Posted on Apr 10, 2009

The College last year recycled more than 38 tons of paper, much of it through the efforts of students like Meghan Haley-Quigley ’11 and Erin Delman ’12.

The two students – members of U Sustain and the Environmental Club – were responsible for organizing the College’s new cardboard recycling program.

They were on hand for an April 2 ceremony at which Jody Paige, paper manager for Schenectady recycling firm D.A. Predel, presented President Stephen C. Ainlay with an award and certificate to recognize the College’s efforts.

“This initiative would not have been possible without our students,” Ainlay said. “This is a wonderful project that is a win-win for everyone.”

Paige presented some encouraging statistics. In the last year, Union’s paper recycling program saved 267,190 gallons of water from the manufacture of new paper, he said. It also spared 114.5 cubic yards of landfill space. The College received about $1,100 for the paper, and saved $3,245 in disposal costs.

Union’s paper recycling effort places it in the top 20^th percentile of American colleges, according to Jeffrey Corbin, an assistant professor of biology and leader of U Sustain.

The paper recycling effort is coordinated by Terry Miltner, assistant manager for Cleaning Services. With help from the students, he installed cardboard recycling bins in residential buildings.

Haley-Quigley, Delman and others marshaled their fellow students to use the bins, an effort that increased cardboard recycling by about 50 percent.

“It’s fun to walk down the hall on cardboard day,” Delman said. “And we’re amazed to see that we could make such a difference as students.”

Posted on Apr 10, 2009

Through May 4
Burns Arts Atrium
Visual Arts Building
Steinmetz Student Exhibition

Features 114 works in a variety of media by 55 studio arts students. Reception set for Tuesday, April 28, 4-6 p.m. at the Atrium gallery.

Through May 10
Mandeville Gallery
Nott Memorial
Dynamic Equilibrium

Show explores the intersection of art and science and features artists who explore science and scientists who explore art. Related event: Monday, April 20, 6 p.m., lecture by Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs, “Parasite to Symbiont,” F.W. Olin Center Auditorium; reception to follow.

Through May 10
Wikoff Student Gallery
Nott Memorial
LGBTQ: A Union Perspective

Show broadly explores issues that surround the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community at Union and beyond. 

Through September 2009
Schaffer Library Atrium
Union Notables

A rotating show of extraordinary people from the College; features U.S. President Chester Alan Arthur, Class of 1848; hospice leader and advocate Philip DiSorbo, Class of 1971; and Robert Holland Jr., Class of 1962, who has made valuable contributions to sustainability in businesses.

Posted on Apr 10, 2009

Deidre Hill Butler, assistant professor of sociology, recently gave an invited talk, titled “The Many Meanings of Michelle Obama,” for the Mandela-Parks Lecture Series sponsored by the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, African and African American Studies Program, Liberal Studies, and Women and Gender Studies at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan.

Scott Kirkton, assistant professor of biology, will lead a symposium, “Respiratory Control in Insects: Integration from the Gene to the Organism," Sunday, April 29 at the American Physiology Society annual meeting at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. 

Pilar Moyano, professor of Spanish, has published “Mujeres que se descubren: Wallada Bint al-Mustafki en la biografía novelada de Matilde Cabello,” refereed Proceedings of the XXVI Conference of ALDEEU, Penn State Erie, the Behrend College, 2006. The article examines Matilde Cabello’s historical novel on the famed poet Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, daughter of the Umayyad Caliph al-Mustakfi in 11th century Moorish Spain. In addition, the article discusses how this book charts Arab-Andalusian women’s contribution and indelible mark in the masculine, public sphere of the period.

Andrew Rapoff, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Scott McGraw of Ohio State University, and David Daegling and Jennifer Hotzman of the University of Florida, recently published a paper in the Journal of Morphology entitled “Material Property Variation of Mandibular Symphyseal Bone in Colobine Monkeys.” They found that bone becomes less stiff but tougher in the mid-chin region of the lower jaws in this subfamily of Old World monkeys when their diet consists of predominately harder foods.

In addition, Rapoff, McGraw and Daegling recently presented their research, “Isostress Analysis of Maxillary Canines in Cercopithecoid Monkeys,” at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Chicago, giving evidence that canines in a wide variety of genera of Old World monkeys are tapered to provide maximum strength with minimum mass given their observed feeding behavior.  This work was supported in part by an NSF grant awarded to Rapoff.
 

Gail Golderman, Schaffer Library Digital Services librarian, and Bruce Connolly, head of Public Services, have completed their eighth year as contributing editors of Library Journal’s netConnect, publishing review articles on electronic resources in the areas of business, health care, the environment and eBook collections.

Posted on Apr 9, 2009

Posted on Apr 9, 2009

With renovations now complete, the Language Center is sporting a refreshed look and offering updated services. A reception to showcase the improvements will be held Wednesday, April 15 at 4 p.m. in Schaffer Library Room 222. Those who attend the event will notice new furniture and social space, and new video recording and conferencing workstations. Additional equipment, like the Smartboard system, also will be on display. “This is an exciting time for the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, and for the center,” said Audrey Sartiaux, center director, who will give the Smartboard demonstration. "We have a better design and space and a flexible layout in the main lab."