Posted on Apr 23, 2008

Posted on Apr 23, 2008

Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music, was composer-in-residence with the Taos Chamber Music Group earlier this month. Catlin Legere ’04 was also on the program as a photographer whose images accompanied two pieces.

Three Union students recently presented papers at the third annual Parilia, an undergraduate research conference in Classics. Inaugurated at Union in 2006 under the Mellon Consortium grant, the event brings together faculty and students in Classics from Colgate University, Hamilton and Skidmore colleges, and Union. This year’s conference was held at Skidmore. The students and their works are: Jennifer Hough, double major, Classics and Math, “Did the Greeks Invent Calculus?”; Shannon Davi, double major, Classics and Japanese, “Tattooing Human Nature: A Cross-Cultural Study of Ancient and East Asian Tattooing”; and Claire Hendry, double major, Classics and Biology, “Seeing Barbarian Warriors Through Roman Eyes.”

Lori Marso, professor of Political Science and director of Women's and Gender Studies, recently received the 2008 Betty Nesvold Women and Politics Award by the Western Political Science Association for her paper, “Feminism's Quest for Common Desires.” She also has been invited to present this work at a conference on “Women's Choices and the Future of Feminism” at the University of Colorado at Boulder May 2-3.

Posted on Apr 23, 2008

Steve Walker '08 wanted to change some misperceptions Union students harbored about Schenectady. He hoped to persuade more of his classmates to venture downtown. Ultimately, he wants to boost the social and economic fortunes of a city that has seen its share of tough times.

The plan gets its first test Saturday, April 26, when local restaurants, shops and cultural attractions host “Show Me Schenectady,” a chance for students to sample city life.

It’s the first major event organized by the Union-Schenectady Alliance, created by Walker and Josh DeBartolo '08 to improve relationships between the College and the city.

Working with organizations like the Chamber of Schenectady County, the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. and Proctors Theatre, the alliance hopes to lure hundreds of students downtown Saturday.

From noon to 5 p.m., students can dine on specially priced entrees, enjoy discounts on merchandise and participate in other games and activities. They can register for a poker run, which allows them to collect cards from select businesses throughout the afternoon. Students with the best poker hands will win prizes.

At 5 p.m., the College’s a cappella groups will provide entertainment at Jay and State streets, weather permitting. In the evening, some restaurants will offer specials for those with Union IDs. 

Proctors will also offer Union students half-price tickets to the New Plays Festival performance of “Battles of the Bands” at Upstairs, 440 State Street, and a free performance of “Barrage” on the main stage at 8 p.m.

Iwerks movies at Proctors that day will be half price for Union students.

Trolley service will be available to shuttle students between the campus and downtown.

“We want to show everybody what Schenectady has to offer,” said Walker, a Political Science/Economics major from Wolfeboro, N.H. Since January, the Union-Schenectady Alliance, which numbers about two dozen students, has met weekly in Wold House. Students have joined numerous committees and boards in the Schenectady community as non-voting members to engage local leaders in working together.

“We wanted to connect the brightest people on campus with the most influential people downtown,” said Walker.

The alliance evolved from a project Walker and DeBartolo, an Economics/Psychology major from Middleburgh, N.Y., did last fall for Hal Fried, the David L. '39 and Beverly B. Yunich Professor of Business Ethics. Told to ignore practical considerations and rely instead on their creativity and imagination, the pair was asked to create a vision of a Schenectady that young people would be reluctant to leave. Their resulting study was presented at a regional economic conference, where it was greeted enthusiastically by area business and civic leaders.

“The Union-Schenectady Alliance is a remarkable student-driven initiative,” said Fried. “It is based upon the premise that the College can benefit from a richer connection to Schenectady and vice versa. The concept is working in Schenectady, and it’s certainly scalable to other communities with educational institutions.”

One of the alliance’s biggest supporters, Proctors Theatre CEO Philip Morris, envisions a downtown filled with Union students. Saturday’s event, he said, is “the beginning of making Schenectady a college town.

