Posted on Apr 5, 2010

Rep. Paul D. Tonko, a nationally recognized expert on energy issues, will be the keynote speaker at a symposium, “The Smart Grid: Who Should Control Our Energy Future?” at Union College April 9-11.

Tonko will speak at 7:15 p.m. Saturday in the Nott Memorial to about 40 invited guests from a variety of backgrounds as part of the College’s third Alumni and Friends Symposium. The idea is to help graduates re-engage in the intellectual life they enjoyed at Union. Tonko’s speech is free and open to the public.

Congressman Tonko is a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor and serves on the subcommittees for Higher Education and Healthy Families and Communities. He is also a member of the Committee on Science and Technology. As a member of the New York State Assembly from 1983 to 2007, Tonko served as chairman of a standing committee on energy; after leaving the Assembly, he was president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

Throughout the weekend, guests will participate in a series of workshops to examine major issues surrounding America’s development and implementation of a smart electrical grid and propose solutions.

A panel discussion Saturday morning, “Implementing the Smart Grid,” will feature David Pacyna `83, senior vice president and general manager of Siemens Energy Inc.; Kannan Tinnium of General Electric Global Research; Martin Insogna, of the New York State Department of Public Service; Randy A. Bowers, New York Independent System Operator, Inc.; Mary E. Reidy, Smart Technology Center, National Grid; and Ron Ambrosio, IBM Global Research leader, Energy and Utilities Industry.

Also on Saturday, Richard H.K. Vietor ’67 will present a case study, “Cape Wind: Offshore Wind Energy in the U.S.A.” Vietor is the Paul Whiton Cherington Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and senior associate dean for the Asian Initiative.

The symposium opens Friday with “Smart Grid Opportunities and Challenges” led by Gary Cohen ’78, IBM general manager, Global Communications Sector.

Last year’s symposium on health care reform featured Ezekiel Emanuel as keynote speaker. Now serving as a health care expert for the White House, he is the brother of  Rahm, President Obama’s chief of staff.

The first Alumni and Friends Symposium, held in June 2007, was modeled after the “Moral Dilemmas of Governing” class led for many years by Byron Nichols. Twenty former students of Nichols, a popular political science professor from 1968 to 2008, returned to Union for a spirited discussion on the moral and political issues surrounding illegal immigration.

For more information on this year’s symposium, including a schedule of events, click here.

Posted on Apr 2, 2010

Dewey Bozella, a once-promising amateur boxer who was wrongly imprisoned for 26 years, will speak Monday, April 5 at 6 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

His talk, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the student-run Speakers Forum.

In 1983, Bozella was convicted of the 1977 murder of 92-year-old Emma Crapser in her Poughkeepsie apartment. Authorities said Bozella, who was 18 at the time, killed Crapser after she walked in on him burglarizing her apartment.

The conviction was overturned when an appeals court found blacks had been kept off the jury. Bozella was retried and convicted in 1990 and sentenced to 20 years to life in state prison.

Bozella continued to insist he was innocent and fought to have his conviction dismissed. He was denied parole on four separate occasions, because he said “they wanted me to admit my crime and say I was sorry. I couldn’t do that. I could never admit to something I didn’t do.”

In 2007, after he had exhausted all of his appeals, Bozella convinced The Innocence Project to investigate his case, which eventually led to a ruling last October by a judge who overturned Bozella’s conviction.

Supreme Court Justice James Rooney of Putnam County agreed with Bozella’s legal team that the Dutchess County district attorney had failed to disclose crucial evidence which would have proved Bozella’s innocence.

“This court does not lightly disturb a conviction in such a serious case as this in which the defendant was twice convicted by jury verdicts of the cruel and cowardly murder of a 92-year-old woman within the sanctuary of her home,” Rooney wrote in his decision. But “the legal and factual arguments advanced … are compelling, indeed overwhelming.”

The 50-year-old Bozella, who earned a master’s degree while in prison, is speaking to community groups about his experience.

Posted on Apr 1, 2010

A select group of high school seniors from around the country and the world have been offered admission to Union, capping one of the most competitive recruiting seasons.

The students were chosen from more than 4,900 applications, the second largest number of candidates ever to apply to Union. The size of the Class of 2014 is expected to be 565 students. This includes more than 200 students who were admitted through the Early Decision program, a record.

Accepted students have until May 1 to commit. To help students decide, Union will host two Accepted Student Days, April 12 and April 19. The program encourages students and their families to explore the campus, with a number of tours, class visits, campus life panels and academic presentations scheduled.

The pool of accepted students is one of the strongest academically, with 71 percent ranked in the top 10 percent of their class, up from 65 percent a year ago. Average SAT scores rose to 1335, a five-point jump from the previous year. The students represent 41 states and 34 countries.

“We feel extremely good about this group of admitted students,” said Matt Malatesta, vice president for Admissions, Financial Aid and Enrollment. “Even with the downturn in the economy, it’s been an incredibly competitive year in admissions, but we are confident we can help students appreciate the value of a Union education.”

The College meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for all students. The average need-based scholarship at Union is $29,000 and the average merit scholarship is $10,000.

