Posted on Dec 14, 2004

Senior swimmers D.J. Hogenkamp (East Aurora, NY) and Sarah Steuer (Wilton, CT) topped the opening two weeks of the Liberty League's winter “Performer of the Week” awards.

Hogenkamp was named the league's “Swimmer of the Meet” after leading the Dutchmen to a third place finish in the annual championship meet while Steuer was the “Diver of the Meet” as the Dutchwomen also finished third.

The basketball teams were also represented as senior forward Devon Bruce (Altamont, NY) and junior guard Erika Eisenhut (Mohawk, NY) picked up weekly honors. 

Hogenkamp won his second-straight “Swimmer of the Meet” after setting a record in the 100-yard backstroke and also captured both the 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly. He broke his own 100 backstroke record of 53.04 (set last year), with a 52.50. D.J. won the 100 fly with a 51.28 and the 200 back in 1:56.54.

Steuer, meanwhile, won the three-meter dive with 433.65 points and was second on the one-meter board with 360.10 points.

Bruce scored 31 points and pulled down 21 rebounds in Dutchmen victories over Utica, 65-62, and Bridgewater State, 72-58.  The senior captain connected on 11 of 17 field goals, had nine offensive boards and a dozen on the defensive end, and also contributed three assists and two steals in 68 minutes of court time.

Eisenhut averaged 13.5 points in a 1-1 week, which included a 57-55 overtime win over eighth-ranked Rochester.  She scored 19 points and handed hour four assists with two steals and five rebounds as the Dutchwomen suffered their first loss of the season, 74-62, at Mt. St. Mary.

Posted on Dec 14, 2004

Ramsey Baker (Class of '93), the associate director of athletics at Union the last two and a half years, will be leaving his alma mater in order to take a position as the assistant executive director for corporate Relations and Marketing at the United States Figure Skating Organization.  Baker will begin his new duties in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on January 2.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Ramsey and we certainly wish him and his wife, Denise, all the best,” said interim director of athletics, Dwight Wolf.  “Ramsey has brought a great many new and innovative ideas to Union and his high level of energy and enthusiasm will be missed.”

Baker joined the Union athletic staff in September of 2002 and oversaw marketing, promotions, season ticket sales, corporate sponsorship and event management. Prior to Union, Baker was the director of PR/marketing and CEO of the Scholar-Athlete Games for the Institute for International Sport. Preceding his time with that job he served as the sports information director at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Fla. In 1999 he earned an MBA with a concentration in marketing from Georgia State University, where he served as an assistant sports information director for two years.

“I am extremely thankful to have the opportunity to be working for one of the premier sport organizations in the world,” Baker said. “U.S. Figure Skating represents the highest level of amateur sport, and with the U.S. Championships right around the corner, I can't think of a better time than now to get to know the people that make the organization work.

“Union has, and always will hold a special place in my heart. The decision to leave the College was a difficult one, but I know that my time here has prepared me well for the next step in my career, Baker continued. “I will miss the people that I work with every day a great deal, those that I knew as a student who later welcomed me as a colleague, and the many new faces that I met during my last two and a half years at Union. I think the thing that I will miss the most is the family of student-athletes and coaches that Union has. The most enjoyable part of each week for me was watching our teams compete, sharing in their joys of victory and feeling for them in defeat. Now I will be relegated to 'watching' via the internet, or through a call to the sports hotline. It won't be the same as being there, but Union will always have a huge fan wherever I am.” 

As assistant executive director for corporate relations and marketing at U.S. Figure Skating, Baker will manage U.S. Figure Skating's image and visibility while enhancing public understanding of the organization; develop and implement communication, sales and marketing strategies; supervise all aspects of PR, media relations, the web site and publications; direct and coordinate sales, promotions and sponsorships; and assist local organizing committees in promoting U.S. Figure Skating events.

