Posted on Feb 13, 2007

Casey, Sociology Professor Ilene Kaplan's cairn terrier, won an Award of Merit Monday at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden. The award was one of two given for the cairn terrier breed from among 17 champions who competed.

The Westminster Kennel Club offers a bronze color medallion for the Award of Merit. This year marked the two-day competition's first “Champions Only” dog show with entries limited to 2,500 dogs from the 165 recognized breeds and varieties.

Casey is a three-year-old male terrier born to champion sire Ohioville Mohonk and champion dam Lillian of the Valley. The breeder was Jill Wertheim.

Kaplan, the Joseph C. Driscoll Professor of Sociology and Marine Policy, has been teaching at Union since 1978. Casey is her first dog and she began showing him only two years ago.

“Casey is my family pet and it's so great that he's doing so well competitively,” said Kaplan. “But, he loves the snow and is happy to be home.”

At Westminster, Kaplan used a professional handler to show Casey. But at the Winter Classic Dog Show in Queensbury earlier this month, she showed Casey to a victory over a two-time Westminster winning cairn terrier.

“Casey's choice of bait in the ring is steak,” Kaplan continued, “but we treated him to filet mignon in the ring at Westminster.”

Posted on Feb 13, 2007

For the fifth year, Union College students will present "The Vagina Monologues" as part of the worldwide "V-Day" effort to raise awareness and money to stop violence against women and girls.

Darcia Datshkovsky "10 will direct and Kaitlin Canty "08 will produce Eve Ensler"s  award-winning play at Old Chapel Thursday, Feb. 15, and Friday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 17, 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door.

"Last year, we sold out both of our performances and raised more than $2,000," said Canty. Of that, 90 percent went to Schenectady YWCA for its programs to stop domestic violence and its battered women"s shelter; 10 percent went to the V-Day Spotlight Campaign: Justice for Comfort Women.

This year, the YWCA is the primary beneficiary again, and 10 percent of profits will go to the 2007 V-Day Spotlight Campaign: Women in Conflict Zones.

The V-Day College Campaign invites members of college and university communities around the world to present benefit productions of "The Vagina Monologues" on their campuses over a four-week period each spring. The Obie Award-winning play, created and first performed by Ensler in 1996, has been translated into more than 35 languages and performed worldwide. Ensler"s experience performing the show inspired her to create the global movement called V-Day. 

This year, some 1,100 V-Day events will be held, with performances in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and throughout America. There will be more than 100 shows in New York.

V-Day is officially celebrated on Feb. 14 each year in an effort to reduce the high number of sexual assault incidences that take place on Valentine"s Day.

Joining Canty in the Union campus cast are Kelsey Allen-Dicker '07, Rachel Curtis '08, Melanie Gonzalez '10, Sara Horowitz '10, Carley Jacobson '10, Christine Y. Kim '10, Meagan Keenan '09, Julie Lichtblau '10, Clyanna Lightbourn '10, Lisa McManus '10, Marcela Oliva '09, Keegan Peters "08, Genevieve St. Hilaire '10, Jessica Sosa '10 and Samantha Zayas '10.

The fundraising committee, chaired by Keenan, includes Elizabeth Buck '07, Canty, Courtney Coffin '09, Curtis, Colleen Easton '09, Megan Kaknis '09, Brittany Miller '09, Christina Vincent '09, Lisa Vallee '10 and Zayas.

Other fund-raising efforts at Union include sales of T-shirts, flowers and lollipops in the Reamer Campus Center.

For more information about V-Day, go to www.vday.com.

Posted on Feb 13, 2007

The UProgram Comedy Series presents comedian Jay Black Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 10 p.m. in Old Chapel.

The event is free and open to the public.

Julie Wilson, editor of A&E, says of Black: “Yes, he was in your face… but he was also hilarious.”

Before doing standup, Black was an English teacher in Medford, N.J., and he still teaches in Tabernacle, N.J. He has performed at numerous nightclubs and colleges.

On Wednesday, Feb. 28, comedian Roy Wood Jr. will be performing. For further information on the Comedy Series or other UProgram events, contact Student Activities at (518) 388-6118.

Posted on Feb 12, 2007

Spend Valentine's Day with comedian Troy Thirdgill Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 10 p.m. in Old Chapel as part of the UProgram Comedy Series.

The event is free and open to the public.

Thirdgill's foray into the comedy scene began in 1989 when he won a “Laugh Off” competition in Portland, Ore. He has starred in UPN's “The Working Guy” and appeared on shows such as “Beverly Hills 90120” and “In Living Color.”

The Orange County Register describes Thirdgill as “…a refreshingly fun act to watch. A very bright young man.”

Thirdgill's stand-up comedy has appeared frequently on Showtime and Comedy Central. In addition, he has recently been on the United Service Organization (U.S.O.) Tour and the Comics on Duty Tour for the Armed Forces.

On Wednesday, Feb. 21, comedian Jay Black will be performing. For further information on the Comedy Series or other UProgram events, contact student activities at (518) 388-6118.

Posted on Feb 12, 2007

Poet Diane Mehta will discuss her work at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Arts 215 as part of the “Writers Return: The Alumni Writers Series.

The talk is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in Wold House.

Mehta, a New York-based poet and critic has published poems in Salamander; The Formalist; The Columbia Review; Literary Review; Prairie Schooner; The Southern Review; The Antioch Review and several Indian-American anthologies. She is a travel writer for the Fodor's series and recently wrote about hang gliding on the sand dunes of North Carolina.

Mehta's book, How to Write Poetry, was published last year. She freelances for New York magazine and other publications. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and toddler and received her master's from Boston University.

“Writers Return: The Alumni Writers Series” is sponsored by the English Department, President's Office, Alumni Relations and Wold House.

The next featured artist will be author Kerrie Ticknor Droban '87 Friday, June 1 as part of ReUnion weekend's featured events.

Selected poetry from Diane Mehta:

1 in 300

The Four Seasons

Arranged Marriage

Hot December: Memory of Holiday in Bombay