Posted on Aug 29, 2008

Ad hoc committees are reviewing the tenure of six professors: Aaron Cass, Computer Science; Palma Catravas, ECE; Zhilan Feng, UGC; Deidre Hill Butler, Sociology; Jennifer Matsue, Music; and Andrew Morris, History. Members of the Union Community may submit written comments on their teaching, service or scholarship to committee members. Committees (with chairs listed first) are:

Cass: Robert Wells, History (ext. 6223, wellsr@union.edu); David Hemmendinger, CS; Bradford Bruno, Mechanical Engineering; and Joanne Kehlbeck, Chemistry

Catravas: Louisa Matthew, Visual Arts (ext. 6371, matthewl@union.edu); Yu Chang, ECE; Andrew Rapoff, Mechanical Engineering; and Kenneth DeBono, Psychology

Feng: Shelton Schmidt, Economics (ext. 6218, schmidts@union.edu); James Lambrinos, UGC; David Gerhan, Schaffer Library; and Rebecca Koopmann, Physics and Astronomy

Hill Butler: Ruth Stevenson, English (ext. 6206, stevensr@union.edu) ; Melinda Goldner, Sociology; Tomas Dvorak, Economics; and Christina Tonnesen-Friedman, Mathematics

Matsue: Quynh Chu-LaGraff, Biology (ext. 6724, chulagrq@union.edu); Timothy Olsen, Music; Bernhard Kuhn, English; and Michele Angrist, Political Science

Morris: Martin Benjamin, Visual Arts (ext. 6455, benjamin@union.edu); John Cramsie, History; Clifford Brown, Political Science; and George Shaw, Geology

Posted on Aug 25, 2008

Eight members of the Class of 2008 who comprise the first group of Minerva Fellows have arrived at their foreign destinations where, for the next 11 months, they will get a first-hand look at the human side of poverty. The scholarship program is designed to instill in new graduates an entrepreneurial approach to social problems and a lasting commitment to the poor.

The selected students come from Union’s seven Minerva Houses which serve students’ social and academic interests. All students, faculty and staff are assigned to a Minerva.

The Minerva Fellows will return to campus in May, where they will live on campus for a month. During that time, they will participate in an ongoing course on social entrepreneurship, recount their experiences for other students and give presentations at Minerva Houses and classes.

Posted on Aug 22, 2008

People often remark that the Union campus belongs on a postcard. In fact, the campus scenery has been featured on a number of postcards through the years, and Schaffer Library has a new online exhibit showcasing hundreds of them.

The collection comes courtesy of Robert N. Michaelson ’72 and includes a wide-ranging set of images depicting buildings, landscapes, activities and individuals either on the College campus or associated with it. Most of the cards date from the first half of the 20th century.

The library plans to eventually add its own collection of hundreds of postcards to the database.

“We hope that this online postcard collection is the first of many digital collections the Library will make available to the campus and the community beyond,” said Ellen Fladger, head of the library's Special Collections and Archives.

To view the exhibit, click here.

Posted on Aug 22, 2008

Two new exhibits in the Nott Memorial challenge and tantalize the senses.

“Outside Information: A Site-Specific Sound Installation by Stephan Moore,” which runs through Friday, Sept. 19, uses the complex acoustics inside the Nott Memorial to transform the building’s interior into a dense, hushed wilderness of small, shifting sounds.

“SNAP! Contemporary Photography” features the unconventional photographic treatments and approaches of five contemporary female photographers: Sally Apfelbaum, Nora Herting, Katharine Kreisher, Melinda McDaniel and Lynn Saville. The show will be on display in the Mandeville Gallery through Sunday, Sept. 28.

“These artists engage in complex, artistic investigations of both the capabilities and limits of the photography medium, while simultaneously exploring ideas about perception and our relationship with the world,” said Rachel Seligman, curator.

The artists use a combination of traditional and nontraditional techniques Apfelbaum employs a large-format camera and layers multiple exposures onto a single negative to create images of nature that are dense, layered and mysterious.

McDaniel fragments her photographs and reorders and reconfigures the pieces fragments into new images. Saville uses a medium-format camera to make photographs of urban and rural twilight landscapes.

Herting subverts conventions in both medium and subject matter, while Kreisher employs technologies that span the history of photography and combines photographic techniques with post-photographic interventions.

For “Outside Information,” Moore, a composer, audio artist and sound designer in New York City, uses the Nott’s built-in speaker system and an array of hand-built Hemisphere speakers to evoke and manipulate sound.

“The piece is a shifting, shimmering series of sounds that fills the vast open space of the Nott, and is at the same time delicate and discreet, localized in the various sites throughout the building where each speaker is located,” said Seligman.

A reception and gallery talk for both exhibits will be Thursday, Sept. 18 at 5 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m., presentation of “Magnetic North” created by Moore in collaboration with designer/performer Chris Harvey and choreographer/performer Kimberly Young. For more information, visit http://www.union.edu/gallery.

Posted on Aug 15, 2008

Life Trustee Peter C. Van Dyck ’38 of Bolton Landing, N.Y., died Aug. 14, 2008, at Glens Falls Hospital. The former  resident of Scotia and Schenectady was 91.

Van Dyck, who attended both Union and Amherst, earned his degree from the latter.

After serving in the Army, he joined General Electric for a 30-year career in which he would rise to vice president of GE’s apparatus service division.

He served as a term trustee at Union from 1978 to 1988. He was named a life trustee in 1988, and trustee emeritus a year later. He was active on the Terrace Council and Friends of Union Athletics. He was also a committee member for Union’s national campaign in the 1980’s.

He and his wife, Caroline Kreuger Van Dyck, have four children.

Union relatives include a great-grandfather, Cornelius L. Van Dyck, Class of 1826; two brothers, David ’44, and Richard ’50; and a granddaughter, Sydnie Wells ’07.

A service will be Monday, Aug. 18, at 11 a.m. at Blessed Sacrament Church, Bolton Landing. Calling hours are Sunday, Aug. 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Regan and Derry Funeral Home, 53 Quaker Rd., Queensbury.

Arrangements are with Regan and Derry Funeral Home (792-1114).