Posted on Apr 29, 2008

The closing concert of the 2007-08 Union College Chamber Concert Series last Sunday began on a special note: the College presented Daniel Berkenblit, series director, with the Founders Medal for his efforts in bringing “an extraordinary cultural institution” to the region.

Thanking him for his “boundless passion, sincere generosity and keen attention to detail,” President Stephen C. Ainlay praised Berkenblit for making Memorial Chapel a regular stop for the world’s most renowned performers and enriching audiences for nearly four decades.

Over the last 36 years, Berkenblit has organized some 470 concerts as part of the Union College Chamber Music Series.

Ainlay presented the medal for Berkenblit to wear on a ribbon around his neck. Joining the two men on stage were members of the Emerson String Quartet, longtime Union friends, who performed an all-Brahms program later that afternoon.

“Throughout it all, you have modestly stayed in the wings while audiences cheer the artists,” Ainlay told Berkenblit. “Today, it is our turn to acknowledge you, the artist, for bringing this wonderful music into our lives.”

Berkenblit received a standing ovation from the sold-out audience and an impromptu round of “Happy Birthday.” He celebrated his 78th birthday the next day.

In addition to the Emerson String Quartet, Berkenblit he has brought to Memorial Chapel such renowned artists as Musicians from Marlboro, Boston Camerata, Emmanuel Ax, Lang Lang, James Galway and Wu Han.

A native of Brooklyn, he holds a medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He served a residency in pathology at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital before working at several other hospitals and laboratories. He spent most of his career at St. Mary’s Hospital in Troy, from 1967 until his retirement in 2001.

His early musical training was on the piano, and he would go on to play the oboe in high school and in college. He became serious about chamber music – and perhaps about promoting it – during the summers of 1953 and 1954, when he traveled to Marlboro Music Festival from his summer job as a bus boy at the nearby Lake Spofford Hotel.

He and his wife, Phillipine, live in Schenectady and Stratton, Vt.

The Founders Medal was created in 1968 to honor a person who embodies the vision of the College’s founders and who has made a distinctive contribution to the welfare of the College.

Posted on Apr 27, 2008

The closing concert of the 2007-08 Union College Chamber Concert Series began on a special note, with the College presenting Daniel Berkenblit, series director, with the Founders Medal.

“For nearly four decades you have brought to Union College and the region an extraordinary cultural institution,” said President Stephen C. Ainlay in a citation he read to open an All-Brahms program by the Emerson String Quartet, which joined Dr. Berkenblit and the president on stage for the presentation.

“Thanks to your boundless passion, sincere generosity and keen attention to detail, the Union College Chamber Music Series has developed a loyal following and made Memorial Chapel a regular stop for the world’s most renowned performers including, of course, our longtime friends, the Emerson String Quartet,” Ainlay said.

“Throughout it all, you have modestly stayed in the wings while audiences cheer the artists. Today, it is our turn to acknowledge you, the artist, for bringing this wonderful music into our lives.”

Dr. Berkenblit received a standing ovation from the sold-out audience and, after the presentation, an impromptu round of “Happy Birthday.” He was to celebrate his 78th birthday on Monday, April 28, 2008.

For the last 36 years, Dr. Berkenblit has been responsible for producing the acclaimed Union College Chamber Music series, first as talent chair, and since 1979 as series director. He has brought to Memorial Chapel many of the world’s most renowned ensembles and soloists including the Emerson String Quartet; Musicians from Marlboro; Boston Camerata; Emmanuel Ax; Lang Lang; James Galway; Wu Han, Pamela Frank and Yeesun Kim; the Guarneri String Quartet and Solista Di Zagreb.

Since joining the series, Dr. Berkenblit has been responsible for producing about 470 concerts.

A native of Brooklyn, Dr. Berkenblit graduated from James Madison High School, earned a bachelor’s degree from City College of New York, and a medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He served a residency in pathology at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital before serving at several other hospitals and laboratories. He spent most of his career at St. Mary’s Hospital in Troy, from 1967 until his retirement in 2001.

His early musical training was on the piano, and he would go on to play the oboe in high school and in college. He became serious about chamber music – and perhaps about promoting it – during the summers of 1953 and 1954, when he traveled to Marlboro Music Festival from his summer job as a bus boy at the Lake Spofford Hotel about 20 miles away. It was at Marlboro that he heard musicians such as Rudolf Serkin, Blanche and Marcel Moyse and a number of others who were about to launch legendary careers. Though he continued his pursuit of a medical career, he had cultivated a passion for the music that he would later bring to the Union College Concert Series.

He and his wife, Phillipine, live in Schenectady and Stratton, Vt.

