Posted on Jan 24, 2006

The Schenectady City Council and Mayor Brian Stratton passed a unanimous resolution on Jan. 23 recognizing the 29 Union College students and two staff members who took part in the Hurricane Katrina Relief effort in New Orleans as part of an alternative winter break.

“We really are very proud of you all and the positive face you put on Schenectady,” said Councilman Frank Maurizio.

On hand for the honor at city hall Monday evening were Todd Clark, director of residential life, and eight of the participating students.

The resolution states: WHEREAS, on December 6, 2005, 29 Union College students and two Union College staff members participated in the Hurricane Katrina Relief effort in New Orleans, Louisiana; and WHEREAS, the tasks they completed included the painting of school classrooms, cleaning desks and lockers, re-constructing and re-stocking a school library, and helping other area volunteers remove flood damaged materials; and WHEREAS, the altruistic efforts of these students to assist others in their time of need is a positive reflection upon Union College and the City of Schenectady deserving of recognition. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT: RESOLVED, that the Mayor and City Council does hereby honor and recognize the following individuals for their willingness to provide assistance and comfort to others and for the difference they made in the lives of those they aided in New Orleans.

Students attending the resolution ceremony were: Josh DeBartolo '08, Laura Eyman '08, Libby Johnson '08, Daniel Khasidy '06, Jake Lebowitz '08, Jen Libous '08, Jessie Loudar '07 and Jackie Siedlecki '07.

The council meeting honoring the Union group can be viewed on Schenectady's public access Channel 16, throughout the week.

The students and staff who traveled to New Orleans as part of the relief effort have received extensive local media coverage both during and after the trip, as well as recognition and accolades from various state politicians, including New York's Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Posted on Jan 24, 2006

Rawson Marshall Thurber (“Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story”) has signed on to write and direct the big-screen adaptation of “Magnum P.I.,” the 1980s series that made Tom Selleck a star.

“Magnum P.I.,” which ran on CBS from 1980 to 1988, followed the adventures of Thomas Magnum, a Navy intelligence officer-turned-private investigator hired by wealthy author and playboy Robin Masters to oversee security on the latter's massive Hawaii estate.

Magnum lived in Masters' guest house and drove his Ferrari (the car would become one of the show's signatures), much to the chagrin of Jonathan Higgins III, a proper Englishman who ran the estate.

Magnum also continued to take on cases in which he was aided and abetted by his Vietnam vet buddies, notably helicopter pilot T.C. and club manager Rick.

Thurber is not making a spoof but rather something akin to the tone of the show, which mixed humor and danger. The story line for the Universal Pictures film sees Magnum, with the help of his former military pals, searching for a missing buddy.

Features versions of such TV staples as “Charlie's Angels,” “Dukes of Hazzard” and “Starsky and Hutch” have done well at the box office in recent years.

Posted on Jan 24, 2006

These are the 29 Union College students who used a week of their vacation to help cleanup efforts in New Orleans, their year, major and hometown.

Mary Abraham sophomore, biology/sociology, Tenafly, N.J.

Amanda Barrow sophomore, chemistry/neuroscience, Millville, N.J.

Adam Chused senior, political science, Concord, Mass.

Eric Darlow senior, economics, Orlando, Fla.

Josh DeBartolo sophomore, economics, Middleburgh

Jerome DeSheers junior, managerial economics, Queens

Kate DeSorrento senior, neuroscience, Schaghticoke

Laura Eyman sophomore, mechanical engineering, New Orleans

Libby Johnson sophmore, mathematics, Boxboro, Mass.

Meagan Keenan freshman, Latin American studies, Vermilion, Ohio

Dan Khasidy senior, classical studies, Forest Hills, Queens County

Samantha Koolen senior, psychology/women's studies, Andover, Mass.

Jake Lebowitz sophomore, political science/psychology, Rochester

Jen Libous sophomore, biochemistry, Endwell, Broome County

Posted on Jan 24, 2006

The average Capital Region collegian drives a five-year-old Honda Civic.

That is among the findings of an unscientific Times Union census of vehicles parked in student lots at The College of Saint Rose, Hudson Valley Community College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Siena College, Skidmore College, Union College and the University at Albany.

Brock Yates, editor-at-large of Car and Driver magazine, isn't surprised. “I think the imports, in particular the Japanese and compact imports, have high status,” Yates says. “And that's what kids like. You show up with a Honda Accord or a Civic, and you're ahead of the game.” Student parking lots in Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Saratoga Springs are nearly indistinguishable, with most looking like the used-car lot at a Honda dealership. Other small imports from manufacturers including Toyota, Mitsubishi and Scion are well represented, but sitting alongside them in most college lots are surprising rides including Cadillacs, Hummers, Porsches and at least one mint-condition, 33-year-old car-pickup hybrid from Ford called the Ranchero.