In addition to his collegiate athletic administration background, Baker has been involved with major international event management, serving as the CEO of the 2002 European Scholar-Athlete Games and the 2001 World Scholar-Athlete Games, the director of operations for the 1999 United States Scholar-Athlete Games, and the director of volunteers and assistant to the commissioner of PR/marketing for the 1997 World Scholar-Athlete Games.

Posted on Dec 9, 2004

The simple, sincere advice of 85-year-old Bob Herman appears in two popular teen magazines in China and his “Bobisms” have inspired a book of columns published in China called “Adventures of the Mind: Wit and Wisdom with Bob.”

“I've never been to China, I have no Chinese friends and I don't speak Chinese,” Herman, a former professor and economics adviser, said at his home in Slingerlands, outside Albany.

Herman writes about a host of topics including love, education, aging and youth, rebellion, greed, and success. Readers e-mail him letters every day seeking advice and praising him for his insight.

“The people I hear from never heard of Slingerlands but yet they can connect with me,” he said.

Herman's link with China began in 2002 when he was playing ping-pong in California with a woman who was the editor of a widely read Chinese-English magazine known as English Salon. He also writes for another magazine called Overseas English.

The editor had read some of Herman's poems, which were published in an anthology. She asked him to write a column espousing his philosophy of life.

No politics or religion

In both magazines, he is a featured columnist amid stories written for young people about western music and culture.

“There has been an outpouring of response and I don't understand it,” said Herman who does not write about religion or politics or about America. “I don't want to be preachy.”

Encouraging education is one of his themes. “The teacher who opens the door to the school closes the door to the prison,” he wrote recently.

Herman said one of his favorite letters came from a 10-year-old girl during the SARS epidemic last year. She told Herman she was afraid of death and wanted to him to help her overcome her fears. Like many Chinese people who write him letters, she signed in an “adopted” English name.

“It's amazing that a foreigner can understand me so well … You are a good listener and also a patient teacher,” wrote “Connie” from Tianjin. “I like to consider you as a friend who is sincere.”

Another person named “Shelley” from Shanghai is a teacher who enjoys Herman's columns.

“I have designed a new activity for students in my class. This is based on Bob's column, for we can benefit not only from the beautiful and easily understood language but also from his intelligent thoughts,” she said.

On the subject of time, Herman writes: “Time is the essence of life. It is something we all share. Each of us has a limited amount. How we use our time is the guiding force of our lives. How we spend our time tells other people who we are. We define ourselves by our use of time. We are what we do!”

Herman said his editors have never changed a word he has written. The columns appear in English and Chinese but his poems which are often included are never translated.

“The theme which pervades these writings is that learning and laughter are the fellow travelers that we need on our journey through life,” he said. “Our learning must give us the wisdom to settle controversies peacably.”

In addition to learning and laughter, Herman also promotes enjoyment and sharing and writes about war and how society needs to work for peace.

“We are going to grow up or blow up,” he said.

Posted on Dec 9, 2004

1)      Display
a choice between manual entry and wizard.

2)       

a)      If
user chose manual entry:

i)       
Display a the text fields for manual entry

b)      If
user chose wizard:

i)       
Display a choice between city & state or zip wizard

ii)       If
user chose city & state:

(1)   Display to select the
school's state

(2)   Display to select the
school's city given the state

(3)   Display to select the
name of the school given the city & state or the zip code

iii)     If user
chose zip:

(1)   Display to select the
school's zip code

iv)     Display
confirmation screen for selected high school name & address

v)      Display
the selected high school name & address, along with secondary fields to be
entered

Posted on Dec 3, 2004

When Katherine Hais received word that one of her photographs was selected for the picture book “New York 24/7,” she ordered a copy immediately. At its arrival, she anxiously flipped through the coffee table tome. But she was unable to find her photo of the state Capitol.
“I couldn't find the picture. My father picked up the book and opened to the first page. There it was. I was really excited,” said Hais.
Hais took the photo in 2003 as part of a photography class at Union College. Professor Marie Triller thought the book project – where photographers from all over New York state could compete for an entry in the book – would be a fun excursion for the class. The goal was to document a day in the life of the state. To be eligible, the photos had to be digital and taken in one designated week in May.

