Posted on Apr 24, 2007

General Wesley K. Clark, a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war and a former presidential candidate, will speak Tuesday, May 8, at 7 p.m. in Memorial Chapel.

Clark’s talk, “Strategic Leadership in the Information Age,” is sponsored by the College’s speakers committee. The talk is free and open to the public.

In 34 years of service in the United States Army, Clark rose to the rank of four-star general as NATO`s Supreme Allied Commander and the Commander-in-Chief of the United States European Command. In his final military command, Clark led Operation Allied Force, which helped save Albanians from “ethnic cleansing’’ in Kosovo. He also was responsible for the peacekeeping operation in Bosnia.

He retired from the military in 2000, but has remained active as an investment banker, author and frequent commentator on television news programs. In 2004, Clark ran for president in the Democratic primary and has not ruled out a run in the 2008 election. He is the CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic advisory and consulting firm.

Clark received numerous honors during his military career, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal (five), the Silver Star, Bronze Star (two) and the Purple Heart.

He is the author of the best-selling book “Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo and the Future of Combat” (Public Affairs, 2001) and “Winning Modern War: Iraq, Terrorism and the American Empire” (Public Affairs, 2003).

Clark graduated first in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. In 1966, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he earned a master’s degree in politics, philosophy and economics.

Posted on Apr 23, 2007

The East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) makes its Concert Series debut at Union’s Memorial Chapel Saturday, April 28, at 8 p.m. courtesy of People’s Symphony Concerts.

Formed in 2001 as a conductor-less chamber orchestra focused purely on making,music, ECCO combines the diversity of experience and the strength and power of an orchestra with the personal, intimate nature of chamber music.

The program will include Antonín Dvorák’s Serenade for Strings in E major, op. 22 (1875); Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto in D for string orchestra (1946); John Adams’ Shaker Loops (1983) and La Folia: Theme and variations for string orchestra by Arcangelo Corelli, arranged by Michi Wiancko.

ECCO is composed of 17 young string players who hail from the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory and Cleveland Institute of Music. Its members are soloists with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics and the Chicago, Richmond, Austin and Boston Symphonies.

The ensemble features award-winning solo and chamber musicians, many of whom were trained at Marlboro and are principals in major American orchestras. They include violinists Alicia Doudna, Meg Freivogel, Jessica Lee, Nelson Lee, Ayano Ninomiya, Susie Park, Annaliesa Place and Michi Wiancko; violists Rebecca Albers, Maurycy Banaszek, Melissa Reardon and Jonathan Vinocour; cellists Susan Babini, Denise Djokic, Daniel McDonough and Karen Ouzounian with Nate Farrington on bass.

The concert is free for the Union College community; $20 for general admission and $8 for area students. For tickets, call (518) 388-6080; for more information, call (518) 372-3651 or visit http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries/.

Posted on Apr 20, 2007

Noted landscape designer and author Julie Moir Messervy will give a lecture on “Landscape Design — the Toronto Music Garden” at Reamer Campus Center Auditorium on Wednesday, May 2 at 1 p.m. as part of the UCALL lecture series.

Messervy designed the 2.5 acre park  on Toronto’s Harbourfront in conjunction with eminent cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the city of Toronto. The design is based on the six movements of Bach’s "First Suite for Unaccompanied Cello" and features six garden “movements”: Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Menuett and Gigue.

Messervy's talk is the culmination of a five-week course titled "Great Gardens of the World" that she is teaching with landscape designer Ellen McClelland-Lesser and Union Professor of Art History Louisa Matthew.

The course focuses on 15^th and 16^th century European landscape architecture and design approaches that have influenced famous modern public and private gardens.

Messervy has worked on numerous public, corporate and private gardens and is the author of several books, including The Magic Land: Designing Your Own Enchanted Garden and The Inward Garden.

She is the mother of Charlotte Messervy ’08.

The Union College Academy for Lifelong Learning is a membership-based program for adult learners. All members of the Union community are welcome to attend UCALL lectures. Seating is limited; contact the UCALL office at ext. 6072 to reserve a spot.  

For more information about UCALL offerings, visit www.union.edu/Academics/UCALL.  

Posted on Apr 20, 2007

Members of the Union community are being asked to participate at noon today in a national "Day of Mourning" to honor the victims at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, where 32 people were killed in the worst shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.

At noon, the Union College bell will ring for one minute to remember those who lost their lives in this tragic event.

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer asked all communities across the state to observe a moment of silence at noon in honor of the victims. He also asked municipal and church bells to be tolled in their memory.

The request follows Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine's declaration of Friday as a "Day of Mourning"  in the state.

On Tuesday, hundreds of members of the Union community participated in a candlelight vigil outside the Nott Memorial to offer prayers and support to the community in Blacksburg, Va.

The vigil was coordinated by Student Forum and Viki Brooks-McDonald, the College’s interfaith chaplain.

Posted on Apr 19, 2007

Ten mechanical engineering students presented their work at the 3rd Annual Tech Valley Symposium held earlier this week at RPI.

Seniors Bridget Austin, James Doane, Jason Melville, Andrew Raridan, Brian Feldman, Craig Ferguson, Michael Guigli and Justin Mole and junior Joe Martel presented posters, while sophomore Michael Bono gave an oral presentation. 

The students were accompanied by Professors Frank Wicks, Samuel Amanuel, Dave Hodgson, Ashraf Ghaly and Ann Anderson and Dean Cherrice Traver. Traver served on the advisory board for the symposium, and Anderson and Amanuel served as technical chairs.

The Tech Valley Symposium is designed to highlight the broad range of technological research and development activities being undertaken in New York State’s Capital Region. The event was sponsored by the Center for Economic Growth, Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti PC, Union Graduate College and National Instruments.  For more information, visit  http://engineering.union.edu/TV/.