Posted on Nov 12, 2008

For the second straight year, Delta Kappa Epsilon has captured the Stephen P. Brown Cup.

The towering, five-foot-tall trophy is presented annually to an outstanding Union College fraternity.

“It is awarded to the fraternity which exemplifies strong scholarship, intramural performance and service to the community,” explained Timothy Dunn, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life. “Delta Kappa Epsilon had the highest level of intramural participation and, of those that participated, the highest GPA.”

Delta Kappa Epsilon President Eric Rizzi ’09 was happy he and his brothers won the Brown Cup again this year. A fraternity that wins the trophy three straight years gets to keep it permanently.

Delta Kappa Epsilon officially accepted the award during last month's Homecoming festivities.

“It means a lot, because obviously, it’s a very important cup,” he said. “We put a lot of effort into philanthropy, and it was nice to have that recognition.”

Delta Kappa Epsilon brothers participate in many philanthropic efforts around campus, and in the greater community. Recently, Rizzi said, the fraternity was involved with a Monopoly tournament to benefit Schenectady Child and Family Services.

The Brown Cup tradition was started in 1953 by Phi Sigma Delta to commemorate the death of Stephen P. Brown, a Phi Sigma brother who died in a train wreck on the Long Island Railroad Nov. 23, 1950.

Posted on Nov 12, 2008

Vibrantly colorful Balinese masks from the collection of Gail George will have a new home at the College.

The masks will be installed in a ceremony on Friday, Nov. 14, at 4 p.m. in Taylor Music Center. The public is invited. A reception will follow.

The collection of 20 sacred masks is being donated by Carl George, professor emeritus of biology. His wife, Gail, who died Feb. 12, 2008, was a frequent organizer of dance and theater on campus and in the region. She coordinated a 2002 residency at Union of the Master Dancers of Bali.

All of the pieces were produced by master mask makers and blessed by Balinese Hindu priests, said Prof. Jennifer Matsue, assistant professor of music, anthropology and East Asian studies, who will lead the ceremony.

“These masks were used in many kinds of dances and have great spiritual value,” she said. “There is a belief that some of the Balinese dances are touched by the gods, and some of the masks hold powerful magic.”

Many of the masks represent great characters from classic Hindu or Balinese stories. Among the most unusual is a large mask depicting Cululuk, a trickster witch found in a number of Balinese tales.

Posted on Nov 11, 2008

The College will donate up to 10 public surveillance cameras to help deter crime in the surrounding neighborhood under a partnership with the Schenectady County district attorney’s office and the city of Schenectady, officials announced today.

Three cameras were recently installed along Nott Street, with the other seven to be added in the coming months.

“We are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for our students, employees and staff, and these cameras will greatly assist our efforts,” said President Stephen C. Ainlay. “They create a buffer on our perimeter and provide law enforcement with an extra set of eyes to watch for criminal activity.”

The College is contributing more than $81,000 to pay for the cameras, part of a project launched by District Attorney Robert Carney. Since 2004, dozens of cameras have been installed on public streets and parking lots throughout the city. Attached to light poles, they can be controlled remotely and have the ability to pan, zoom and tilt to observe activity on the street.

The live footage is monitored by trained individuals, including retired police officers, at police headquarters.

“We thank Union College for joining with us in expanding our public safety camera project to its current size of 40 cameras and to committing funding to do more,” Carney said. “Evidence captured by network cameras has helped police solve crimes and district attorneys convict offenders. In some locations our cameras have had measurable impacts in deterring crime, and we hope these cameras will make the Union campus a safer place.”

Last month, the first three cameras became operational along Nott Street at Seward Place, Van Vranken Avenue and Foster Avenue. Additional cameras are planned for Seward Place (at Roger Hull Place, Union Street and South Avenue); Union Avenue (at University Place and Union Street) and the South Avenue/Park Place and Lenox Road/Nott Street intersections.

College officials have been working with city officials to address campus safety. This fall, the College added a second off-duty Schenectady police officer to bolster security patrols at night, a time when most incidents occur.

“We are grateful for the continued partnership with Union College to improve the safety and vitality of the community we share,” said Schenectady Mayor Brian U. Stratton. “With its significant financial investment, and the addition of 10 surveillance cameras, Union College is both protecting its students and supporting the efforts of the district attorney and Schenectady to make our city a better place to live and work.”

