Posted on Oct 2, 2009

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Union welcomes a man of incredible talent with an amazing story to share. At 7 p.m. in Old Chapel, John Robinson will deliver the Campus Diversity Lecture. His talk is titled “Get Off Your Knees: The John Robinson Story.”

Robinson, director of corporate support for WMHT television and radio, was born a congenital amputee. At three feet, nine inches tall, he has no hands, his arms stop at his elbows and his lower legs are attached to his hips without knees. When Robinson was a child, his parents worried about whether he’d be able to attend school or support himself as an adult.

Yet through remarkable talent, tenacity and faith, Robinson has succeeded in business and life. He plays golf, drives a car and happily enjoys many experiences other people often take for granted.

People with disabilities are one of America’s most vulnerable populations, and as a group, face obstacles in everyday life that seem insurmountable. Robinson’s story teaches individuals – with and without disabilities – that anything is possible with a strong education and supportive friends and family.

The lecture, which comes during National Disability Awareness Month, is sponsored by the Union College President’s Office, the Campus Diversity Office, Multicultural Affairs, Student Support Services and Sorum House.

For more information on Robinson, click here.

Posted on Oct 2, 2009

The famed Emerson String Quartet will give its 27^th Chamber Concert Series performance Sunday, Oct. 18 in Memorial Chapel.

The  3 p.m. performance is free to members of the Union community. General admission tickets are $25; for area students, $10.

The quartet features violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, cellist David Finckel and violist Lawrence Dutton. During their upcoming appearance, the musicians will play Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words” and Dvorak’s Quartet in F, Op. 96 “American.”

Formed in 1976, Emerson String Quartet has been touring, recording and performing for over three decades. The musicians have achieved unparalleled recognition with 30 acclaimed recordings produced with Deutsche Grammophon, and eight Grammy awards. Named after American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, the New York City-based quartet has also captured three Gramophone awards and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize.

In 2002, Emerson String Quartet joined Stony Brook University as the quartet-in-residence, giving master classes and providing instrumental instruction. The group also continues its residency at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., now in its 30^th sold-out season.

The ensemble’s current season includes more than 90 engagements around the world, with a three-concert series at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London's South Bank Centre, two concerts at Wigmore Hall, and performances in Prague and the Edinburgh International Festival.

For more information, call (518) 388-6080. To view the complete Chamber Concert Series schedule, click here.

Posted on Oct 2, 2009

The fall issue of SWE, the magazine of the Society of Women Engineers, features a profile of Cherrice Traver, dean of engineering at Union.

In the article, Traver discusses her career, the challenges she faces and the traits of a good leader.

To view a PDF of the article, click here.

Traver was also featured in the December 2008 issue of Prism, the monthly magazine of the American Society for Engineering Education. Traver was included in a story on how some colleges have integrated engineering into the liberal arts curriculum.

The article highlights the first national symposium hosted by Union in 2008,  "Engineering and Liberal Education.” In 1845, Union became the first liberal arts college to offer engineering. The symposium explored different models for integrating engineering, technology and the traditional liberal arts. A similar symposium was held last spring.

To view the article, click here.

Posted on Sep 30, 2009

There was a lot of energy in the great room of Beuth House Wednesday as a host of business leaders and politicians joined College officials to officially celebrate a new fuel cell being tested in one of Union’s Minerva houses.

The College was selected by Plug Power Inc. of Latham, N.Y. as the host site of a 5-kilowatt cell, GenSys, which will convert natural gas into electricity and high-quality heat for the 30 students living in Beuth. The project is a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced last November. Plug Power and National Grid, a natural gas and electric utility, will test the system in the real-life operating conditions at Beuth and use the data collected to determine system refinements for incorporation into the next-generation system design.

President Stephen C. Ainlay told several dozen people in the audience, including Assemblymen Jim Tedisco ’72 and George Amedore, that the project is well-suited to the College’s commitment to sustainability. He also commended all of the parties involved in the unique project.

“This is the type of innovation we in the Capital Region have come to expect,” he said.

Susan Crossett, vice president of energy solutions services for National Grid, said the project is a great educational tool to observe how new energy sources are developed. Ballston Spa High School and Schenectady Museum will engage students in fuel cell education and field trial data analysis as part of the project.

“This technology represents a promising clean energy technology that will play a significant role in the not too distant future,” she said.

Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power, called Union a perfect fit to host the fuel cell, which is located in the basement of Beuth.

“Through real-world field trials, such as this project at Union, alternative energy solutions for the everyday consumer move closer to reality.”

To read an earlier story about the project that appeared in the Times Union, click here.

