Posted on Jan 11, 2008

Whether sprinting across campus, eating at Dutch Hollow or taking class, members of the Union community can hear the Memorial Chapel chimes playing a song each day at lunch time.

“It varies from our alma mater, ‘Ode to Old Union,’ to church songs and hymns, to ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’ simple songs that resonate well through the sound of the bells,” said Mara Powers ’09, who shares the responsibility of playing the Union chimola with Alex Handin ’10.

Powers and Handin take their place in a long line of Union chimers. Though the bells toll automatically on the quarter hour each day, the lunchtime tunes hold a cherished place in Union history.

Chimes players have been part of Union since its founding, when students honored to take the job earned free lodging and the chance to leave class early. The tradition continued through 1970, when Peter Smith was believed to be the last of that class to ring regularly.

The chimola was largely untouched for 30 years, until David Stone ’06 revived the chiming in 2002, learning the ropes from Smith. This was made possible because of Ed Moulton ’37, who loved the sound of the bells so much he started an endowment that year to ensure the tradition continues. Moulton himself was paid $150 by President Dixon Ryan Fox in 1937 for a year of service at the chimes.

Today, Powers and Handin take turns in the tower. This term, Handin rings Mondays and Tuesdays; Powers rings Wednesdays and Thursdays. They switch every other Friday and for special events.

Both bring musical backgrounds to the job.

Powers, a sociology major, has a minor in music and has played piano for 10 years. Handin, who has not yet declared a major, plays piano and violin, sings and participates in the Union College Orchestra, Choir and Jazz Ensemble. “There is a set of levers that you push down that’s similar to the fashion in which you play piano,” he said.

Handin found his way to the chimes job through his friend, Robert Larimore ’07, who held the position last year.

“At first, hearing the passage through the pitch black attic sounded dreadful,” he remembered of his initial climb up the steep, dark stairs to the chapel’s belfry. Now, he says, being at the top of Union’s world “is a unique experience. When you walk up the bell tower, it’s like walking into a different world.”              

Posted on Jan 11, 2008

The Nott Memorial is featured in a book released by the Landmark Society of Western New York, titled “Historic New York: Architectural Journeys in the Empire State.”

The lavishly illustrated 220-page book showcases New York’s many architectural treasures as well as the benefits of historic renovation. Photographer Andy Olenick and author Richard O. Reisem volunteered five years of their time to researching and photographing historic buildings throughout New York.

The book is divided into 11 regions and covers four centuries of New York architecture, including early Dutch architecture, the Adirondack style, Georgian country mansion and other styles.The 16-sided Nott, built in 1872, is an example of High Victorian Gothic design.

Mini-histories of each site embellish the photographs, and all of the landmarks featured are open to the public.    

The Landmark Society of Western New York is one of the country’s oldest and most respected historic preservation organizations.

Posted on Jan 11, 2008

Applications for early decision to the Class of 2012 have surpassed last year’s total, according to figures compiled by Admissions.

Early decision applications are considered at two times during the year. For the first round, the College has accepted 147 students out of 179 applications, compared to 123 students out of 145 applications a year ago. The deadline to apply was Nov. 15.

The deadline for the second round of early decision was the same as regular admission, Tuesday, Jan. 15, with decision letters mailed by Feb. 1. Regular decision letters will be sent at the end of March.

Students applying under early decision have made a commitment to attend Union if admitted.

The 147 students already accepted include 78 women and 69 men.

The expected size of the Class of 2012 is 565.

“The quality of our applicant pool continues to be strong,” said Ann Fleming Brown, interim vice president for Admissions and Financial Aid. “The fact that our early decision numbers have grown is further proof that more and more students like what they see at Union and make it their first choice.”

The competition for the Class of 2012 follows a strong recruitment last year. The 561 students in the Class of 2011 were chosen from a record 4,837 applications, and 67 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

For the first time since the College began admitting women in September 1970, the number of female freshmen surpassed male students, 286 to 275. 

