Mike Clarke ’11 spent two weeks in Africa last summer on a missionary trip, and the people he met there changed his life. Now, back at Union and half-a-world away, he’s trying to do the same for them.
His goal: Build a library for a small village outside Accra, Ghana, a place where the things we take for granted – shoes, eyeglasses, a good education – are luxuries.
“I learned from people in Ghana that education is one of the best means for overcoming the hardships so many of the people face there,” Clarke said.
The library would be part of the village’s Redemption Hour Christian School, where Clarke spent most of his time.
"I became really close with the teachers and the kids,” Clarke said. “They really touched me. Their enduring spirit of happiness and optimism is amazing.”
Clarke will speak about his experience in Ghana and his efforts to build the library Thursday, Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in Golub House. Next Thursday and Friday, March 5 and 6, he will set up a table in Reamer Campus Center to collect monetary donations as well as books and eyeglasses.
“If there’s extra money, I’ll buy shoes for the kids. None of them have shoes that fit or are the same on each foot,” he said.
ThroughMarch 1 Mandeville Gallery Nott Memorial 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition
The 10th annual show will feature select works in all mediums from students in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and southern Saratoga counties. Curated by Mandeville Gallery Director Rachel Seligman, Visual Arts Prof. Fernando Orellana and Theater Prof. Charles Steckler. Closing reception Sunday, March 1, 1-3 p.m. Also, reception set for Friday,Feb. 20, 5-7 p.m., in conjunction with Art Night Schenectady.
Through March 2 Wikoff Student Gallery Nott Memorial Slow Motion
Images by Dan Phakos ’11, co-sponsored by the departments of Physics and Visual Arts.
Arts Atrium exhibit by James McGarrell, “Orbiana Oliveto,” a suite of monotype drawings by the Vermont artist with related poems by noted poet Rosanna Warren, as well as a selection of small paintings.
Through March 13 Arts Atrium Gallery
Visual Arts Department Works by James McGarrell
Features “Orbiana Oliveto,” a suite of monotype drawings by internationally prominent artist James McGarrell with related poems by noted poet Rosanna Warren, as well as a selection of small paintings. McGarrell will speak Thursday, March 5, 2 p.m., in Reamer Campus Center Auditorium, followed by an artists' reception in the Arts Atrium, 4:30-6 p.m. Warren will give a poetry reading 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Visual Arts Room 215. Events are co-sponsored by departments of Visual Arts and English.
John Bigelow (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress and dated between 1855-1865.) Union College magazine, spring 2008
Through March 24 Schaffer Library Atrium Union Notables
The third Union Notables exhibit, a rotating show of extraordinary people from the College, features John Bigelow, Class of 1835; Sue J. Goldie, ’84; and Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Union faculty member from 1902 to 1923.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson will deliver the keynote address, “Union College’s Role in the Abolitionist Movement,” at Founders Day Thursday, Feb. 26 at 12:45 p.m. in Memorial Chapel. The event commemorates the 214th anniversary of the granting of the College’s charter by the state.
During the ceremony, the College will unveil a portrait of Moses Viney, a runaway slave from Maryland who escaped to Schenectady on the Underground Railroad. Viney was a coachman, messenger and constant companion of Union President Eliphalet Nott, who eventually secured his freedom.
Viney’s portrait is by Simmie Knox, a renowned African-American artist who has painted the official White House portraits of former President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and other political and cultural figures.
Jared M. Gourrier ’10 will discuss Viney’s life and his role as a central figure on campus.
James McPherson Founders Day Moses Viney
McPherson, a Civil War historian, is the George Henry Davis ’86 Professor of American History Emeritus at Princeton University. He has authored 11 books, including “Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era," which received the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. His latest book, “Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief,” was recently awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize.
Also at Founders Day, Daniel Frio, a history teacher at Wayland High School in Massachusetts, will receive the Gideon Hawley Teacher Recognition Award. Frio was nominated by Priscilla Wright ’12. The award is named for the 1809 graduate of Union who was New York state’s first superintendent of public education.
Two students, seniors Adrienne B. Hart and Alexander H. Schlosberg, are to receive the Hollander Prize for Music, and will provide a musical interlude.
The Founders Day convocation is the first in a series of events to commemorate Union’s role in the abolitionist movement.
The College will host “The Underground Railroad, Its Legacies and Our Communities,” the eighth annual Underground Railroad History Conference, at College Park Hall Feb. 27-29.
In addition, a Schaffer Library exhibit, “Abolitionism and the Struggle for African-American Freedom: The Union College Experience,” chronicles the College’s involvement in the struggle for African-American freedom. It will include an 18th century sermon against the keeping of “negros” by Union College President Jonathan Edwards the Younger, photographs of Moses Viney, and copies of Union’s African-American student newspapers from the 1970s.
