Posted on Nov 6, 1998

Friday, Nov. 6, 12:20 p.m.
Humanities 019.
Committee on Teaching on “How are you motivating your students: fear of failure or
love of knowledge?”

Friday, Nov. 6, through Monday, Nov. 9 – 8
and 10 p.m.
Reamer Auditorium.
Lethal Weapon 4 presented by Film Committee.

Through Saturday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m.
Metamorphosis by Steven Berkoff, directed by Prof. William A. Finlay. For
information, call ext. 6545.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m.
Memorial Chapel.
Union College Orchestra performs works by Beethoven, Dvorak, Olsen and Ellington.

Monday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m.
Performing Arts Studio.
Union College Choir performs “Romanticism from Beethoven to Gershwin.” Reception
to follow.

Friday, Nov. 13, and Saturday, Nov. 14, 8:02 p.m.
Yulman Theater.
Proctor's Too opens its three-performance season with “Integrity Brings An Empty
Plate,” a series of movement essays written and performed by Michael A. Carson. For
information, call ext. 6545.

Through Nov. 27.
Arts Center Atrium.
Exhibit of “Recent Sculpture: Indoors and Out” by Jonathan Kirk.

Through Dec. 20.
Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial.
“Martin Benjamin: Photographs 1970 to 1998.”

Posted on Nov 6, 1998

Just a few years ago, it was uncommon to see a
student on campus dressed in traditional Muslim garb, says Viki Brooks-McDonald,
Protestant chaplain.

Today, however, the sight serves as a reminder of what
Brooks-McDonald calls the “changing landscape of faiths” at Union and other
college campuses. “Faith traditions on campus are becoming as diverse as any other
aspect of culture,” she says. “We need to be aware of what people of various
faiths bring to campus.”

So, Brooks-McDonald and a committee from the campus
community have begun to explore the possibility of celebrating an “inter-religious
service” that will include elements of a number of faith traditions. “Our hope
is to increasingly uphold spiritual aspects of who we are as individuals,”
Brooks-McDonald says.

“This is a very difficult path to walk,” she
acknowledges. “There is a difference between tolerance — where you pat somebody
on the head and tell them it's OK to be different – and pluralism — which
is truly understanding and respecting what is involved with the faith and practice of
another.”

Brooks-McDonald and other members of the campus committee
recently attended a conference titled “Education as Transformation: Religious
Pluralism, Spirituality and Higher Education” at Wellesley College, where they
learned that a growing challenge on nearly all campuses is that more students, faculty and
staff are not from Judeo-Christian faiths. Or, if they are, they have little knowledge of
other faiths.

“I have a congregational background,” says
Brooks-McDonald, citing herself as an example. “So I'm not all that familiar
with eastern religions.”

Brooks-McDonald, who joined the College this fall, is an
ordained Presbyterian pastor. She earned her masters in divinity from McCormick Seminary
in Chicago, and her bachelor's degree from the College of Wooster. She has served in
the congregational ministry for 13 years, specializing in pastoral care and the nurture of
an integrated faith.

For information or to join the committee to develop an
inter-religious service, call ext. 6618.

Posted on Nov 6, 1998

The critically acclaimed Borromeo String Quartet
will perform with world-class pianist Menahem Pressler on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. in
Union College's Memorial Chapel.

This is the third concert of the Schenectady Museum-Union
College Concert Series. The concert program will include Prokofiev's Quartet No. 1
in b, Op. 50; Andy Vores' Quartet No. 3 (1998); and Dvorak's Piano
Quintet in A, Op. 81.

Formed in 1989 by four young musicians from the Curtis
Institute of Music, the Borromeo String Quartet has risen quickly to international
prominence. The quartet takes its name from an area of northern Italy where it played its
first concerts together. Members include Nicholas Kitchen and Ruggero Allifranchini,
violins; Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; and Yeesun Kim, cello. All are faculty members at the New
England Conservancy. The Boston Globe wrote: “The Borromeo String Quartet is
simply the best there is on the planet; every appearance they make is an event… the only
real treasure, it's been said, is spiritual treasure, and this was it.”

Posted on Nov 6, 1998

The Union College Web site had 141,655 page
requests for the month of October, a 44 percent increase from six months ago, prior to the
launch of the redesigned Web site.

The number of visitors per week is up as well, rising 23
percent to 5,302 for the same period.

The discrepancy between the two increases indicates that
Web surfers are finding more information on the site, said Saul Morse, Webmaster.
“Once they enter our site, people are spending more time and hitting more
pages,” he said.

Posted on Nov 6, 1998

The Committee on Teaching will discuss “How
are you motivating your students: fear of failure or love of knowledge?” at a session
led by Joyce Madancy, history; Richard Fox, political science; and Christie Sorum,
classics on Friday, Nov. 6, at 12:20 p.m. in Humanities 019. The session will include a
discussion of A Life in School by Jane Tompkins. For more information, visit the
COT Web site at www.union.edu/PUBLIC/CERDEPT/FACULTY/GHALY/COT.htm.

Posted on Nov 6, 1998

The Union College Theater program presents Metamorphosis,
a play by Steven Berkoff adapted from the short story by Franz Kafka. Director is
Prof. William A. Finlay.

The play runs through Nov. 7. All performances are at 8
p.m. in the Yulman Theater.

Metamorphosis is based on the familiar but macabre
tale of a man who is suddenly turned into a giant cockroach. Berkoff takes this basic
premise and uses music and the surreal with physical movement and text to create an
impressionistic landscape of high dramatic intensity.

Set design is by Charles Steckler, lighting by John
Miller.

For ticket information, call the Yulman Theater Box Office
at ext. 6545.