Union in the Media

David Cotter, professor and chair of the Sociology Department, was recently featured on WAMC's Academic Minute.

The daily program features professors from colleges and universities around the world sharing their research. It airs on public radio stations across the country.

Cotter was the lead author on a research brief published for the Council on Contemporary Families chronicling the restarting of the "stalled revolution" in gender attitudes.

Listen Cotter's discussion

Chad Orzel, associate professor of physics and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, recently appeared on WAMC's The Roundtable.

Orzel discussed his latest book, Eureka: Discovering Your Inner Scientist.

Northeast Public Radio is a member of National Public Radio, serving parts of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania

Ashley Tolento ’16 is the Kenney Community Center’s Volunteer of the Week.

After participating in the Community Experience pre-orientation program prior to her first year, Tolento served as a student leader for incoming first-years this past summer. Additionally, she is active in the U-ReBloom Club, which delivers flowers from Union to local nursing homes, as well as in Habitat for Humanity.

Off campus, she has volunteered with Things of My Very Own, a local organization that provides crisis intervention for children in need.

“Ashley has been a real asset to our campus community as a Community Experience leader, as well as volunteering throughout the year,” Janet Sweeney said.

A sociology and psychology interdepartmental major, Tolento is a Queens, N.Y. native and a member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority.

The College was recently named one of the 20 most beautiful campuses in the country by the Princeton Review.

To read an item in the Albany Business Review, click here.

Greg Hallenbeck, visiting assistant professor of physics and astronomy, Will Harney '15 and Michael Warrener '16 presented at the Fall Astronomical Society of New York meeting at RPI. Hallenbeck’s talk described his research on gas-rich galaxies: "Looking Closely at the High Mass Galaxies: High HI Mass, HI-Rich Galaxies in the Local Universe." Harney presented a poster on the results of his senior thesis, , “The Quenching of Star Formation in the Group Environment: HI Observations of Star-Forming Group Galaxies.” Harney’s thesis advisor was Professor Rebecca Koopmann. Warrener presented a poster, "Measuring Ram Pressure Induced Asymmetries in Virgo Cluster Spiral Galaxies," describing his summer research project as a Dorrit Hoffleit Undergraduate Astronomy Research Fellow at Yale University. Warrener was one of three undergraduates chosen from across the world to be the inaugural scholars in Yale program.

Maggie Tongue, director of the Scholars Program, served on the selection panel for the Gilman Scholarship, which awards funds for study abroad students with financial need.

Hans-Friedrich Mueller, professor and chair of the Classics Department, was the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Texas Classical Association in San Antonio. He delivered two lectures: “Nocturnal Rome: General Considerations and Further Clues” and “Pontifex Maximus: The Priestly Career of Julius Caesar.”

Helen Hanson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, gave a talk at the Acoustical Society of America meeting in Indianapolis. She discussed evidence that characteristics of the trachea and lungs have acoustic effects that have shaped the inventory of vowels in the world’s languages.

Christine Henseler, professor of Spanish and chair of the Modern Languages Department, was a keynote speaker at Albion College in Michigan. Her talk, “Share Everything, Pursue Brilliance, Dare to Dream: When Labs and the Humanities Meet,” was part of Albion College’s Mellon grant initiative to develop humanities labs to connect courses and communities in collaborative settings.

An exhibit featuring the work of Charles Steckler, professor of theater and designer-in-residence, is currently on display at the Schenectady Jewish Community Center in Niskayuna. “Concerning the Art of Drawings” is on display through Jan. 30.

Peter Heinegg, professor of English, led a discussion of the film “Orchestra of Exile” as part of the Schenectady Jewish Community Center’s film festival. The film chronicles how a world-renowned violinist helped save Europe’s Jewish musicians from the Nazis during World War II.

Jeffrey Corbin, associate professor of biology, was recently featured in a Times Union story about the proposed ban of plastic bags in Saratoga Springs. Corbin talked about the environmental problems that plastic bags pose, such as potential contamination to local wildlife.

Long before he started pontificating about evolutionary fabrication, artificial intelligence and robotics, John Rieffel entertained thousands as a professional circus clown.

The assistant professor of computer science once was accepted at Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus's famed Clown College in Baraboo, Wis.

To learn more, click here.

Kate Schurick, dean of first-year students, was recently quoted in a parenting blog featured by the Washington Post.

To read the article, click here.

Three “micro-fictions” by Kimmo Rosenthal, professor of mathematics, was accepted for publication in KYSO Flash, a literary journal that publishes works that are less than 1,000 words. The three pieces are titled, “In a Certain Sense the Good is Comfortless,” “A Cage Went in Search of a Bird” and “Sin Comes Openly.” Each story takes a look at campus life and is inspired by one of Franz Kafka's Zurau aphorisms.

Lewis Davis, associate professor of economics, was invited to serve as the 2014 Visiting Scholar at Furman University. He delivered a talk on his research, "Culture and the Regulation of Entry," and discussed a student research project on "The Effects of Natural Resources on Education Spending."

Scott Kirkton, associate professor of biology, co-organized the American Physiological Society's Intersociety Meeting, “Comparative Approaches to Grand Challenges in Physiology," in San Diego. The meeting occurs every four years and is co-sponsored by the major American, European, Asian, Canadian and Australian physiological societies. At the event, Kirkton was a speaker in a National Science Foundation-sponsored career panel, organized and spoke at a symposium on "Locomotion, Biomechanics and Functional Morphology” and presented a talk that included data collected with John Carroll ’13. He also was in charge of the Best Student Poster competition.

Christopher Chabris, associate professor of psychology, has started a new column for the Wall Street Journal. “Game On” will cover all kinds of games, and will appear once a month in the Weekend Review section. Check out his first column about a hand that changed the way poker is played (subscription may be required).

Bradley Hays, associate professor of political science, was a guest on WAMC’s Congressional Corner with Alan Chartock. The show covered key upcoming decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Five students from the Department of Physics and Astronomy were among 160 undergraduate students who presented posters at the Fourth Joint Meeting of the Nuclear Physics Divisions of the American Physical Society (APS) and the Physical Society of Japan in Waikoloa, Hawaii in October.

Salina Ali ’15, Benjamin Nadareski ’16 and Joshua Yoskowitz ’16 presented research on airborne pollution in Upstate New York performed with Professors Scott LaBrake and Michael Vineyard in Union’s Ion-Beam Analysis Laboratory.

Mathew Giso ’16 and Rebeka Kelmar ’17 presented their work conducted with Professor Rebecca Surman on the production of heavy elements in the stars.

The students all won competitive awards from the Conference Experience for Undergraduates program of the APS for travel and lodging.

Brad Hays, associate professor of political science, was a recent guest on "Congressional Corner" on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio.

Northeast Public Radio is a member of National Public Radio serving parts of seven northeastern states: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.