Posted on Oct 23, 2008

Posted on Oct 23, 2008

“Impact of a Host Community Composition on Lyme Disease Risk,” by Associate Professor of Biology Kathleen LoGiudice and collaborators, was published in the October issue of the journal Ecology. The article reports how the composition of the community of animals on which ticks feed influences Lyme disease risk to humans. 

Don Austin, coordinator of Kenney Community Center outreach programs, was cited in the awards issue of Forum magazine, published by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Austin’s grant proposal for the Studying Arithmetic in Literature (SAIL) program, titled “Building a Math in Literature Library,” received a $1,000 award from the society. SAIL works with two Schenectady elementary schools to improve math and reading literacy skills of 50 at-risk students. The award money will be used to establish a small library for children’s books that fully incorporate mathematics into literature.

Shane Cotter, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, working with exchange students Tomas Sadilek and Jaromir Horejsi, recently had a paper accepted to the IEEE DSP Workshop 2009, which was organized by the IEEE Signal Processing Society. The paper, “Facial Expression Recognition Using Hybrid Discriminant Analysis,” will be presented in January. Tomas and Jaromir, from the Czech Republic, are attending Union for the year.

Rudy Nydegger recently returned from Russia, where he lectured at two universities. At Tolstoy State Pedagogical University in Tula, he discussed “Challenges to Organizations in the U.S. and Russia in the New Millennium.” At the Tula State Polytechnical University, he spoke on “Effectively Managing Groups in Organizations.” Nydegger is a professor of psychology and in the School of Management at Union Graduate College.

Three faculty members will be guests on WAMC Northeast Public Radio's Presidential Election Round Table, to air onVox Pop, a daily call-in talk program, Friday, Oct. 24, 2-3 p.m. They are: Tomas Dvorak, associate professor of economics; Ashraf Ghaly, professor of engineering; and Thomas Lobe, political science lecturer. Joining them is Paul Sorum, primary care physician, professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Albany Medical College and chair of the Capital District chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. All four are participating in Union’s Election 2008 course this fall. WAMC can be accessed at 90.3 FM. To listen live,go to: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/ppr/index.shtml. Next Thursday, same time, same station, four other faculty teaching the course will take their turn at the mike: Zoe Oxley, David Cotter, Deidre Hill Butler and Chris Chabris.

Posted on Oct 22, 2008

President Stephen C. Ainlay shared his thoughts on the economy and the potential impact on the College in an e-mail to the campus community.

Here is the complete text of his message:

Dear Members of the Union Community,

Reports of economic crises, both in the United States and abroad, have dominated the news as well as many of the conversations we have with one another. People worry about the tight credit markets, declining stock values, and the effects of all this on their personal lives and retirement portfolios.

Union College is by no means isolated from the effects of the economic downturn. All of us are personally affected and it would be irresponsible of us if we didn’t anticipate the potential effects on our institutional operations.

At the September meeting of the Board of Trustees Executive Committee, we agreed to undertake an analysis of potential stress points. Thus, our Finance and Administration staff has been carefully monitoring the effects of the current situation on College resources, such as the declining value of the endowment (and thus, importantly, endowment income). Our Admissions and Financial Aid staff has been considering the likely impact on enrollment and financial aid needs of families. Our College Relations staff has been considering the potential effects on fund raising for the Capital Campaign and the Annual Fund. We will be reporting on this stress testing to both the Board and to the Planning and Priorities Committee.

The good news is that Union’s resources have been well managed. Our endowment has performed better than most (e.g., while we too have realized losses, we have outperformed the S&P and composite index in 2008, year to date), we did not have any investments in the Common Fund (which has caused problems for other institutions), and our outstanding debt is primarily in fixed interest rate instruments.

As you consider your own personal situation, I would urge you to meet with advisors to review your investments. Eric Noll, our Director of Human Resources, has already sent information about the financial planning services that Union is providing to help employees manage their personal finances and I hope you will take advantage of this service.

At the institutional level, there is no doubt that we will face some financial challenges. We will have to make some difficult decisions to ensure our continued financial security. We will redouble our efforts to solicit the support of our friends, making clear our need for their support at this critical time.

Union remains strong. We have remarkably talented students, faculty, staff, administrators, and Board members who are dedicated to seeing Union thrive. We have a distinctive mission (better defined and articulated than ever before thanks to our strategic planning) that puts us in a good position in the educational marketplace. We will continue to move ahead and make a difference. 

Sincerely yours,

Stephen C. Ainlay, President

Posted on Oct 21, 2008

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts recently donated over 100 of the famed artist’s original photographs to the College.

The collection of 158 photographs includes color Polaroids and 8-by-10 silver gelatin prints. They are among more than 28,000 original Warhol photographs valued in excess of $28 million donated to 183 college and university art museums to provide expanded access for research and study of this important body of Warhol’s artwork.

The Times Union recently wrote about the gift. To read the story, click here (registration may be required).

Posted on Oct 21, 2008

Forty-three dollars in coins, 11 notebooks, 198 pencils, three boxes of vitamins, a handful of pencil sharpeners, 228 colored pencils, and a colorful batch of books, puzzles, paper and pens. These supplies, collected in just two hours and modest by our standards, will make a big difference in the lives of schoolchildren in rural Uganda.

“They’re desperately needed,” said Anastasia Pease, a member of the English faculty and program director for the Rapaport Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative. Pease worked with Megan Sesil ’09 and other students from Wells House last week on the Coins for Kids drive at Reamer Campus Center.

Members of the campus community are acutely aware of the children’s needs from electronic missives sent by two Minerva Fellows, recent alumni Rebecca Broadwin and Stephen Po-Chedley. The Class of 2008 graduates are helping at a health clinic and teaching in the southern part of the African country through the organization Engeye.

The drive, co-sponsored by Minerva Programs and Ethics Across the Curriculum, is a lead-in to future Union efforts on behalf of Ugandan youth. A benefit dinner and concert are in the works, and Broadwin and Po-Chedley are starting a pen-pal program for children ages eight to 14 and their American counterparts. Those who are interested are encouraged to contact Pease at peasea@union.edu or Sesil at sesilm@union.edu. 

And there’s still time to give books, pencils and puzzles, they note. Bring all donations to the Center for Bioethics, Humanities 020.