Students who choose Union will join a campus community that has been honored with a string of prestigious academic prizes in recent weeks. Two students were named winners of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and two for Kathryn Wasserman Davis Projects for Peace awards. A Union student also was named a winner of a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, a national foundation that promotes promising scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Eight Union students have been so honored since 2002.

The College is among the country’s leading liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings, the Princeton Review Guide’s annual book, “The Best 371 Colleges,” and the “Fiske Guide to Colleges,” which features 330 of the country's best and most interesting colleges and universities.

Posted on Apr 1, 2010

Friday, April 9 – Monday, April 12, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center / Film: “Sherlock Holmes”  

Friday, April 9, 3:30 p.m. / Tennis Courts / Men’s tennis vs. Wheaton College

Friday, April 9, 4 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Women’s lacrosse vs. Vassar College

Saturday, April 10, 9 a.m. / Boathouse / Men’s and women’s crew vs. RPI

Saturday, April 10, 1 p.m. / Alexander Field / Softball vs. College of Staten Island

Saturday, April 10, 1 p.m. / Tennis Courts / Women’s tennis vs. SUNY New Paltz

Saturday, April 10, 2 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Women’s lacrosse vs. RPI

Saturday, April 10, 7:15 p.m.-8:30 p.m. / Nott Memorial / Alumni and Friends Symposium, “The Smart Grid: Who Should Control Our Energy Future?” keynote speaker Congressman Paul Tonko (open to the public)

Sunday, April 11, 9 a.m. / Boathouse / Men’s and women’s crew vs. University of Albany

Sunday, April 11, 10 a.m. / Tennis courts / Men’s tennis vs. St. Lawrence University

Sunday, April 11, 1 p.m. / Tennis courts / Women’s tennis vs. St. Lawrence University

Monday, April 12, 7 p.m. / Nott Memorial / “Dickens in the Nott: A Reading of ‘A Christmas Carol,’” by students and faculty in conjunction with the closing of the Schaffer Library exhibit, “Dickens in America.” Directed by Patricia Culbert, senior artist-in-residence with the Theater and Dance Department. Tickets free, but limited in number. To reserve, call ext. 6545.

Monday, April 12: Office of Admissions Accepted Student Days

Tuesday, April 13, 4 p.m. / Tennis courts / Men’s tennis vs. Hamilton College

Wednesday, April 14, 7 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Men’s lacrosse vs. Williams College

Saturday, April 17, 1 p.m. / Central Park / Baseball vs. RPI

Monday, April 19: Office of Admissions Accepted Student Days

Tuesday, April 20, 4:45 p.m. / F.W. Olin Center Auditorium / Robin Bell, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University

Posted on Mar 31, 2010

Reappointment review committees have been formed for the following assistant professors: Nicole Theodosiou, Biology; Kristina Striegnitz, Computer Science; Helen Hanson, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Katherine Lynes, English; Holli Frey, Geology; Kenneth Aslakson, History; Rebecca Cortez, Mechanical Engineering; David Hodgson, Mechanical Engineering; Ashok Ramasubramanian, Mechanical Engineering; Samuel Amanuel, Physics; Bradley Hays, Political Science; and Guillermina Seri, Political Science.

Members of the campus community are invited to offer written or oral testimony to committee members. Committees (with chairs listed first) are:

Theodosiou: Barbara Danowski (danowskb@union.edu), Rob Olberg, Kathleen LoGiudice (all from the Biology Department)

Striegnitz: Chris Fernandes (fernandc@union.edu), David Hemmendinger (Computer Science), David Hannay (all from the Computer Science Department)

Hanson: Mike Rudko (rudkom@union.edu), Yu Chang, Ekram Hassib (all from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department)

Lynes: Jordan Smith, English (smithj@union.edu), Harry Marten, Hugh Jenkins, Kara Doyle, Bern Kuhn, Peter Heinegg, Jim McCord (all of the English department)

Frey: Kurt Hollocher (hollochk@union.edu), George Shaw, John Garver, Don Rodbell (all from the Geology Department)

Aslakson: Mark Walker (walkerm@union.edu), Steve Sargent, Robert Wells (all from the History Department)

Cortez: Ron Bucinell, Mechanical Engineering (bucinelr@union.edu), William Keat (Mechanical Engineering); Mike Hagerman (Chemistry)

Hodgson: Ann Anderson, Mechanical Engineering (andersoa@union.edu), Frank Wicks (Mechanical Engineering), Tom Jewell (Engineering)

Ramasubramanian: Andy Rapoff, Mechanical Engineering (rapoffa@union.edu), Brad Bruno (Mechanical Engineering), Mike Rudko (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Amanuel: Seyffie Maleki (malekis@union.edu), Rebecca Koopmann (Physics), Chad Orzel (all from the Physics Department)

Hays: Zoe Oxley, Political Science (oxleyz@union.edu), Cliff Brown (Political Science), Leo Zaibert (Philosophy)

Seri: Robert Hislope (hisloper@union.edu), Michele Angrist, Lori Marso (all from the Political Science Department)