Posted on Jan 10, 2008

The year 2007 closed with good wishes for all. Once again, Union students, faculty and staff demonstrated the spirit of the holiday season in many ways.

For the 14th year, the Dean of Students Office teamed up with the local Salvation Army, collecting new toys through the Angel Tree Program. For the third year, the Kenney Community Center sponsored a family through Family and Child Services of Schenectady. Participants donated clothes and personal care items. Athletics organized its annual Toys for Tots fund drive for fans attending December hockey games against Nebraska-Omaha. 

And on the top floor of 17 South Lane, home to the Records Department, gifts piled up for the Adopt-a-Family program coordinated by Kathy McCann, director of College Relations Data Systems. Working with the Department of Social Services of Schenectady County, McCann and her colleagues delivered gifts and food to local families donated by more than 80 members of the College community.

Among the many thanks she received for the College’s efforts was a note from one recipient that read, in part, “…words in this card are just a small fraction of the gratitude I feel towards all of you for all the joy you’ve brought me and my children.”

Posted on Jan 10, 2008

There’s more to an author than what can be found between the pages of her books, and students taking Jane Austen seminars at Union and Skidmore learned this firsthand, thanks to exhibits on both campuses that have given them a deeper appreciation for the beloved 19^th British novelist. 

“We found that working on a library exhibit enhances more conventional classroom experiences,” said Schaffer Library Associate Librarian and Head of Technical Services Annette LeClair. “It evokes different learning styles and fosters new relationships among audiences.”

LeClair and Skidmore College English Professor Phyllis Roth have developed a satisfying academic collaboration that underscores the importance of the exhibits, and now the two women will share that success with their peers.

They have been invited to speak on Jane Austen’s legacy at the annual meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), to be held in Chicago in October. They will present their findings at a session titled, “Exhibiting the Learning: Jane Austen on Display.”

The two met when Roth came to campus a year ago as part of the Mellon faculty exchange program that supports faculty career development.

“Since then, Professor Roth and I have continued to collaborate,” said LeClair, a JASNA member. “I went to Skidmore to hear her students talk about their own Austen exhibit, for example, and to describe Union’s exhibit and its surrounding events. Our efforts also demonstrate the fruitfulness of faculty-librarian partnerships across institutions as well as in our own.”

Undergraduates in Austen seminars offered on both campuses in recent years have produced a series of library exhibits featuring Austen texts, contexts, ephemera, images, and scholarly and popular interpretations of Austen’s life and work. Roth taught the seminars, supervised and evaluated student work, and supplied much of the exhibit material. LeClair provided a range of support to the students and for the exhibits.

Their JASNA talk will illustrate how requiring students to develop exhibits that examine Austen’s legacy encourages them to generate fresh interpretations of the author and “inhabit her world” in telling ways. 

Students in each seminar created distinctive exhibits with different emphases, reinforcing the notion that literary interpretation is creative and ever-changing.

“After structuring and articulating these insights for exhibit visitors, students report that they are amazed how much their appreciation for Austen has grown,” LeClair said.

“Most important, we found that when students deal directly, collaboratively and creatively with the ever-growing mountain of ‘stuff’ that now provides evidence of Austen’s enduring influence, they move from being overwhelmed and puzzled to being intrigued and energized.”

To convey the scope of the students’ imagination and achievement, LeClair’s and Roth’s presentation will include excerpts of video recordings of student interviews and images of exhibit materials.

LeClair has presented her work on Austen at previous JASNA general meetings and at a variety of regional meetings and events. Her publications have appeared in “Persuasions” and the Modern Library Association’s “Approaches to Teaching Austen’s Emma.” Roth, who teaches Austen frequently, served as Skidmore's chief academic officer in the 1990s.

Founded in 1979, JASNA has some 3,000 members. Most are professional scholars or well-read amateurs from across the United States and Canada, though Janeites are represented from 13 other countries, from Japan to the Netherlands.

Union’s Mellon faculty exchange with Skidmore and two other upstate New York institutions, Hamilton College and Colgate University, is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.