Posted on Apr 13, 2005

Michael Ondaatje, best known for his landmark novel, The English Patient, will speak and read from his work on Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

The talk, part of Union's Perspectives at the Nott lecture series, is free and open to the public.

The English Patient won the 1992 Booker Prize and then became an Academy Award-winning movie. The author of five novels, Ondaajte also writes memoirs, film scripts and poetry.

Born in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), he lives in Toronto and teaches at York University. Along with top Canadian writers Leonard Cohen and Margaret Atwood, he is hailed as one of the most interesting and important living contemporary writers.

He began publishing lyric poems in the late 1960's. His work quickly morphed into a unique and complex mesh of poetry and prose, historical fact, photos, interviews, and (often avant- garde, even hallucinatory) images and fiction. He has written books set in places as diverse as the 19th-century Australian Outback, Billy the Kid's American West, the turn-of-the-20th-century jazz world of New Orleans, immigrant workers' communities in Toronto ca. 1930s, World War II Europe and North Africa, contemporary rural Ontario, and contemporary Sri Lanka.

Using his own mesh of genre and approach, he has imagined the 20th century, its roots and trajectories, in a unique, multi-cultural way. He has made three films of his own and recently published a book-length interview with famed Hollywood film editor Edward Murch.

Ondaatje also will visit Prof. Ed Pavlic's seminar, “Pictures Fly Without Target”: the Prose-Poetics of Michael Ondaatje's Writing. His visit marks the third consecutive year an internationally-acclaimed author has visited with English / Africana Studies classes. Previous visitors have included Yusef Komunyakaa and Adrienne Rich.

Posted on Apr 13, 2005

As the weather warms up and the grass turns green, it's time to sign up for the Ninth Annual Friends of Union Athletics Golf Classic. This year's event is scheduled for Monday, May 16 at the Edison Club in Rexford. Registration and the driving range will open at 7 a.m. and the shotgun start is at 8:30 a.m. The price of $125 includes green fees, cart, a bucket of balls for the driving range, locker room use, lunch, wonderful  gifts, a special hole-in-one and longest drive competition. Proceeds support our fine student-athletes at Union College. Also, if you are interested in becoming a Friends of Union Athletics Golf Classic sponsor, we appreciate it and we offer a variety of attractive sponsorship packages. Please contact Joanne Little at Union at 518-388-6433 for more information on sponsorship opportunities.

You can click  the link  below for the sign-up form 

http://www.union.edu/Athletics/2005_Golf_Outing_Invitation.pdf 

We look forward to seeing you on May 16  and we appreciate your support! 

Posted on Apr 12, 2005

The Alumni Council of Union College recently elected officers for four-year terms. They are President Jason Oshins, 1987 graduate who is principal attorney at the Law Offices of Jason A. Oshins in Fort Lee, N.J.; First Vice President John Vero, a 1997 graduate who is an attorney at Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna, LLP in Albany; Second Vice President Charles Roden, a 1960 graduate who is senior vice president of financial services for Oppenheimer & Co. in New York City; Secretary Karen Huggins, a 1977 graduate who is project manager for e-business at MVP Health Plan in Schenectady; and Treasurer Cal Welch, a 1962 graduate who is a senior vice president and cashier for First National Bank of Scotia.

Union's Alumni Council is the organizing body of the Society of Alumni of Union College, which includes all Union graduates. The Council's purposes are to promote and foster the best interest of Union College, strengthen the relationships of all alumni with one another and with the College, provide support to the College in meeting its goals, and represent the Society of Alumni to the College.

Alumni Council officers are elected by the members of the Alumni Council. There are currently 185 members, including class representatives and members at large.

Posted on Apr 12, 2005

The softball squad has a 12 game winning streak and stands 15-3 as the Dutchwomen play at Utica Tuesday. On Wednesday, Union will mark the 2005 home debut at newly renovated Alexander Field, hosting a strong Oneonta squad at 3 p.m. Last week, freshman outfielder Kelly Owings (Oswego/Oswego) continued her torrid play. She had two hits each in three games, including two each in the doubleheader against Liberty League rival St. Lawrence, and was named the league's Co-Rookie of the Week. She shares the honor with Rochester outfielder Jessica Sorrentino.

Owings has been a major sparkplug in the softball engine this spring. She leads a veteran laden club with a .500 average in 12 games, and also has a team best five steals. She has struck out only three times in 30 at bats in her first collegiate season.

