoyed coffee, refreshments, and drinks in a comfortable concert setting. “This place is awesome,” exclaimed an enthused first-year girl who swayed to the sounds of the song “Hard to Handle.”

At my own Blue House, the party was in full swing by the time I got there. President Chris Macomber had painted himself a vibrant shade of blue and was banging on pots, pans, trashcans, and anything else in sight with a pair of drumsticks a la the Blue Man Group. This was Blue's theme for their opening night, and the crowd was responding well. I saw Bilal, my high school buddy, with a group of friends in the main room. He told me that he had five minutes until the next marshmallow-eating contest. While he stretched his jaw, I took the time to introduce myself to his two friends, Dave and, oddly enough, another Bilal. Both seemed really motivated about their Minerva. They live in Richmond, just a stone's throw away from their House in North, and they planned to take advantage of it.

“I had no idea the houses would be like this,” said Dave. “I wasn't unaware of the system, and, in fact, when I heard about it I thought it was great, but honestly I didn't think the places would be this spectacular. I can definitely see myself hanging out here.”

After my friend Bilal won the marshmallow-eating contest (he hit 30), I decided to take off for the night, having seen lots of people enjoying themselves.

September 7 : Opening Convocation

Two days later, I had moved into my room in Potter House and was getting ready to go to dinner with my Minerva House on another beautiful day. By the time I got to the wonderfully-catered picnic tables between the Nott and West College, it was hard to find a seat. Students were mingling with faculty and administration, and you could actually sit back and watch students introduce themselves to each other. My sophomore friends were also impressed. “Boy, this is a really nice setup we have here,” said Ross Williams, who lives across the hall from me in Potter. “This place already seems like a tighter community.”

I overheard professors talking about their upcoming classes over dinner and students fondly recounting their summers to their teachers. Union's goal of a “living and learning environment” seemed to have been reached.

Following the dinner, President Roger Hull addressed the students in his annual Convocation speech. The students in attendance seemed anxious to hear what he would say about the dawning of the new Minerva System.

“We have…sought to maintain and expand our on-campus opportunities for students to live and interact,” the president said. “However, it is the Minerva System, now underway, that will provide additional residential and social opportunities to complement theme houses, fraternities, and sororities and that will enrich the intellectual life on campus. In the process, the Minervas will serve as a national model.

“The Minervas will go beyond being merely a social outlet, though. Since all of our faculty members have a house affiliation, and since faculty will work with house members to plan and organize educational and cultural events, the houses will become a major academic force. Study after study has shown that a student's contact with faculty outside the classroom is one of the most important aspects of a college education. The Minerva Houses build on those experiences. By bringing faculty to student houses, the Minervas will enable students to have more and better contact with faculty. Through formal classes in the seminar rooms built into the houses and informal conversations, the intellectual life of the campus will be enhanced.”

As the president finished his speech, I noticed several members of fraternities and sororities in attendance. In fact, a small but enthusiastic portion of the Greeks are involved in leadership positions in the Minervas. Brian Selchick, a brother at Sigma Phi and co-chair at Golub House, has been dedicated to making the Minervas work at Union.

“I have felt the intrinsic need to break down the barrier between Greek life and Minerva life,” says Selchick. “To me, each system has many similar aspects and together could truly create an innovative and educational environment.”

Selchick believes that the Minervas will cater to people who like to attend coffee houses, student forums, and guest speakers. For Selchick, the Minervas are also a more relaxed place to meet with and get to know faculty. He also believes that the Minervas have a lot to learn from Greek life on campus. “I strongly feel that the Minerva system should attempt to harness the long-honed party throwing skills of the Greeks. Fraternities are used to dealing with setup, security, crowd control, and cleanup, and the College should make an effort for the Minervas to learn these skills.”

Mid September

After a few weeks of class, the Minervas already seem to have been adopted as a part of campus. Every now and then a friend of mine at one of the houses will invite me over for a barbeque, which I gladly partake in. At these dinners, I have recognized people who are involved in many different aspects of campus. Greeks, Minervas, jocks, intellectuals, and sometimes faculty get together to enjoy a bit of Indian summer and hamburgers. These people aren't as strictly grouped as rumors make it seem. Over the course of this assignment, this reporter has learned one thing above all-Union students are friendly, motivated, and take a great deal of pride in their campus.

While some resentment still exists among Greeks, especially those that left their buildings on campus, the numbers of sophomore rushes and pledges are certainly not in decline this year. Both Sigma Chi and Theta Delta Chi fraternities have an exceptionally large pledge class, at 27 apiece. Greg, my pal from Beuth House, is in his second week of pledging at the fraternity Fiji where, like Brian Selchick, he hopes to strengthen the relationship between the Minervas and the Greeks. The Minerva system is a myth no longer. Kudos to everyone who spent their summers preparing for a major change and doing such an amazing job. Though it has only been a few weeks, an unknowing observer would think the Minervas have always been here, and hopefully they will.

“There will be a lot of pressure this year on those in leadership positions in each house to come up with interesting activities,” she continued. “Luckily we have a nice budget of around $35,000 to work with to create a fun atmosphere here. Plus, we have a motivated and optimistic group of people.”

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