Union in the Media

For the second time in its history, applications to Union surpassed the 5,000 mark.

The 5,064 students who applied for a spot in the Class of 2015 represent an increase of 4 percent from a year ago, when 4,874 students sought admission to Union. And this year’s applications approached the record 5,271 received for the Class of 2012.

Antonio Gutierrez '10, a member of Union's first group of Posse Scholars, was recently featured in the Boston Globe. The Posse Foundation was established in 1989 and has sites in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C. It selects extraordinary young people with leadership potential who excel academically, but may be overlooked by the traditional college selection process.

Rebecca Cortez, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has co-authored papers with colleagues at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Northern Illinois University and the University of Albany College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. “Local transport properties, morphology, and microstructure of ZnO decorated SiO2 nanoparticles,” was published in the journal Nanotechnology, and “Investigation of the drain current shift in ZnO thin film transistors” was published in the Journal of Applied Physics. The atomic force microscopy research completed at Union College for these efforts was supported by a National Science Foundation grant. Additional support for the ZnO thin film transistor characterization was provided by Union’s Faculty Research Fund.

Research Professor of Philosophy Raymond Martin will be an interviewed panelist in the New York Academy of Sciences’ six-part interdisciplinary series, “Perspectives on the Self: Conversations on Identity and Consciousness.” Joining him on the panel are historian Gerald Izenberg and sociologist Nobert Wiley. This session, titled “Me, Myself, and I: The Rise of the Modern Self,” will be held in New York City Jan. 27. In addition, Martin’s review essay, “Let Many Flowers Bloom,” on historian Allan Megill’s “Historical Knowledge, Historical Error: A Contemporary Guide to Practice,” appeared in a recent issue of the journal History and Theory.

Michael Vineyard, the Frank and Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Physics and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, gave a talk titled “Rutherford Back-Scattering Experiment in the First-Year Seminar at Union College” at the 2011 winter meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers in Jacksonville, Fla. The meeting celebrated 100 years of nuclear physics that began with the discovery of the atomic nucleus in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford. Scott LaBrake, senior lecturer and accelerator manager, was co-author of the paper.

“Morning in Tunisia,” an article by Michele Angrist, associate professor of political science, appears in the current issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, which is published by the Council on Foreign Relations. Angrist is editor of “Politics and Society in the Contemporary Middle East” and co-editor of “Authoritarianism in the Middle East Regimes and Resistance.”

The recent performance of “Hijabi Monologues: The Women Under the Head Scarves,” a play that examines a simple piece of clothing and the complex reactions to it in the U.S., was mentioned in the Times Union blog, "Muslim Women."

This powerful storytelling experience is designed to create a space for American Muslim women to share experiences, use their voices and connect with others.

Michele Angrist, associate professor of political science, has a piece in the current issue of Foreign Affairs magazine about the uprising in Tunisia, "Morning in Tunisia."

Angrist is editor of "Politics and Society in the Contemporary Middle East" and co-editor of "Authoritarianism in the Middle East Regimes and Resistance."

Government Documents and Reference Librarian Donna Burton contributed her updated section of periodical reviews on “Humor” to Magazines for Libraries 19th edition, published by Proquest Info & Learning, edited by Cheryl LaGuardia, in December. This is a standard reference resource for most libraries. Burton also has published a review of an Internet government documents portal, “GovSpot,” in the January 2011 issue of Government Information Quarterly. In November, she gave a presentation on “Finding Government Documents Online” to area librarians in the Capital District Library Council’s Reference Services Interest Group.

“Emerging Models in End-of-Life Care,” an article by Rudy Nydegger, was published in the January edition of the Register Report of the Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. Nydegger is professor of psychology and of management and psychology at Union Graduate College.

“Conducting Empirical Analysis: Public Opinion in Action,” by Zoe Oxley, associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science, and Rosalee A. Clawson of Purdue University, was published by CQ Press. The book offers instruction on how to conduct web-based data analysis using UC Berkeley’s Survey Documentation and Analysis to answer questions about party identification or attitude stability, and to measure racial prejudice and political knowledge.

Counseling Center Director Marcus Hotaling was recently featured in "Room for Debate," in which The New York Times invites knowledgeable outside contributors to discuss news events and other timely issues. Hotaling, the mental health chair of the American College Health Association, discussed how to deal with mental disorders on campus in the wake of the shootings in Tuscon, Ariz. To read his piece, click here.

Counseling Center Director Marcus Hotaling was recently featured in "Room for Debate," in which The New York Times invites knowledgeable outside contributors to discuss news events and other timely issues.

Hotaling, the mental health chair of the American College Health Association, discussed how to deal with mental disorders on campus in the wake of the shootings in Tuscon, Ariz. Hotaling joined Union in fall 2007.

Research Professor of Philosophy Raymond Martin will be an interviewed panelist in the New York Academy of Sciences’ six-part (December through May) interdisciplinary series: “Perspectives on the Self: Conversations on Identity and Consciousness.” On the panel with Martin will be historian Gerald Izenberg and sociologist Nobert Wiley. This session, titled “Me, Myself, and I: The Rise of the Modern Self,” will be held Jan. 27. For more on the series, go to www.nyas.org/self. On another front, Martin's review essay, "Let Many Flowers Bloom," on historian Allan Megill’s Historical Knowledge, Historical Error: A Contemporary Guide to Practice, has appeared in a recent issue of the journal History and Theory.

