Posted on May 29, 1998

May 6, 1998

1. The minutes of May 1, 1998 were revised and approved.

2. The Psychology Department is still discussing the report of the
external reviewers. Linda Stanhope reported that the decisions on curricular change will
not be completed in time to report this spring.

3. Seth Greenberg suggested that the AAC discuss the possibility of
awarding pass/fail in the major research experiences.

4. The members discussed a memo for the faculty on the calendar. Linda
Cool will review the memo with the President.

May 13, 1998

1. The minutes of May 6, 1998 were approved.

2. Seth Greenberg introduced a proposal to assign non-class academic
experiences, e.g. independent studies, internships, and practica, a pass/fail grade in a
student's major area. Various concerns were expressed including whether the grading
of P/F courses should change to satisfactory, unsatisfactory, fail in order to accommodate
a “barely pass,” whether such a change would discourage students from
undertaking some non-class academic experiences, and whether the quality of the experience
would be harmed (for example, would students take the care they currently do with the
papers that are assigned to accompany some internships?). Brad Lewis suggested that
departments be authorized to approve the granting of credit for these experiences rather
than the AAC making a general policy for all departments. Discussion will continue.

It was noticed that, contrary to college policy as stated in the
register, final grade sheets sent to professors now indicate when a student is taking a
course pass/fail. Dean Lewis will seek to rectify this situation.

Posted on May 29, 1998

David Gerhan, head of public services and reference in Schaffer
Library, has been cited for the “Best Bibliography in History” by the American
Library Association's Reference and User Services Association for his Bibliography
of American Demographic History, the Literature from 1984 to 1994. Gerhan and Robert
V. Wells, Chauncey Winters Professor of History and Social Sciences, won the same award
previously for a predecessor volume.

Gail Golderman, electronic media librarian, received the 1997
“Professional Achievement” award from the New York Library Association's
Section on Management of Information Resources and Technology for her work in developing
the NYLA Web site. Also, with Bruce Connolly, reference librarian, she received the
1997 Multicultural Award from the Ethnic Services Round Table for providing access to
information to further the cause of multicultural education. They were recognized for the
Multicultural Resources Web site they developed.

Posted on May 22, 1998

“Lakes are good places to look if you want to study pollution
contaminants,” says senior Jessica Newell, a geology major. “Contaminants
accumulate faster in lakes and are not as disturbed by human activity,” she explains.

Newell should know, because she did her senior thesis on Ballston Lake,
the long, narrow lake in Saratoga County that has been of major interest to scientists as
well as local residents. The honors student from West Charlton looked for evidence of
pollution in layers of sediment at the shallower north end of Ballston Lake.

Newell's project is part of the “Ballston Lake
Initiative,” the College's new research and teaching directive focusing on
various aspects of environmental science. The program has just received a $160,000 grant
from NSF and the College for a “floating classroom” pontoon boat, seismic
profiler for measuring lake sediment thickness, side-scan sonar for high-resolution
mapping of the lake floor, and a global positioning system. Prof. John Garver is director.

What makes Ballston Lake a valuable study site? It is at a kind of
crossroads of human activity, explains Newell. “Not far from Albany, Schenectady,
Saratoga, and Amsterdam, the area around the lake is highly developed. There are also a
lot of farms, and the lake is heavily used for recreation in the summer. So studies of the
lake can accurately reflect the impacts of recent human history and the industrial age.

Newell did all lab work and research herself, going out onto the ice to
collect a core last January. “We have to go when there's ice,” she
explains, “because the equipment for taking cores is so heavy”. Taking a
five-meter sample core from the north basin, where the water is about 20 feet deep, Newell
went back to the lab and looked at the uppermost segment, analyzing surface sediments. She
was looking for levels of metals, specifically, lead, zinc, copper and nickel.

Perhaps not surprisingly, in the upper layers, corresponding to the past
150 to 200 years, she says, “we're finding very high values – large
increases, in other words, with concentrations much higher than farther down in the
core.” She points to a particularly high measurement for copper, which could reflect
the fact that not too long ago, copper sulfate was used to treat the lake for algae.

Researchers in other parts of the world are finding a tenfold increase
in metal contaminants in the past 200 years, she said. This is a dramatic indication of
how great an effect humans are having on their environment, especially in lake systems.

Newell describes how she became interested in the project: “I took
a lakes course last winter with Prof. Donald Rodbell, and I knew I wanted to do lakes for
my thesis. It turned out that another professor, Paul Gremillion, was focusing on Ballston
Lake.” Gremillion served as her adviser. She recently presented her research at the
Steinmetz Symposium.

Her research is evolving into a longer-term project, which she plans to
continue next year while she pursues a master's degree at Union. She would like to
study the much deeper south end of the lake, and will be comparing her findings for the
north and south ends.

Posted on May 22, 1998

Friday, May 22, through Monday, May 25, 8 and 10 p.m., Reamer Campus
Center Auditorium . Film, LA Confidential, presented by film committee.

Wednesday, May 27, 12:20 to 1:20 p.m, Reamer Campus Center
Auditorium. General faculty meeting.

Friday, May 29, through Sunday, May 31. ReUnion '98. For
information on-line, go to: http://www.union.edu/ALUMNI/REUNION (Details listed in
the next issue of the Chronicle.)

Through May 31, 8 p.m., Yulman Theater. “The Persecution and
Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat As Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton
Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade.” by Peter Weiss, directed by Prof.
William Finlay. (see story)

Through June 5, Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial. Nikon Small
World Exhibition: Photographs Through the Microscope featuring first prize photo by
Barbara Danowski of Union's biology department.

Posted on May 22, 1998

Two Union students – Beth Wierzbieniec and Rachel Graham –
received 1998 Human Rights Youth Achievement Awards from the Schenectady County Human
Rights Commission on Wednesday.

Wierzbieniec, a junior from Amherst, N.Y., was cited for her
organization on campus of the recent “Dialogues on Race,” a month-long program
aimed at fostering diversity at Union. She recruited representatives from over 21
organizations to sponsor some 32 events. Wierzbieniec was recently elected president of
Student Forum.

Graham, a senior from Schenectady, was cited for her founding and
leadership of COCOA House in Schenectady's Hamilton Hill. Graham founded COCOA
(Children of Our Community Open to Achievement) at Grace Temple Church of God in Christ in
January 1996 as an afterschool program that includes tutoring, educational field trips and
speakers. Children of COCOA House this winter produced a play “The Untold Story”
as part of their celebration of Black History Month.

Posted on May 22, 1998

About half of the 16 students who have enrolled at Union for the
seven-year accelerated medical program are expected to opt for the new eight-year
Leadership in Medicine Program, said Robert Baker, professor of philosophy and chair of
the committee that revised the program.

Faculty voted recently, 74 to 4, in favor of replacing the current joint
degree program with one that offers B.S., M.S. in healthcare management, and M.D. degrees.
Approval from the state Education Department is pending.

“The students I have talked to are ecstatic,” Baker said.
“They like the challenge and the idea of being part of a program that answers a
national need: How do you educate doctors to cope with managed care?”

Students who entered the seven-year joint program in 1996 and 1997 also
will have the option of switching to the new eight-year program.

In the new program, students will earn their B.S. and M.S. after
completing their first year at Albany Medical College (in year five); they can earn an MBA
degree by taking five additional courses (receiving the degree in the sixth year); and
earn their M.D. degree from AMC in year 8.

“We see this as a paradigm shift, a fundamental new way of
educating doctors,” said Baker. “There's a problem in medicine and
we're facing it.”