Posted on Sep 26, 1997

Andrea Barrett '74, winner of the 1996 National Book Award for fiction for her collection Ship Fever and Other Stories, will speak Monday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

There will be a reception after the lecture in Old Chapel.

Barrett also will meet informally with members of the campus community
on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 10:30 a.m. in the Humanities Lounge.

Her talk, titled “The Geography of the North,” will reflect
Barrett's thinking about arctic exploration, which is the focus of her new book,
suggesting its connections to creativity, writing, reading and the scientific perspective.

Barrett graduated from Union as a biology major and went on to further
study in zoology and medieval history before discovering that she wanted to be a writer.
She published her first book, Lucid Stars, in 1988, followed by Secret
Harmonies, The Middle Kingdom (a Literary Guild Alternate) and The Forms of Water
before the award-winning Ship Fever.

Posted on Sep 26, 1997

o Sept. 27, 8 p.m.,
Memorial Chapel. The Schenectady Museum-Union College chamber concert series opens
with the Borromeo String Quartet with Colin Carr, cello, performing works by Schubert.

o Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m., Nott
Memorial. Andrea Barrett '74, winner of the National Book Award last year for Ship
Fever, will describe her work on a new novel about an arctic explorer. (See story this
issue.)

o Oct. 2, 11:30 a.m., Arts
215. Painter Barbara Mungall, whose works are on display through October in the Arts
Atrium Gallery, will discuss her paintings and drawings.

o Oct. 3 through 5.
Homecoming and Parents' Weekend. Details available in Reamer Campus Center and the
College homepage.

o Oct. 9, 4:30 p.m., Reamer
Campus Center auditorium. Faculty colloquium with Kenneth G. DeBono, Gilbert R.
Livingston Professor of Behavioral Sciences, on “Personality and Consumer
Decision-Making: Understanding the Psychology of Product Evaluation.”

o Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m., Nott
Memorial. Philosopher Jurgen Habermas on “Learning from Catastrophes: A Brief
Look Back at the Short 20th Century.”

Posted on Sep 26, 1997

Minh Phan '96 may never know for sure, but his father's recent release after 16 years as a political prisoner in Vietnam may have had its start last spring when hundreds of friends at Union launched a letter-writing campaign.

At a reception last Wednesday in Thurston House, organized by students
in the College's chapter of Amnesty International, Phan got to say “thank
you” to some of those who sent 800 letters urging the release of his 77-year-old
father, Hien Dinh Phan.

The elder Phan's release came unexpectedly on Aug. 24 as Minh Phan
was visiting his family in Saigon, his first visit in nearly 10 years. The family had not
been notified of the impending release, Phan said. The first clue came when local police
called to ask why Hien Dinh Phan hadn't registered with them. Disbelieving, the
family went to the camp and found the father packing his bags.

Vietnamese authorities “never mentioned anything about the letter
campaign,” Minh Phan said, “But I think it helped a lot.”

The family had become increasingly concerned about the toll that prison
life was taking on the elder Phan, and he was growing increasingly weak from malnutrition,
Minh Phan said. As a last resort, the family agreed to the letter-writing campaign in
March.

Union students and staff sent more than 800 letters appealing for the
release of Phan, who held a variety of posts with the South Vietnamese government before
the fall of Saigon in 1975. He was taken prisoner in 1981 for
“counter-revolutionary” activities after not reporting to a political
re-education camp, Minh Phan said.

“This is a wonderful example of what we can do at Union for someone
who is on the other side of the world,” remarked Kim Rohback '00, president of
the College's chapter of Amnesty International.

Jody Mousseau '97, who as last year's head of the Amnesty
chapter spearheaded the letter-writing campaign, is now teaching in Japan. “Things
certainly did work out for the best,” she said. “I am glad that Minh is so happy
with the results.

Posted on Sep 26, 1997

Jay Goldberg '98 isn't sure whether David Letterman ever saw his sign: “Make Schenectady the Home Office.”

But he gave it his best shot from the third row of the Ed Sullivan
Theater on Monday when he asked a page to bring the sign to the host just seconds before
the taping began.

