October 16, 1998: Volume 44, Number 6

F.W. Olin Center to Open; Astronaut to Speak

Among classes now being taught in the F.W. Olin Center is one that may seem a bit unusual for a high-technology center: "Genre Studies: The Art of Poetry" with Prof. Ruth Stevenson.

"Using the technology of today – PowerPoint presentation software for example – students are able to take a detailed look, with microscopic precision, of the great works in poetry," said Stevenson, professor of English. "Much like biologists observing a specimen, we can examine the minute elements that make up the body of famous pieces."

On Friday, Oct. 23, at 4:30 p.m., Stevenson and her students will join other members of the Union community and officers of the F.W. Olin Foundation to celebrate the opening of the latest addition to the 204 year-old campus – the F.W. Olin Center, a high-technology classroom and laboratory building.

The dedication will feature a presentation by the only scientist to walk on the moon, geologist Harrison Schmitt on Friday, Oct. 23, at 5 p.m. in the F.W. Olin Center Auditorium. He will discuss "The Business of Returning to Deep Space: The Interlune-Intermars Initiative." Schmitt, a member of the 1972 Apollo 17 mission and the last person to walk on the moon, will discuss his career and research on the use of resources from space, including the moon's helium-3 as a potential energy supply on Earth. The address will be shown live in rooms throughout the building via closed-circuit television.

"For more than 200 years, Union has been at the forefront of change and technology," said President Roger H. Hull. "The F.W. Olin Foundation, by providing this state-of-the-art technology center, has provided an important vehicle for Union to continue this emphasis as it begins its third century of service."

The new 53,640 square-foot Olin Center supports computer-aided instruction throughout the College's science and mathematics departments as well as in non-science programs. It also serves as the home of the Department of Geology and the College's growing Environmental Studies program. The building will be used by nearly all Union students at some time in their undergraduate careers.

Building features include:

• Two "collaborative computer classrooms;"
• Laboratories and classrooms equipped for computer-intensive instruction;
• A multi-media auditorium equipped with satellite conferencing, CD-ROM, VCR, videodisk, and large-format video-data display;
• Laboratories outfitted for instruction in physics, biology, geology, chemistry, engineering, and mathematics. The Environmental Studies "clean lab" is the type of facility usually exclusive to laboratories at the graduate level.

The high-tech learning center provides campus-wide use of computers and study spaces with 24-hour-per-day access to Schaffer Library's instructional technology center.

The F.W. Olin Foundation, Inc., of New York City awarded the $9 million grant to Union in 1996 to construct and equip a high-technology classroom and laboratory building. The grant remains the single largest gift in the College's history.

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