Students at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, where tuition, room, board and fees total more than $41,000 a year, drive the most expensive cars; some student parking lots there can easily be mistaken for faculty lots.

The average resale value of a student car is lowest at UAlbany, one-seventh as much as those at Skidmore.

Gary Krohl, professor of automotive history at HVCC, says the stereotype of a student car as a barely running junker no longer holds true. College vehicles today are generally newer and better maintained. Krohl says, “In the '80s, they were whatever (students) could get, whether it's an old, beat-up pickup truck or an old 1970s Chevy they could get running.”

These days, Hondas are most popular, but they have competition:

At Union, Volkswagens and Fords are tops. They accounted for 36 percent of the vehicles in the lots surveyed one day earlier this fall. Union students seem to prefer VW Jettas and Ford Explorers.

At UAlbany, Toyotas rule. And, in a curious statistical anomaly, one surveyed UAlbany lot was entirely barren of Hondas.

At Skidmore one day last month, vehicles by Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus, Audi and Infiniti accounted for 8 percent of student cars. The runner-up in the posh- imports category was Siena, with 6 percent.

While most rides were at least several years old, the UAlbany lot was home to a brand-new 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse and a 2006 Hummer H3.

“The vehicles that our students drive are as diverse as the students themselves,” says HVCC President Drew Matonak. “The cars, trucks and SUVs are foreign, domestic, every color, year, make and model imaginable.”

Krohl says that as much as students and their cars have changed over the decades, some things remain constant. A car choice is primarily about transportation, he says, but adds, “It's about personal expression as well.”

Chris Salute, a senior at Siena College, is a Times Union intern. He drives a

1998 Ford Taurus.

Posted on Jan 24, 2006

Union College students spent a week in New Orleans helping victims of Hurricane Katrina. Here's who they helped and what they did. Locations are in northeastern New Orleans unless otherwise noted:

Vickie Pellecchia, 58, high school geometry teacher and administrator

Pellecchia lived for six years in a one-story home. The flood waters rose to 1 foot below her ceiling and settled for three weeks at the middle of her windows. The students cleared out the contents of her home and hauled them to the curb.

Julie Reed Bogan, 61, receptionist at a New Orleans law firm

Bogan's parents — her mother is 84, her father, 93 — lived in their house for

62 years. Her father refused to evacuate and, after flood waters forced him to the second floor, he was rescued by boat from the roof of a side porch, about

15 feet above ground. Students cleared out the contents of the two-story home and hauled them to the curb.

Benjamin Franklin High School

It was flooded with two feet of water. Of the 936 students who began school a week and a half before the hurricane, more than 500 have confirmed that they'll return when the school reopens Jan. 17. Students hauled athletic equipment, files and supplies out of the gymnasium, cleared out offices and salvaged shelves from the library, cleaned them and reassembled them in a second-floor lounge. They stocked shelves with books that survived the flooding.

Lusher Elementary School in southwestern New Orleans

The bottom floor was flooded. Of the 657 students who began school before the hurricane, about 460 are expected to return when school reopens Jan. 17. The students cleaned and painted seven classrooms.

Audubon Montessori School in southwestern New Orleans

It sustained roof and water damage. Of the 525 students in the school for pre-K through eighth grade, about 300 have applied to return when the school opens Jan. 3. The students cleaned out desks and lockers and painted the cafeteria.

Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in eastern New Orleans

Its sanctuary, family-life center, classrooms, offices and gymnasium were flooded with 8 feet of water. The students knocked down walls and hauled out debris.

Jay Ciaffa, 46, college professor of philosophy

After the hurricane, Ciaffa was laid off from his job at Xavier University in New Orleans because of uncertain future enrollment. The students helped Ciaffa cut up branches of a large tree that had fallen in his back yard. His home in central New Orleans was one of two in which the students stayed.

Joshua, 18, and Jonathan Myers, 24

The students helped the brothers remove debris from their uncle's two-story home in eastern New Orleans, which was flooded with 8 feet of water. The first floor was a nursery.

The Galloways (Rochelle, 36, and her mother and father, Druscilla, 68, and Roy,

69)

Rochelle is a fourth-grade teacher laid off from her job. Her one-story duplex was flooded to the ceiling. Her parents' two-story home next door was flooded to the ceiling. An unexplained fire later burned it to the water line. The students helped the Galloways clear debris from the daughter's home in eastern New Orleans. The parents have yet to be allowed back into their home.

Mary and Kenny Martin, 57 and 59, respectively

The Martins' one-story brick home in St. Barnard Parish, the first community east of New Orleans, was flooded by 15 feet of water. It did not recede for about three weeks. Mary was a chemistry teacher and head of the science department at a high school closed after the hurricane. She's working as a teacher near Baton Rouge. Kenny was the liaison between the New Orleans school district and sheriff's department. He was laid off after the storm. He's overseeing the refurbishment of Lusher Elementary School. The students removed the contents of the Martins' home, in which they'd lived for 25 years.