Ultimately, it was George Clooney and Bill Cosby who got on the national
airwaves, not Goldberg or the other 89 members of the Union contingent who were bused down
by producers of Late Night with David Letterman. But the Union students had fun
trying to get on-air. Dozens of students sported “Top Ten Lists” and signs. Jon
Zandman '99 brought a bagful of garnet “U's” and liberally distributed
them to members of the crew, who dutifully pasted them to their shirts.

Late Night, a favorite on American campuses, invited Union
students as part of a promotion to bring to the studio students from a dozen regional
colleges and universities over the next 12 weeks, according to Rohit Sang, a producer who
said he decided to invite Union because he recalled it from his college search as having
an exceptional seven-year medical program.

The students traveled by bus and were treated to a reception, all
compliments of the Late Show, and got back to Union in time to see the broadcast at
11:35 p.m.

Posted on Sep 26, 1997

Ad hoc tenure committees have been formed to review the tenurability of eight professors: Ann Anderson, mechanical engineering; Mary K. Carroll, chemistry; Barbara Danowski, biology; Hugh Jenkins, English; Brenda Johnson, mathematics; James McWhirter, physics; Anthony Rubonis, psychology; and Scott Scullion, classics.

Members of the Union community are invited to submit written comments on
their teaching, service or scholarship to the appropriate committee chairs.

For Prof. Anderson, comments may be sent to Sharon Gmelch,
anthropology, chair (ext. 6715, gmelchs@gar.union.edu). Others are Kurt Hollocher,
geology; John Spinelli, electrical engineering; and Richard Wilk, mechanical engineering.

For Prof. Carroll, to Ruth Stevenson, English, chair (ext. 6206,
stevensr@gar.union.edu). Others are John Boyer, biology; Frank Milillo, mechanical
engineering; and Charles Scaife, chemistry.

For Prof. Danowski, to Kenneth DeBono, psychology, committee
chair (ext. 6542, debonok@gar.union.edu). Others are Barbara Boyer, biology; Sigrid
Kellenter, modern languages; and David Hemmendinger, electrical engineering/computer
science.

For Prof. Jenkins, to Alan Taylor, mathematics, committee chair
(ext. 6197, taylora@gar.union.edu). Others are Peter Heinegg, English; Victoria Martinez,
modern languages; and Alan Bowman, Graduate Management Institute.

For Prof. Johnson, to J. Richard Shanebrook, mechanical
engineering, committee chair (ext. 6266, shanebrr@gar.union.edu). Other members are Julius
B. Barbanel, mathematics; Daniel J. Burns, psychology; and Bonney MacDonald, English.

For Prof. McWhirter, to Peter Tobiessen, biology, committee chair
(ext. 6028, tobiessp@gar.union.edu). Others are Kenneth Schick, physics; Ekram Hassib,
electrical engineering/computer science; and Jan Ludwig, philosophy.

For Prof. Rubonis, to Donald Arnold, GMI, committee chair (ext.
6302). Others are Seyfollah Maleki, physics; Mario Rivera, mechanical engineering; and
Suzanne Benack, psychology.

For Prof. Scullion, to James Underwood, political science,
committee chair (ext. 6225, underwoj@gar.union.edu). Other members are Mark Toher,
classics; William Garcia, modern languages; and John Garver, geology.

Posted on Sep 26, 1997

o The Office of Public Relations
has added new offerings to the College's Web page. In addition to current and past
issues of The Chronicle and athletic scores and schedules, the “Union
Today” section now features selections from Union College, the College
magazine, announcements about upcoming special events, and press releases. The direct
address: http://www.union.edu/UTODAY/index.html

o On Oct. 1, an
“electronic business version” of the faculty and staff directory will be
posted on the College's website. The alphabetical listing, which will include a
search form, will list employee name, title, department, work location, work phone, and
(if desired) e-mail/personal website.

o Complimentary tickets for
home hockey games will be available to students (one ticket per College ID) and
faculty and staff (two tickets per ID) in the Achilles Rink box office each Monday of the
week prior to the games. After Monday, tickets are $5 for students, $6 for faculty and
staff. The home opener is Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. against Vermont.

o Campus Operations is accepting
sealed bids on five used vehicles. They may be viewed in the Nott-Seward Lot inside the
Nott Street fence. For information, call ext. 6049. Bids are due Oct. 6 at 3 p.m., and
will be opened at 4 p.m. The College reserves the right to reject any and all bids