Thursday, Feb. 19- Sunday, March 1 / Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial / 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition; 10th annual show featuring select works from students in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and southern Saratoga counties
Thursday, Feb. 19, 12:50-1:50 p.m. / Hale House, Everest Lounge / Rapaport Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative workshop lunch featuring Prof. Anastasia Pease on "Delight and Instruct with the World Wide Web: Teaching Ethics Across the Curriculum Using Online Resources”; discussion to follow. All faculty, administrators and staff invited, with lunch served. RSVP: peasea@union.edu
Thursday, Feb. 19, 4:30 p.m. / Shaffer Library, Phi Beta Kappa Room / Philosophy Speaker Series presents: Cristina LaFont of Northwestern University on “Religion and the Public Sphere: What are the Deliberative Obligations of Democratic Citizenship?” LaFont specializes in German philosophy, particularly hermeneutics and critical theory. She is author of “The Linguistic Turn in Hermeneutic Philosophy (MIT Press, 1999) and Heidegger, Language, and World-disclosure (Cambridge University Press, 2000).
Art Night Schenectady
Friday, Feb. 20, 5 p.m –9 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery and downtown Schenectady establishments / Art Night Schenectady
Friday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Women’s hockey vs. Colgate (ECAC contest); with "Pink at the Rink" fundraiser
Friday, Feb. 20 – Monday, Feb. 23, 10 p.m. / Reamer Auditorium / Film Series: "Quantum of Solace"
Saturday, Feb. 21, 4 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Women’s hockey vs. Cornell (ECAC contest); with "Pink at the Rink" fundraiser
Thursday, Feb. 26, 12:45 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Founders Day ceremonies commemorate the 214th anniversary of the granting of the College's charter and celebrate Union's role in the 19th-century abolitionist movement. To include unveiling of a portrait of Moses Viney, escaped slave whose freedom was secured by Union President Eliphalet Nott
Thursday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m. / Nott Memorial / Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary, speaks on “Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Journey to the Common Good,” a consideration of how the "master narrative" of the Hebrew Bible serves as a guide and summons toward the common good. From 1986 to his retirement in 2000, Brueggeman was the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at the theological seminary. Co-sponsored by the Campus Protestant Ministry, Capital Region Theological Center, Office of Campus Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, Lamont Funds, UNITAS, Hillel, Religious Studies and the Minervas. For more information, contact Victoria Brooks at brooksmv@union.edu
Friday, Feb. 27- Sunday, March 1 / College Park Hall / The Office of the President and the History Department present: “The Underground Railroad: Its Legacies and Our Communities”; organized by the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region Inc. Workshops will be held during the event and are open to students, faculty and staff. Student cost $10 for Saturday workshops, $25 includes lunch. Faculty/staff cost: $35 for Saturday workshops, $50 includes lunch. Registration deadline Friday, Feb. 20. Visit www.ugrworkshop.com or e-mail info@ugrworkshop.com
Friday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. St. Lawrence (ECAC contest)
Saturday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Clarkson (ECAC contest)
Sunday, March 1, 1-3 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial / 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition closing reception
Sunday, March 1, 3 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Union College and the Community Orchestra with conductor Victor Klimash in “Winter 2009…The Big Chill.”
“Theatre of Worlds: The Voyage”
winter dance concert 2009
Monday, March 2, 5:30 p.m. / Nott Memorial / 2009 Wold Lecture on Religion and Conflict presents "Religion and International Relations in the Obama Administration" The Aftermath and the Anticipation," with Jack Miles, the Distinguished Professor of English and Religious Studies, University of California at Irvine, and Senior Fellow of Religious Affairs with the Pacific Council on International Policy. Reception at 5 p.m.
Thursday, March 5 through Saturday, March 7, 8 p.m.; also, March 7-8, 2 p.m. / The Yulman Theater / Winter Dance Concert, “The Theatre of Worlds: The Voyage”; tickets on sale now; call 388-6545
Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson will deliver the keynote address at the Founders Day convocation Thursday, Feb. 26 at 12:45 p.m. in Memorial Chapel. The event, which commemorates the 214th anniversary of the granting of the College’s charter by the state, will also celebrate Union’s role in the 19th-century abolitionist movement.
During the ceremony, the College will unveil a portrait of Moses Viney, a runaway slave from Maryland who escaped to Schenectady on the Underground Railroad. Viney was a coachman, messenger and constant companion of Eliphalet Nott, the longtime president of Union who eventually secured Viney’s freedom.
Viney’s portrait was completed by Simmie Knox, a renowned African-American artist who has painted the official White House portraits of former President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and other political and cultural figures.
Jared M. Gourrier ’10 will discuss Viney’s life and his role as a central figure on campus.
