You
will never hear Rube Goldberg's name and “labor-saving” uttered in the same
sentence. The 2004 Rube Goldberg Competition, held annually in tribute to the
cartoonist who eschewed Thoreau's admonition, “Simplify, simplify,” will begin
at 8:30
a.m., Saturday,
April 24, in Memorial Fieldhouse.
Sponsored
by Union's Engineering program, Knolls Atomic Power Lab, GE Elfun Society, and
the Schenectady Museum, this year's task will be to remove a four-inch pie
(flavor optional) from its packaging, place it on a plate, and apply whipped
cream (or non-dairy product for those on low-fat diets). The machines must take
20 or more steps, use a minimum of five different forms of energy, and
demonstrate engineering and scientific know-how, creativity, and whimsy. They
also must operate within the dimensions of five feet in height, width, and
depth.
Teams
of middle and high school students statewide and from Vermont, will vie in what may be called the
Olympics of Redundancy. In past years, the tasks have included sticking a stamp
on a letter, sharpening a pencil, making a baloney sandwich, and opening a bag
of M&Ms.
A team of Union
College alumni, including some of
the all-time legends of Union basketball, will match up with the Harlem Wizards on
Sunday, April 25, at 2 p.m. in
Memorial Fieldhouse. Doors will open at 1 p.m.
The game, billed as “Trick Hoops,
Alley Oops and a Whole Lot More,” is also aimed at recruiting matches for the
College's Big-Brothers and Big-Sisters program.
Tickets are free for children
under 18 and for “Big-Little” matches. Adult admission is $5. Tickets will be
available at Reamer Campus
Center and at the door.
The alumni team includes Ramsey
Baker '93, Kevin Bartlett '85, Gerry Brescia '90, Robin (Romer) Chudy '92,
Brendan Chudy '93, Ken Evans '94, Kurt Fox '88, Kim Mangino '86, Pete Melito
'00, Ron Prior '92, Katie Smith '02, Jim Tedisco '72 and George Tiggle '98. The
team will be coached by Bob Pezzano '72.
The game, sponsored by Union's
Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, will feature a host of on- and off-court
antics and a meet-and-greet with the players.
“This will be a great time for
basketball fans of all ages, and a good event to unite the campus and local
communities,” said Doug Bush, a Union
College junior who is president of
the College's chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters. “But the real winners
are the kids who benefit from Big Brothers and Big Sisters. We want to use this
event to let people know how fun it is to be a 'Big.' And with a small
investment of time, a 'Big' can make a huge difference in the life of a
'Little.'”
Union
College's Big Brothers-Big Sisters
program, with more than 65 matches, is one of the largest college programs in
the country. But not every child who applies can get a match, Bush said, adding
that there is a waiting list for both “Littles” and “Bigs.”
The Harlem Wizards have been
thrilling audiences for over four decades. The team has been the playground for
some of the NBA's greatest legends and the training ground for some of the
games most flamboyant basketball entertainers. Two NBA Hall of Famers and “Top
50 Greatest Players of All Time” donned Harlem Wizard uniforms: former Phoenix
Sun Connie Hawkins, and former Boston Celtic Nate “Tiny” Archibald.
Current Harlem Wizards like Eric “Broadway” Jones and James “Speedy” Williams
are known to a wide audience after appearing in the Nike freestyle TV ad
campaign and the 2001 MTV Music Awards. Wizard role models like “Tojo”
Henderson and “Tex” Barnwell, who started with the Wizards in the 1970's, still
share their passion for the Wizards' mission and appear regularly in games.
The game is made possible by
funding from the Union's Social Enrichment Grant and the president's office.
Richard Bopp, an expert on the PCB
contamination of the Hudson River, will speak on
“Mercury Deposition in New York
and New Jersey: From Geochemistry
to Policy” on Thursday, April 22, at 7 p.m.
in the Nott Memorial.
His talk, which is free and open
to the public, is sponsored by the College's Environmental Studies Program, the
Environmental Awareness Club and the Minerva Committee.
