President Stephen C. Ainlay was the keynote speaker at the Environmental Clearinghouse of Schenectady’s (ECOS) annual dinner Tuesday, April 24. The non-profit regional group, founded by members of the Junior League, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Ainlay discussed sustainability and the breadth of opportunities afforded by Union’s location in the Mohawk Valley. He also spoke about the Mighty Waters Task Force, a group of 25 leaders from business, community and education assembled by U.S. Rep. Paul D. Tonko to develop a regional plan for waterfront development. Ainlay is a member of the task force’s Executive Committee and chairs the Research and Education Committee. Ainlay is also scheduled to be the guest speaker today at the Fort Orange Club’s monthly luncheon. The private social club was founded in Albany in 1880.
Essays by Brian Karimi-Pashaki ’12 and Emily Lnenicka ’12 were published in Ephemeris 2011, an undergraduate journal of philosophy. Karimi-Pashaki’s essay is titled “Choice: The Death of Incommensurability.” Lnenicka’s piece is titled “Dealing with Moral Incommensurability: A Proposal from Human Rights.”
David Gillkin, assistant professor of geology, is part of a group of researchers featured in Science Daily. Led by a professor at the California Academy of Sciences, the group discovered that oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has changed the ecosystem for oysters. They found that the creatures contain higher concentrations of heavy metals in their shells, gills and muscle tissue than before the oil spill. The group is preparing their findings for publication.
The College’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa recently elected new members. They are:
From the Class of 2013: Meredith Adamo, Ceillie Clark-Keane and Sheri Park.
From the Class of 2012: Danielle Ayers, Sarah Bacon, Kevan Benn, William Breitweiser, Stacey Burns, Mark Chaskes, Molly Congdon, Joseph Dammann, Madelyn Degutis, Sara Einhorn, Catherine Elliott, Lucas First, Matthew Fontaine, Sarah Gagnon, Jenna Hiltsley, Timothy Kuehn, Emily Lnenicka, Matthew LoConte, Amanda Louis, Maria Magavern, Iris Mansour, Hunaiz Patel, Aleena Paul, F. William Pinkston, Daniel Roginski, Aviva Rutkin, Jessica Sarrantonio, Katie Schuff, James Sedlak, Misty Shah, Jessica Sherrod, Jessica Singer, Ramsey Steiner, Erin Whitney and Amelia Zimet.
They join the following members of the Class of 2012 elected last year: Rachel Baker, Erin Delman, Alexa Goldfarb, Melanie Kramer, Ajay Major and Kelsey Mulvihill.