Posted on Jun 3, 2009

Baja building and battling aren’t for the weak-willed. It takes serious dedication – and a willingness to give up multiple Saturday nights – to do what Union’s Baja Team did this year.

In a field of 98 teams, the College placed 15th in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Western Regional Baja Competition last month. This improves on a 17^th place finish last year and a 21^st place finish two years ago.

“Time-wise, Baja is a huge part of any team member’s college career,” said the team’s captain, Matt Beenen ’09. “In the weeks leading up to competition, particularly my sophomore year, we spent 40 to 60 hours a week in the machine shop.”

Baja isn’t part of a class, Beenen explained. “It’s built on free time. On a Friday or Saturday night when most other students are socializing, playing video games or sleeping, we’ll be in the shop.”

The yearly SAE competition asks schools from across the country to design and build a small single seat off-road vehicle and compete for awards in a variety of categories. The Union team consists of some 15 mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, biology and other students.

Joining Beenen at Oregon State University for the recent contest were seniors Jon Wilson and Ned Lincoln; juniors Joe Polcari, Forrest Clifton, Ryan Skeuse, Aaron Levine and Collin Doyle; sophomores Nick Oren, Emmet O’Connell and Elias Samia; and freshman Michael Holm.

“Our performance improved this year because we were working on our third iteration of a vehicle that had already raced in two previous contests,” Beenen said. “We were able to strengthen its weaknesses and make sure it wouldn’t break down.”

“Having Professor Brad Bruno as our adviser also helped tremendously over the past two years,” said Wilson. “This year, he and John Skumurski (director of budgeting) made it possible for us to get the right insurance and actually test the car before competition.”

Wilson and Beenen also credit their sponsors with making their success possible.

Robert Wilson, Jon’s father, of Pheasant Hill Society, and Jim Taylor '66 of Taylor Made “have enabled the team to overcome many of the financial struggles we’ve faced,” Beenen said. “We can now compete confidently, knowing it’s our engineering ability and not our funding that sets us apart from the competition.”

“The 15^th place finish is really quite strong, especially given the small size of our program in comparison with other schools,” said Bruno, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

“Our students compete through brains, hard work and dedication. Union really fights above its weight class.”

For more information on Union’s Baja Team, visit http://www.vu.union.edu/~baja/

Posted on Jun 3, 2009

Success in cycling depends on the cooperation of others – usually teammates – to “pull through” and share the work.

So, it’s a remarkable thing when a solo rider can establish himself on a national level.

Steven Hopengarten ’09 did just that this spring when he qualified for the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships in Fort Collins, Colo. Hopengarten, a mechanical engineering major who hails from Lincoln, Mass., was the first Union cyclist to compete in the national road championship.

With most of Union’s cyclists competing in the fall mountain bike races, Hopengarten was the lone Union qualifier, securing his spot at nationals by finishing 19th at the Dartmouth Road Race in April 19. Forrest Clifton ’10 qualified for the national mountain bike championships last fall but was unable to compete at the national event.

At nationals, Hopengarten finished 73rd in the short course 75-minute criterium (a series of laps around a closed course). He dropped out of the 71-mile road race at mile 40 after an exhausting early solo break attempt.

The president of the Union College Cycling Club was cited for his off-the-bike skills, too. In May, he received the Most Valuable Volunteer Award from the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference at its annual banquet in State College, Pa., in recognition of his work on social media, race promotion, Web offerings and organization.

At the national championships in Fort Collins, he was an invited panelist for the ECCC leadership conference, speaking on the blogosphere he created to promote the ECCC.

“I can honestly say that I never expected to be competing at the national championships just three years after starting road racing and the Union Cycling Club,” he said. “I owe a lot to my friends and family for their support of my racing, and to Union’s Student Forum and Office of Student Activities for their support of Union College Cycling.”

Posted on Jun 2, 2009

Union’s landscape specialist and horticulturalist, Constance Schmitz, has received the newly minted UNITAS Community Building Award in recognition of her involvement with Octopus’s Garden.

“Connie has been a driving force behind the growth of the new garden. Her dedication to this project helps build a better community,” said Jim Underwood, a member of UNITAS and the retired Chauncey Winters Research Professor of Political Science. “It’s students, staff and faculty working together to produce good food that serves Café Ozone and the entire campus.”

Building healthier communities is one of UNITAS’s two primary objectives, the other being strong support of diversity. Each year, the group gives its Diversity Leadership Award.

The new prize, which will be officially presented to Schmitz at opening convocation in September, will also be awarded yearly to a deserving faculty member, staff member or student.

“I am honored,” Schmitz said. “I’m fortunate to have a wonderful group behind me. With many hands, the chores become lighter.”

Posted on Jun 1, 2009

The Sunday Gazette recently sat down with Chris Duncan, professor of visual arts, to discuss his work.

To read the story, click here (registration may be required).

Posted on Jun 1, 2009

The Times Union visited campus for ReUnion 2009 and sat in on a talk by Chris Sheridan ’89, a writer and character voice for “Family Guy.”

To read the article and view other pictures from ReUnion published by the Times Union, click here (registration may be required).