“Kelly has really surprised us with her play,” commented Union softball coach Peter Brown. “She has great bat control and is very fast. Kelly always seems to be on base and score runs. She also gives us another lefty bat.”

Campus workers have been busily prepping the new look Alexander Field complex. Sparkling dugouts, a scoreboard and a beautiful new infield are ready to go. After Wednesday, the Dutchwomen will play at RIT Saturday and Rochester Sunday. But Alexander Field will get a workout from April 24-26, with three straight Liberty League twinbills against Skidmore, Rensselaer and Hamilton.

On another diamond, the Union baseball team opened the home season Sunday with a super sweep over New Paltz. The Dutchmen got timely hitting and solid pitching en route to the pair of victories over the Hawks. Another freshman off to a great start is Zach Tillo (Lancaster, MA/Exeter), who is hitting .375 and blasted a three-run homer down the left field line in the 7-0 victory in the nightcap. It was no contest in the arms race Sunday, as Union got complete game victories by senior Frank Arcuri (Utica/Proctor) and junior Ben McGuire (Gloversville/Gloversville). Arcuri (three hitter with six K's) has a 2.04 ERA on the season while McGuire (seven inning shutout with eight K's) stands at 1.88.

“It was a great day for us to turn things around and get on the winning track,” Arcuri said. “Returning home to Central Park gave the team a boost, and we were finally able to get our pitching, hitting and defense on the same page.

“With a core of experienced seniors and a lot of talented underclassmen, I'm anxious to see how everything will come together and we can make some noise in the Liberty League.”

The Dutchmen host Hamilton Tuesday and feature five games in three days this weekend, with Rensselaer Friday for two, Vassar for a pair Saturday, and then a single game Sunday vs. RIT.

In other Union sports action this week, women's lacrosse has a very, very, VERY big game against Skidmore Tuesday night. The Dutchwomen, winners of four straight, take a 4-1 second place league mark into a home date at Bailey Field against the league leading, 5-0 Thoroughbreds at 6 p.m. Crew had a successful home weekend Saturday and Sunday and will host St. Lawrence Saturday at 12 p.m. Men's lacrosse takes on Hartwick under the lights at Bailey Field Wednesday night at 7 p.m., and men's tennis has three road matches in four days, at Middlebury (Tuesday), Utica (Wednesday) and Oneonta (Friday). The Liberty League meet awaits the men's and women's track and field teams Saturday at Hamilton at 12 p.m.

Posted on Apr 12, 2005

John Todd, a global leader in sustainability and ecological water purification, will speak on “Sustainability Through Ecological Design” on Thursday, April 14, at 7 p.m. in the Olin Center Room 115 at Union College.

His talk, part of the “Sustainable Development” series sponsored by Union's Environmental Studies program, is free and open to the public. (His talk was postponed from an earlier date due to weather.)

Todd is a global leader in the field of ecological water purification. Ocean Arks International, founded by Todd in 1981 in response to natural resource exploitation and depletion, disseminates ideas and practices of ecological sustainability throughout the world.

He is author of over 200 technical and popular articles on biology and planetary stewardship. A professor at the University of Vermont, he was assistant professor of ethology at San Diego State University, and assistant scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

In 1969 he co-founded the New Alchemy Institute to create a science and practice based on ecological precepts. He also co-founded Living Technologies Inc., an ecological design, engineering, and construction firm in Burlington, Vt., and Living Technologies in Findhorn, Scotland. He sits on a number of environmental and technical boards.

Todd is a leader in the field of ecological design. He has described his work in a series of books: The Village as Solar Ecology (1980), Tomorrow is Our Permanent Address (1980), Reinhabiting Cities & Towns: Designing for Sustainability (1981) and Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, City Farming: Ecology as the Basis of Design (1984). This last book has been revised and published as From Eco-cities to Living Machines (1994).

Todd has received numerous accolades for his work. He was profiled in Inventing Modern America, a publication of the Lemelson-MIT Program for Invention and Innovation, which features the development of his signature ecological waste treatment systems. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Green Mountain College in 2000, and received the Bioneers Lifetime Achievement Award two years previous. Also in 1998, he and Nancy Jack Todd received the Lindbergh Award in recognition of their work in technology and the environment.