“I thought we should go to the Empire State Plaza,” said Triller. “It would help our chances to show off New York state. That time of year, there are vendors out, state workers out. It bustling.”
But the day Triller selected was gray and miserable. No one was on the streets.
“It was really bleak,” said Triller. “So I told the students to look at architecture, sculpture.”
Hais turned her lens on the Capitol, showing off the tulips in full bloom in the foreground.
“Everyone thinks New York City when they think New York,” said Hais. “But a lot of what happens in New York happens in Albany. The Capitol is an important building, a beautiful building.”
Triller submitted her students' works to project coordinator, DK Publishing, a division of Penguin Group. Their images vied for placement against those taken by seasoned newspaper photographers from the Buffalo News and the Rochester Democrat.
Judges David Frank, picture editor of The New York Times, and Michelle McNally, photo editor of Fortune Magazine, selected several photographs taken by the Union students and one by Triller. They were reproduced in small inch-size squares along the top of the pages. Hais's Capitol picture, on the other hand, went big.
Though Hais said she is happy for her success, she has no plans to take up photography as a career. The 2003 Union graduate is living in Washington, D.C., and works as an assistant conference coordinator for SAIC, a government contractor that works with the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The book is on the coffee table at home. My boyfriend wants to blow my photograph up big and hang in on the wall,” said Hais. “But photography is just a hobby.”
The hardcover book is available in bookstores and on the Internet. The cost is $24.95.

Posted on Dec 3, 2004

David Ward, who started Tree Top Solutions Inc. in 2002 as a sophomore at Union College, stepped down as CEO of his company to become an employee of a local software company.

Ward, 24, is employee No. 3 at WiFiFee LLC in Menands. WiFi is wireless Internet access. WiFiFee is a billing software targeting wireless Internet users. Ward will be involved in the development of the billing software.

Ward said it was the right time to leave.

“If I was going to go anytime, it was a good time I picked,” Ward said. “Sometimes, when you're an entrepreneur, it's tough to separate your business from your career, especially for someone as young as me. I haven't even started my career.”

Derek Mebus, 25, Ward's former partner and college roommate, now heads Tree Top, a Web developer in Schenectady.

“I think, tactically, he [Ward] will be missed at Tree Top,” said Jon Lemelin, U-Start director. “But I think, strategically, his new position at WiFiFee could be phenomenal. I think it's a good move for him.”

Seven months after moving into U-Start, Tree Top became U-Start's second company to graduate, moving into a building where Thomas Edison once conducted research.

Tree Top, which has 80 clients, including WiFiFee, expects to close the year with $70,000 in revenue. It projects sales of $200,000 in 2005.

Mebus said he's ready to take over.

“I'm definitely in for the long haul,” Mebus said. “I had that gut-check moment. I have too much faith in the business.”

Mebus also thought it was time for a change.

“It got to the point where the friendship and the business started getting intermeshed too much,” Mebus said. “This is a new chapter.”

But not too new. Both Ward and Mebus expect the the relationship between WiFiFee and Tree Top–they market each other's products–to increase.

Bill Schwarz, Union's director of corporate and government relations, set up a meeting with Ward and WiFiFee founder Brian Epstein, also a Union grad.

“Always looking for another Union alumni,” Epstein said. “Every time I met with him [Ward] I was impressed. He's very bright. He gets what it's like to run a business.”

But Ward said he still has a lot to learn about business. Last December at Tree Top, Ward recalled, some employees came into his office and the topic of vacation came up.

“So, when do we get vacations?” an employee asked.

“Derek and I looked at each other and said, 'We never took a vacation ourselves. What does everyone else do? Do we pay you those days?' ”

Ward isn't too hard on himself for not knowing.

“You've got two young college grads who had internships and then started a business,” he said. “Where are we supposed to learn those kinds of things?”