The Founders Medal was established in 1968 by Union’s Board of Trustees to honor a person who has made a distinctive contribution to the welfare of the College.

Posted on Apr 25, 2008

Area middle and high school students face off Saturday, April 26, in the eighth annual Rube Goldberg Engineering Competition from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Memorial Fieldhouse.

The event is free and open to the public.

Nearly 150 students, comprising 25 teams, will tackle this year’s engineering challenge to invent a machine no larger than 5 feet in length, width and depth that can draw a smiley face.

“The competition encourages students to apply physics theory to a real world problem using basic building skills,” said Jim Hedrick, lecturer for Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Rube Goldberg competition. Lance Spallholz, lab manager and instructor for Computer Science and Linda Almstead, senior lecturer for Computer Science, assist Hedrick with the competition.

The national competition is named for the late Rube Goldberg, an engineer and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist. His cartoons appeared in thousands of daily newspapers from 1914 to 1964 depicting “inventions” which epitomized “man’s capacity for exerting maximum effort to accomplish minimal results.”

In keeping with that theme, the competition involves making simple, ordinary tasks unnecessarily complex, cumbersome and convoluted by taking a two or three-step task and creating a machine to accomplish it in least 20 steps.

“This year’s challenge is actually quite hard,” Hedrick explained. “Transforming translational energy to circular energy is not easy because at least the face part must be drawn, not stamped. It will be interesting to see what solutions the students come up with.”

A team from Schenectady High School won last year’s competition, creating a machine that could open an umbrella. Past challenges have included sharpening a pencil, toasting a slice of bread, screwing a light bulb into a socket, putting toothpaste on a toothbrush and making a bologna sandwich.

The competition is sponsored by GE Volunteers, Lockheed Martin, KAPL Nova, the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium and the Union College Admissions Office and Engineering program.

The winning machine will be displayed at the Schenectady museum, along with a film of the competition.

For more information, visit http://engineering.union.edu/me_dept/rube/

Posted on Apr 25, 2008

The third annual Domestic Violence & Rape Awareness Banquet, “Out of the Silence, Finding Our Voices,” is Saturday, April 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the ballroom at College Park Hall.

Keynote speaker Salamishah Tillet, a rape survivor and co-founder of A Long Walk Home, Inc., will discuss how the media shapes the public’s response to sexual violence and discourages victims from coming forward to press charges. The banquet, sponsored by Las Hermanas of Tau Chapter of Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad/Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, Inc., will also feature musical performances, poetry readings and anecdotes from survivors.

Doors open at 5 p.m. for this event, which is free for the campus community. Tickets for the general public are $18 per person; $30 per couple.

"These events are crucial to the well being of our social and academic community,” said Lambda Pi Chi Vice President Carla Reeves ’08. “All three of our chapter founders survived domestic violence and rape. This banquet enables us to raise awareness and commemorate the road to recovery that many survivors have taken.”

The banquet closes Pi Chi Week which included discussions of race, identity, sex and health; a movie and game night and volunteer activities at Kenney Community Center.

Proceeds will benefit The National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault (SCESA) and a local organization that promotes domestic violence awareness.

Posted on Apr 24, 2008

Pick up your passport and visit nearly 25 countries in two hours at the International Festival Friday, April 25 from 5 to 7 p.m. in Old Chapel.

Students will teach about world cultures through sampling of traditional food, dance performances and demonstrations of art, music and  pictures.

International Festival’s organizing team includes Marie Schubert ‘09, Alexandra Dumitrescu ‘10 and Pavel Trojánek (ND), an exchange student from the Czech Republic.

“I’ve learned a lot through the host-family program and through working with the students on campus,” said Trojánek. “People are diverse: I’ve found Americans to be a lot different than the image that the media shows around the world.”

Dance performances are scheduled for 5:40 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Presentations include Soran Bushi, Jen traditional dance from Japan; Kata, Japanese martial arts; a Mexican tango; Nigerian bellydancing; and Chinese singing. The German Club will present one show from “Kabarett.”

Informational tables will represent the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana & Zimbabwe, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ghana, Guyana, India, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Vietnam.

There will also be a table on the Iraqi Student Project.

Participants visit each table to learn new facts and deepen their knowledge. After experiencing each country’s culture, they’ll take a fun, simple quiz and receive a passport “stamp.”

Bookstore prizes will be awarded at the end of the festival.

“My goal for the festival is to bring together a team of students to work together helping to erase borders and enjoy other cultures in a fun way,” said Trojánek. “The world is a global village and it’s cool to get to know your neighbors!”

International Festival is sponsored by IEG, International Programs, Dean of Students and Dean of Studies Office.