Recent surveys have shown that cameras can be an effective deterrent against crime, and many colleges across the country have added them on campus and in surrounding neighborhoods.

Five years ago, Union began installing cameras at strategic spots on campus, and the College now has 30 cameras that are monitored regularly by the Campus Safety Department.

William Sickinger, director of Campus Safety, stressed that any information obtained through video monitoring is used exclusively for security and law enforcement purposes.

“The cameras are a useful tool to deter crime and assist us in protecting the safety and property of the campus community,” he said. “We respect people’s privacy and want them to feel comfortable about the presence of the cameras.”

Posted on Nov 11, 2008

Buckets, balls, bananas and balloons – these are some of the ordinary objects Union students used to take physics lessons out of the textbook and into the hands and minds of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders.

Tom Perry ’09, Daniel Otto ’11, Shivani Pathak ’10 and Hillary Bauer ’11, all members of the Society of Physics Students, Union College Chapter, joined Professor Samuel Amanuel at Schenectady’s Katharine Burr Blodgett Elementary School last week.

They performed experiments and did other “really cool, interesting stuff,” as Perry told his young audience.

One of those cool things was overturning a bucket with liquid that immediately turned into a gas that permeated the air, surprising and delighting the children. Perry explained that it was liquid nitrogen, which is a liquid when cold but turns to gas at room temperature.

The Union classmates also submerged a rubber ball, banana and balloons in the liquid nitrogen, then showed how the banana broke like glass when hit with a hammer. The children had one word for it: “Wow.”

“We want to trigger the youngsters’ interest in the field of science and encourage them to start looking ahead to college,” Amanuel said.

The physics visit was part of a program with Union’s Kenney Community Center, which has a longstanding relationship with Blodgett Principal Nancy Fontaine, formerly a teacher leader for Kenney’s SAIL (Studying Arithmetic in Literature) Program. 

“We’re constantly looking for ways to bring our students and the city students together,” said Kenney Director Angela Tatem.

Not only does the physics outreach enrich the undergraduate experience, she said, but it lets local school children “know that this is where they can meet people who are interested in seeing them succeed.”

Posted on Nov 11, 2008

Thursday, Nov. 13, 4:30–6 p.m. / Wikoff Student Gallery, Third Floor, Nott Memorial / Artist’s reception for “Southern Louisiana: Hurricane Recovery,” a photographic documentary by Alex Handin ’10, who accompanied Union College's community service mini-term to New Orleans and Dulac, La.

Thursday, Nov. 13, 8 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Classic Film Series presents: “Citizen Kane” 

Friday, Nov. 14, 4 p.m. / Taylor Music Center / Gail George Balinese mask installation, with wine and cheese reception. Professor Emeritus of Biology Carl George has gifted the collection of masks by his late wife, Gail, to the College.

Friday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m. / Yulman Theater, Actor’s Studio / “Wajuku: Harmony Around Japan,” a program of Japanese culture by Union students and faculty, coordinated by Nozomi Sakata '09, featuring Nihon buyo, Visual Kei in rock’n’roll and taiko; music by the Yoshuda Brothers. Sponsored by Theater and Dance and Philosophy departments, East Asian Studies, Internal Education Fund and UNITAS

Friday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Quinnipiac (ECAC contest)

Friday, Nov. 14 – Monday, Nov. 17, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: “Dark Knight”

Saturday, Nov. 15, 3 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Classic Film Series presents: "Citizen Kane" 

Saturday, Nov. 15, 4 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Princeton (ECAC contest)

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Women’s hockey vs. RPI (ECAC contest)

Sunday, Nov. 16, 3 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Camerata Singers, performing "Maiden Voyage"

Monday, Nov. 17, 1 p.m. / Old Chapel / Freshman engineering final design challenge: Antarctic Mars rock retrieval with robots

Monday, Nov. 17, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F.W. Olin Center, Room 115 / Election 2008 course lecture by Joshua Hart, visiting assistant professor of psychology, on “Retrospective, Review and Conclusion”

Friday, Nov. 21, 5–9 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery and downtown Schenectady venues / Art Night Schenectady

Friday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Chamber Concert Series presents: Christian Tetzlaff, violin (unaccompanied Bach)

Friday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. American International

Monday, Dec. 15, 8 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Chamber Concert Series presents: Musicians from Marlboro

Sunday, Jan.4, 3 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Chamber Concert Series presents: ECCO String Chamber Orchestra