Research byMark Walker, professor of history who specializes in the development of nuclear technology, was featured in the Sept. 30 Guardian, a leading British newspaper, in a prominent article, “Author Fuels Row Over Hitler's Bomb.”
The article, previewed on the front page with a picture of an atomic bomb explosion, featured an interview with author Luigi Romersa, the last known witness to what many consider the experimental detonation of a rudimentary weapon on an island in the Baltic in 1944.
In June, Walker and another historian, Rainer Karlsch, published an article in the British monthly, Physics World, that included a previously unpublished diagram of what they say is a German nuclear weapon.
The Center for Bioethics and Clinical Leadership has joined with its sister institution, the Center for Medical Ethics at Albany Medical College, to form the Alden March Bioethics Institute, or AMBI.
Based at the medical college, the institute conducts comprehensive and innovative research, teaching and outreach concerning ethical issues in the health sciences.
The two centers have been collaborating closely for half a decade, sponsoring conferences and speakers and offering a master's program, graduate certificates in bioethics, and dual degree programs in law, medicine, pastoral care, public health and social work. The master's program enrolls students from throughout the United States, Europe and Japan.
“AMBI provides a basis for closer integration and collaboration with Albany Law School, the philosophy department at the University at Albany, the Ordway Research Institute, the SUNY schools of Social Work and Public Health, Union College and the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health,” said AMBI Chair Robert Baker, professor of bioethics at the Graduate College of Union University and professor of Philosophy at Union College.
Glenn McGee, the John A. Balint Endowed Chair of Medical Ethics at the medical college, is director of AMBI.
With the support of more than $3 million in federal and foundation grants, AMBI faculty produce widely-cited first-rate scholarship in medical, legal, philosophical and scientific journals and books. AMBI is also home to The American Journal of Bioethics, the leading peer-reviewed journal in the field, and to http://bioethics.net.
AMBI is named for Alden March, M.D., co-founder of the American Medical Association, leading 19th century surgeon and professor of anatomy. He founded the Albany Medical College in 1839.
This month marks the 85th anniversary of the College radio station, WRUC.
In 1920, Union students used makeshift equipment in a shed behind the electrical engineering lab to broadcast 27 minutes of music through the airwaves – widely considered the first scheduled radio broadcast in the country.
Ross Marvin, WRUC DJ
The “first station in the nation” continues to provide commercial free, student-run radio, featuring everything from jazz and rock to news and sports, on 89.7 FM and through its streaming Internet feed.
In the spring, the station moved into its new studio, the “WRUCkus Room,” in Reamer Campus Center. The glass-encased facility is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment, with thousands of songs programmed into a computer and external speakers broadcasting into the Dutch Hollow dining area. Records line the walls of the studio, along with posters of rock legends, from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain. A colorful new WRUC sign hanging in the window also reflects the fresh feel of the new space.
“The new studio is a great way to get the campus community to notice our shows,” says Peter Wilson '07, a third-year disc jockey who hosts the rock-and-roll show, “Intensive Care Unit.” “There's nothing better than looking out into the Campus Center and seeing people move to your music.”
“Pete and I keep alive the independent spirit of college radio,” said Intensive Care's Ross Marvin '07, also a third-year DJ. “When we first walked into the station, we felt as if we had died and gone to heaven. The station's a great opportunity for students to get hands-on broadcasting experience.”
WRUC will mark its milestone during Homecoming Weekend with a cocktail reception on Saturday, Oct. 24, on the Reamer Campus Center patio – music included, of course.
Homecoming and Family Weekend Oct. 21-23 will feature everything from Minerva receptions and athletic home games to tours, panel discussions and dinners.
A reception and dinner for the Rennes Term Abroad program is set for Saturday, Oct. 22, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Orange House.
Bill Thomas, director of International Programs, notes that 710 individuals have taken part in the term since 1969. The gathering to mark the 35-year milestone will bring together alumni, friends, current students, French exchange students and faculty members.
Other weekend highlights:
President's welcome reception, Friday, 4:30-6 p.m., Nott Memorial
Volunteer appreciation dinner, Friday, 5:30 p.m., Ballroom, College Park Hall
Alumni Council meeting, Saturday, 9 a.m., Reamer Campus Center Auditorium
Football vs. Coast Guard Academy, Saturday, 1 p.m., Frank Bailey Field
Hula is more than a dance, it's the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people, says Nalani Taylor of Kauai. And if you've ever longed to feel that beat, now is your chance.
NALANI TAYLOR
Taylor – dancer, choreographer in residence at the Yulman Theatre this month –is hosting several hula workshops that are open to the campus community. They will be held on Wednesday evenings from 5 to 6:30 on Oct. 19 and 26 in the Arts Building Dance Studio.
Taylor also will lead a lei-making workshop on Sunday, Oct. 16, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Yulman. She will work with a range of materials, including leaves, shells and bark.
“Hula is a very spiritual dance that embraces the whole culture of a race of people that is slowly fading, and we want to keep it alive,” said Taylor. “It's a wonderful, beautiful culture that embraces the aloha, a sense of true respect for people and their surroundings.”
Hula outfits grace the costume workshop at the Yulman
The workshops will feature traditional hula, or kahiko; the more contemporary auwana; and the hapa haole, a glitzy, tourist-oriented form. No experience is necessary.
“As long as you've got hips, hands and heart, you can do the hula,” Taylor said.
The campus hula hoopla is part of a larger, exciting theater event, a Hawaiian-themed production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” Shakespeare's famous work about the trials and tribulations of love.
The play, directed by Lloyd Waiwaiole, costumer for performing arts, will be performed Nov. 1-5 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets go on sale at the Yulman box office on Monday, Oct. 17, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Look for more on Midsummer in future issues of the Chronicle.