Michael Vineyard, the Frank and Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Physics, Colin Gleason ’11 and Chad Harrington ’11 attended the fall meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society in Santa Fe, N.M.. The students presented posters at the Conference Experience for Undergraduates Poster Session on research performed in the Union College Ion-Beam Analysis Laboratory (UCIBAL). Gleason’s poster was titled “Particle-Induced X-Ray Emission Analysis of Atmospheric Aerosols,” and Harrington presented “Ion-Beam Analysis of Airborne Pollution.” Other UCIBAL research team members that were co-authors on the posters are Scott LaBrake, senior lecturer of physics and accelerator manager, Katie Schuff ’12, Maria Battaglia ’12, Robert Moore ’12 and Colin Turley ’13. Gleason and Harrington received competitive awards for travel and lodging from the American Physical Society to attend the meeting.

Gretchel Hathaway, senior director of Campus Diversity and Affirmative Action, and Victoria Brooks, director of Religious and Spiritual Life, presented a workshop at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) fall conference on “Facing the Divides: Diversity, Learning and Pathways to Inclusive Excellence.” Their presentation, which centered on the theme, “Fostering Identity, Civility and Democratic Classrooms,” was titled “Conceptualizing Religion in Student Intellectual and Social Life.” Addressing the sensitive nature of dialogues around religion in student social and academic arenas, Hathaway and Brooks recommended strategies for developing intellectually stimulating dialogue around religious differences.

Hilary Tann’s saxophone quartet, “Some of the Silence,” is on tour in the UK, performed by the Lunar Saxophone Quartet. November saw the launch of the quartet on CD (“These Visions,” Signum Classics) at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff, Wales. “Some of the Silence” is inspired by a John Stevenson haiku: A deep gorge / some of the silence / is me. In addition, there will be an all-Tann concert March 2 at the Eastman School of Music Women in Music 2011 Festival (http://www.esm.rochester.edu/wmf/). Tann is the John Howard Payne Professor of Music.

William Finlay, chair of the Theater and Dance Department, choreographed the fights in “A Christmas Story,” which recently ended a six-week run at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany. This stage adaptation of the modern movie classic, based on the book by Jean Shepherd, was by Philip Grecian.

Jennifer Matsue participated in the recent Society of Ethnomusicology conference in Los Angeles, where she organized and chaired the session, “Taiko: Transforming Tradition in Contemporary Japanese Performance at Home and Abroad,” and delivered the paper, “Beating to One's Own Drum: Establishing a Tradition of Taiko Drumming in Kyoto.” She was elected as incoming chair of the Popular Music Section of the society, the largest national organization devoted to the study of popular music.

Work by Christine Henseler, associate professor of Spanish and Hispanic studies, was recently referenced in The Washington Post’s “The Leadership Playlist” as a “must see.” In addition, Henseler’s article, “Spanish Mutant Fictioneers: Of Mutants, Mutant Fiction and Media Mutations,” is included in the December issue of CiberLetras.

Lewis Davis, professor of economics, co-authored an article, "Culture and the Regulation of Entry," in the Journal of Comparative Economics. The paper, available here, argues that individualism plays a key role in explaining the degree to which countries regulate the formation of new firms.

Andrew Morris, associate professor of history, reviewed Douglas Brinkley’s new book, “Rightful Heritage: Franklin Roosevelt and the Land of America,” at a recent event at the Schenectady County Public Library.

Megan Ferry, associate professor of Chinese and Asian Studies and chair of the Modern Languages Department, was elected to the executive committee to the Association of Departments of Foreign Language for a three-year term. The national organization informs institutions about issues confronting the field and developing policies and best practices.

Several letters to the editor to Mechanical Engineering were in praise of an article by Frank Wicks, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering. The piece, “Pipelines for War and Peace,” describes the crucial role of U.S. oil in winning World War II. German submarines off the coast were destroying oil tankers and this wartime emergency was solved by construction of oil and gas pipelines from Texas to the Northeast.

Submit your news to gowanc@union.edu.

Saad Akhtar '18 and Carol Weisse, professor of psychology, gave a workshop at the Annual Meeting of the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State. The session was titled “The Challenges of Tracking Performance Outcomes in a Home-Based Palliative Care Program.” Weisse also recently gave a talk, “Insights and Performance Outcomes from a Home-Based Palliative Care Study: Where Do We Go From Here?” at the Home Care Association of New York State Hospice and Palliative Care Forum. She also presented, “Preparing Future Healthcare Professionals to Provide Patient and Family-Centered Palliative Care,” at grand rounds at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany.

An article by Kristin Bidoshi, associate professor of Russian, was published in the volume, Десять шагов по «Степи » (Ten Steps along the ‘Steppe”). The article is titled “‘And little by little one recalls the legends of the steppe, travelers’ stories, and nanny’s folk tales…’: Folk Motifs and Rituals in Chekhov’s ‘Steppe.’”

Lori Marso, the Doris Zemurray Stone Professor of Literary and Historical Studies, has been invited to deliver two lectures in April. The first is at Bard’s Hannah Arendt Center for a symposium titled “Is the Private Political?” The second is at Northwestern University at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art for a symposium titled “The Cinema of Chantal Akerman: Time, Border, Politics.”

Submit your news to gowanc@union.edu.