Bopp, associate professor of earth
and environmental sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, studied
chemistry as an undergraduate at MIT, and has a Ph.D. in geology from Columbia
University. For the past 20 years
he has conducted research on various aspects of contaminant geochemistry in the
Hudson River, its tributaries, and other natural waters
of the Hudson Basin.
His research group at RPI uses
analysis of dated sediment cores to study the sources and distribution of PCBs,
pesticides, dioxins, PAHs, and trace metals. They also study atmospheric
deposition of contaminants, and in situ dechlorination of PCBs.
Bopp has been involved in several
major contaminant issues including the PCB problem in the Hudson,
dioxins in Newark Bay,
and disposal of contaminated dredge spoils.
His talk is the last in the
College's Environmental Studies lecture series titled “Environmental Science
and Public Policy.” Environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. opened the
series. Orrin Pilkey, an authority on the protection of coastlines, also spoke.
Ann Anderson, Thomas J. Watson Sr.
and Emma Watson-Day Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is one of
four area women to be recognized for achievement in science and technology.
She was honored at Mohawk Pathways
Council's annual Juliette Low Dinner on Tuesday, April 20, at the Glen
Sanders Mansion.
Anderson, who is chair of the
department, earned her bachelor's degree from Tufts
University and her master's and
Ph.D. from Stanford. She joined Union in 1992.
Anderson
has been extremely active with the College and in outside professional
organizations. She has received numerous grants and been published in several
magazines, journals and other publications.
Robert Balmer, dean of engineering
and computer science, nominated Anderson
for the award. He said, “Under Ann's well-respected leadership, the
College's enrollment in mechanical engineering has grown, and she is clearly a
role model for all students, and particularly for young women interested in
engineering.”
Anderson
was a founder of the College's Aerogel Lab, a collaborative project between
mechanical engineering and chemistry that has generated a number of
undergraduate research projects. Aerogels, ultra-light matrix materials that
are excellent insulators, are gaining widespread use in aerospace and medicine.
The other honorees are Barbara
Brabetz, assistant professor of biology and chemistry, SUNY Cobleskill; Anne
LaRoche, manager, technology and information systems, Lockheed Martin, KAPL;
and Danielle Merfeld, manager of semiconductor technology laboratory, GE Global
Research Center.
Each year Girl Scouts recognizes
women who have pursued a vision that has impacted the community positively,
serve as role models for girls and women and demonstrate concern for their
advancement, display leadership, and embody the values of girl scouting. Girl
Scouts is encouraging girls to pursue careers in math, science, and technology
through their “Girls Go Tech” initiative.
Jennifer Mitchell delivered a talk
on “Tensions and Opposition of the Artists in Texts of Virginia Woolf.”
Jackson Reed gave a paper on
“Neutral Meson Photoproduction from the Proton.”
Jaclyn Sisskind presented on “A
Cross-Cultural Look at the Medicalization of Post-Partum Depression and
Alternatives to Present Therapy.”
They were among the 28 students
who returned on Sunday from the 18th National Conference on
Undergraduate Research, hosted by Indiana University-Purdue University
Indianapolis.
The Union group represented one of
the larger contingents, said Ashraf Ghaly, associate professor of civil
engineering, who accompanied the group.
“I was impressed with our
students' confidence and complete command of their research topics,” said
Ghaly, who attended 23 of the Union presentations. ” It was fabulous to see our
students answering the questions with such great confidence. They represented Union
very well. I would say that Union got its money's worth
and more.”
Ghaly gave a presentation at a
concurrent conference of the Undergraduate Research Network titled “Transforming
Successive Education to Concurrent Learning Through Research.” He described a
course in which he had students research and present examples of structures
that failed, asking them to describe what they would do differently.
Also traveling to NCUR were Ann
Anderson, the Thomas J. Watson Sr. and Emma Watson-Day Associate Professor of
Mechanical Engineering, a member of the NCUR Board of Governors; and Tom
Werner, the Florence B. Sherwood Professor of Physical Sciences, former chair of
the NCUR Board of Governors.