Posted on Sep 29, 2009

Thursday, Oct. 1, 4 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / “Becoming a Curator: Seeing Race, Class, Gender and History in Objects and Images,” lecture by New Paltz, N.Y., independent curator and historian Rickie Solinger, who curated “Reimagining the Distaff”

Friday, Oct. 2, 5-8 p.m. / Nott Memorial / Opening reception for “North by Northeast: Baskets and Beadwork from the Akwesasne Mohawk and Tuscarora” and “Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit,” both at the Mandeville Gallery  

Friday, Oct. 2–Monday, Oct. 5, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: “The Proposal”

Saturday, Oct. 3, 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. / College Park Hall / New England Council of Latin American Studies Conference

Saturday, Oct.3, 1 p.m. / College Park Field / Women’s soccer vs. SUNY Fredonia

Saturday, Oct. 3, 6 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Football vs. Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Saturday, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s ice hockey vs. Garnet and White

Sunday, Oct. 4, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. / Jay Street near City Hall / Union-Schenectady Alliance (USA) and Schenectady’s Greenmarket present a Student Appreciation Day at the farmer’s market; walking tours begin at 10 a.m. from Skellar Circle, leaving every half hour, with live entertainment from Union groups at noon.

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 5-7pm. / Visual Arts Atrium / Fall reception of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, welcoming new faculty and staff (children welcome); commission co-chairs are Kristina Striegnitz, Claire Bracken and Guillermina Seri

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 7 p.m. / College Park Field / Women’s soccer vs. Hartwick

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 7 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Field hockey vs. Middlebury

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 4 p.m. / Tennis courts / Men's tennis vs. LeMoyne

Thursday, Oct. 8, 4:30 p.m. / Schaffer Library, Phi Beta Kappa Room / Philosophy Speaker Series presents Columbia University’s Katja Vogt: “Do Human Beings have Non-Relative Value?”

Thursday, Oct. 8, 12:50-1:50 p.m. / Hale House, Everest Lounge / Rapaport  Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative luncheon workshop featuring Rashi Fein, professor of economics of Medicine, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard University, on ethics and economics

Thursday, Oct. 8, 4:30 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Adutiorium / Rapaport Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative public lecture on "Health Care Reform: Past, Present and Future," featuring Rashi Fein, professor of economics of Medicine, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard University

Friday, Oct. 9, 1:50 p.m. / Emerson Auditorium, Taylor Music Center / Department of Music and IEF presents Friday Jazz with professor Tim Olsen and Friends, “Swing”; free

Friday, Oct. 9, 4 p.m. / College Park Field / Women’s soccer vs. RPI

Friday, Oct. 9, 4 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Field hockey vs. Hamilton

Friday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. University of Maine

Friday, Oct. 9-Monday, Oct. 12, 7 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: “Transformers 2”

Saturday, Oct. 10, 1 p.m. / College Park Field / Field hockey vs. St. Lawrence University

Saturday, Oct. 10, 2 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Football vs. Hobart

Saturday, Oct. 10, 4 p.m. / College Park Field / Women’s soccer vs. Vassar

Saturday, Oct. 10, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. University of Maine

Posted on Sep 29, 2009

Through Oct. 16
Schaffer Library
Thelma and Kenneth Lally Reading Room
Degas’ Contemporaries

Coinciding with the “Degas & Music” show currently on display at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, N.Y., this exhibit features work from Union’s Permanent Collection by peers of famed French impressionist Edgar Degas.

Sept. 25  – Oct. 24
Nott Memorial
Mandeville Gallery
“North by Northeast: Baskets and Beadwork from the Akwesasne Mohawk and Tuscarora”

Selected pieces from a traveling exhibition curated by Kathleen Mundell, folklorist and director of Cultural Resources, a nonprofit organization that helps communities sustain local culture. An opening reception will be held Friday, Oct. 2, 5-8 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

Through Nov. 14
Visual Arts Building
Arts Atrium
Greg Eltringham, Paintings and Drawings

This exhibit features the work of Greg Eltringham, professor of painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga.

Through March 14
Schaffer Library Atrium
Union Notables

Union Notables celebrates the great men and women who have studied and worked at the College from its founding in 1795 to the present day. Every six months, a new group of three notables is featured. Currently featured are assistant professor and janitor Charles Frederick Chandler (1836-1925);  actor, playwright,  journalist and producer John Howard Payne (1791-1852); andCollege Librarian Ruth Anne Evans (1924-2001).

Through Dec. 20
Nott Memorial
Mandeville Gallery
“Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit”

A This traveling exhibit curated by New Paltz, N.Y., independent curator and historian Rickie Solinger, featuring 36 works by 28 contemporary artists. Each work incorporates a tool that was important for women’s domestic labor in the past. Solinger will give a lecture in conjunction with the show on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 4 p.m. in Reamer Campus Center Auditorium. Her talk is entitled “Becoming a Curator: Seeing Race, Class, Gender and History in Objects and Images.” An opening reception will be held Friday, Oct. 2, 5-8 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.