“You look at old pictures and see all the people downtown. We can have that again, because the energy of these students is incredible.”

Posted on Apr 23, 2008

Students in Assistant Professor of Biology Jeffrey D. Corbin’s Environmental Studies class recently examined the College’s energy usage, transportation habits, dining services production and consumption, waste and paper production.

Their unscientific peek into the campus community's habits last term revealed that the College produced between 19,500 and 28,000 metric tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) last year.

That’s equivalent to the emissions produced by 7,100 cars in a year of typical driving; 30,000 rainforest trees or the average annual emissions produced by 3,000 Americans.

“We have to know where we stand before we can begin to devise strategies to reduce our carbon emissions,” said Corbin, who, along with Stephen Po-Chedley ’08, co-chairs U Sustain, a committee of students, faculty and staff committed to establishing a carbon baseline for the campus.

The group teamed up with the Enviromental Club for Earth Day last week, sharing information about sustainability and environmental initiatives with the campus community.

“There’s no one way to calculate a carbon footprint," said Corbin. “Factors such as the size of the school, student population, age of the buildings and types of energy used all produce dramatically different results. So we had students calculate a range to serve as our baseline for future comparison.”

Union's carbon footprint averaged 9.5 metric tons per student, typical for a school of its size.

Students learned that energy usage accounted for between 60 and 80 percent of the total carbon footprint, and that each student used nearly 2,500 sheets of paper, or five reams, annually.  They also found that food choices, particularly how much red meat is consumed, can greatly impact carbon emissions.

“We eat a lot of red meat at Union,” Corbin said. “Cows are tremendous methane producers. That, and the cost of raising them, has a negative impact on carbon emissions.”

Implementing simple changes, such as reducing meat consumption by merely one meal per day, can reduce an individual's carbon footprint by 20 percent.

“Recycling is by far the easiest process to implement,” said Sam Basta ’08, who researched Union’s energy usage by studying the amount of waste produced and the way it's recycled or disposed. “Reducing is best, but it’s much harder to implement.”

Posted on Apr 23, 2008

Some 70 students will share their dynamic talents at the ever-popular Steinmetz Symposium dance performance Friday, May 2, 12:20-1:30 p.m. at the Nott Memorial.  

Among the works performed are pieces from the winter’s “Whirled in Flux” dance concert, with music to Pink Floyd, including Carly Aimi ’08’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” Brittany Prescott ’08’s “On The Turning Away” and Joey Hunziker ’08’s “Is There Anybody Out There?”

New works include Randi Cerini’s step dance, “Stomp the Nott,” which features 10 dancers and drumming by Jacob Klein ’09.

Instructor Marcus Rogers has choreographed “Car Wash” and “Leave Britney Alone” with his tap and jazz students, and the Union College Dance Team and the Ballroom Club will bring their high energy to the stage in several pieces.

“Our students work hard each year to present their creativity, versatility and range of abilities, and the choreographies will reflect our program’s interest in promoting diverse styles,” said Dance Director Miryam Moutillet, who coordinates the performance, which typically draws standing-room only crowds.

Moutillet has created a new collaborative piece with students in her Dance Experience course. "Modern Gypsies," set to music by Nine Inch Nails, features Santos Avila ‘08, Annie Benfield ‘09, Rachel Bennett ’08, Erin Bligh ’10, Jen Fleisher ‘09, Katie Newingham ‘08, Stacy Paull ‘09, Nozomi Sakata ‘09 and Ayanna Vinson-Dobson ’11.

In addition to Klein, musicians include Moutillet’s son, Tristan Allen, on keyboard, Paul Amy ’08 on guitar and William Wilkins ’09 on bass. Musical director is film composer Andy Iorio of Saratoga Springs.

The 2008 Edward Villella Fellowship, which enables exceptional students in dance to expand their studies beyond campus, will be announced at the end of the show. The fellowship was made possible from the generous gifts of Charles D. Lothridge ’44 to honor Edward Villella, acclaimed premier dancer with the New York City Ballet and founder of the Miami City Ballet.