McPherson, the George Henry Davis ’86 Professor of American History Emeritus at Princeton University, will give the address: “Union College’s Role in the Abolitionist Movement.” A Civil War historian, McPherson has authored 11 books, including “Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era,"which received the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. His latest book, “Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief,” was recently awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize. McPherson also won the Lincoln Prize in 1998 for “For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War.”
James McPherson, George Henry Davis '86 Professor of American History Emeritus at Princeton University, Founders Day 2009, author, Battle Cry of Freedom
Also at Founders Day, Daniel Frio, a history teacher at Wayland High School in Massachusetts, will receive the Gideon Hawley Teacher Recognition Award. Frio was nominated by Priscilla Wright ’12. The award, named for the 1809 graduate of Union who was New York state’s first superintendent of public education, is given to secondary school teachers who have had a continuing influence on the academic life of Union students.
Two students – seniors Adrienne B. Hart and Alexander H. Schlosberg – are to receive the Hollander Prize for Music, and will provide a musical interlude.
The Founders Day convocation is the first in a series of events to commemorate Union’s role in the abolitionist movement. From Feb. 27 through 29, the College is hosting “The Underground Railroad, Its Legacies, and Our Communities,” the eighth annual Underground Railroad History Conference, at College Park Hall. Schaffer Library is hosting an exhibit, “Abolitionism and the Struggle for African-American Freedom: The Union College Experience,” chronicling the College’s involvement in the struggle for African-American freedom.
The amazing or phenomenal is often found in the seemingly simplest thing – like a dragonfly. Common insects though they are, dragonflies possess an exceptional ability that has fascinated one Union biologist for years.
A dragonfly takes a break on Prof. Robert Olberg's neck in the indoor flight arena at the Janelia Farm Research Campus in Virginia.
“Dragonflies have the best eyes in the insect world and probably the best flight – and they’re 97-percent accurate in catching flying insects like mosquitoes,” professor Robert Olberg said. “With a visual response time of only 30 milliseconds, they typically capture their prey midflight in about 150 milliseconds.”
“Our own visual systems are much slower. By the time we realize they’ve taken off, they’ve already caught their prey,” he continued. “I want to understand how they do this.”
In his quest to discover why the dragonfly is such a remarkable aerial assassin, Olberg has learned the insect owes much of its enviable skill to a specialized set of neurons.
“We have identified neurons directly involved with this behavior,” Olberg said. “And when those neurons fire, they make the dragonfly turn its wings just so or move its head a certain way.”
Olberg knows this because he and his colleagues have actually placed tiny electrodes on the insects’ neurons. These microelectrodes, whose tips are smaller than a wavelength of light and require specialized equipment to insert, measure the response of neurons to stimuli in Olberg’s lab.
“We show a stationary dragonfly moving images on a computer screen and see how they respond,” he explained. “We’ve found the specific function for each neuron this way. One might say, ‘Go left.’ Another might say, ‘Go right.’”
A prototype version of the telemetry chip, developed to record and transmit neuron and muscle activity from a freely flying dragonfly.
Olberg and his student-researchers also conducted experiments outside with a small bead masquerading as tasty prey. In filming the dragonflies’ pursuit of the bead and playing it back in slow motion, they saw something else that makes these arthropods awesomely efficient predators.
“We’ve learned they have a very sophisticated prey-capture strategy – they predict the location prey will be at and intercept it there,” Olberg said. “Most animals aim at where the prey is, but dragonflies aim at where it will be.”
Having accumulated all this knowledge, Olberg is preceding with the next phase of his investigation into the neurological workings of the dragonfly. He knows how the insects’ neurons respond to images on a computer screen, but he doesn’t know how those same neurons respond when the animals are actually free to behave normally.
In an indoor flight arena full of dragonflies, their prey, a built-in pond and artificial sunlight, Olberg is working with Dr. Anthony Leonardo at Janelia Farm, a research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, Va. Here, he explained, the dragonflies can react to food-items like fruit flies more naturally.
“The big dream is to outfit the arena dragonflies with very small telemetry chips containing accelerometers, amplifiers and transmitters,” Olberg said. “We have a colleague, Dr. Reid Harrison at the University of Utah, who is working on this.”
“We are now testing the first version, a 600-milligram chip, and development is underway for an even smaller, lighter one,” he added. “We’re not there yet – this is a many-year project – but it’s where we’re going.”
The Air Force is interested in where Olberg’s efforts are taking him.
Union Prof. Robert Olberg, and Anthony Leonardo of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, attach an RFID tag to a dragonfly. The RFID tags are being tested as a possible power source for an implanted telemetry chip.
“My lab at Union gets helpful support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, whose mission is to fund pure research in areas it believes have value,” Olberg said. “There are possible applications for what we’re studying in biomimetics. We can take what we learn from insects and apply that knowledge to technologies like robotics and machine vision.”
For his part, though, Olberg doesn’t think of his research in terms of applications.
“I just want to understand how it works,” he said.
