Union in the Media

Work by Fernando Orellana, associate professor of visual arts, is currently on display at the Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, N.Y. “Playful” features his work titled “Population,” which has thousands of miniature people, houses and cows made by an extruder. The work follows closely to Orellana’s concepts that range from generative art to social and political commentary. The exhibit runs through Sept. 21.

Nicholas Webb, visiting assistant professor of computer science, was featured in a story on WNYT about his summer robotics program at local libraries and schools. Geared toward getting girls interested in technology, the program introduced students to different kinds of robots and how to program them with computers.

An exhibit featuring the work of Charles Steckler, professor of theater and resident scenic designer, recently wrapped up at the Schenectady Jewish Community Center. “Shadow Box Dioramas” was on display throughout the summer in the center’s Finkle Display Case.

Michael Vineyard, the Frank and Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Physics, presented a paper, “Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosols in the Adirondack Mountains Using PIXE, SEM/EDX, and Micro-Raman Spectroscopies,” at the 23rd Conference on Application of Accelerators in Research and Industry in San Antonio, Texas. His co-authors are Scott LaBrake, senior lecturer and accelerator manager, Salina Ali ‘15, Benjamin Nadareski '16, Alexandrea Safiq '14, Jeremy Smith ‘14 and Joshua Yoskowitz '16.

Ann Fleming Brown, director of Admissions, has been appointed chair of the Board of Trustees at Schenectady County Community College. She has ben on the board since 2010, and will oversee the institution’s presidential search. Read more about her appointment and the search in an article by The Business Review here.

McFarland Press published a book by Denis Brennan, lecturer in history. “The Making of an Abolitionist: William Lloyd Garrison’s Path to Publishing The Liberator” was published this summer, and talks about the prominent American abolitionist and social reformer. Learn more about the book here.

David Cotter, professor and chair of the Sociology Department, was lead author on a research brief published for the Council on Contemporary Families chronicling the restarting of the "stalled revolution" in gender attitudes. The report was mentioned in the Washington Post "She the People" blog, a New York Times op-ed and dozens of other media outlets. Read the Washington Post story here.

Research by Don Rodbell, professor of geology, was featured in a piece in the August issue of GSA Today, a publication for the Geological Society of America. Along with his co-authors, he discussed the contamination of the Lake Junin National Reserve in Peru by acid mine drainage from the Cerro de Pasco mining district.

Christopher Chabris, associate professor of psychology, reviewed The Organized Mind by Daniel J. Levitin for the Wall Street Journal.

Chabris and Daniel J. Simons, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois, are the authors of The Invisible Gorilla, And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us. Now in paperback, the book, tackles “six everyday illusions that profoundly influence our lives: the illusions of attention, memory, confidence, knowledge, cause, and potential.”

To read the review, click here.

Bridget Graham, assistant director for employee relations at Becker Career Center, recently spoke with the Times Union about how recent college graduates can make a good first impression during a job interview.

To read the story, click here.

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.

To raise awareness for ALS, President Stephen C. Ainlay recently accepted the ice bucket challenge from his son, Jesse.

Several local television stations showed up in front of the Nott Memorial for the event.

David Cotter, professor and chair of the Sociology Department, was lead author on a research brief published for the Council on Contemporary Families chronicling the restarting of the "stalled revolution" in gender attitudes.

The report was mentioned in the Washington Post "She the People" blog, a New York Times op-ed and dozens of other media outlets.

To read the Post article, click here.

Sixty-four photographic works by Martin Benjamin, professor of visual arts, are on view at the Albany Institute of History and Art through Sept. 7 as part of the exhibition “Summer Exposure.” Benjamin’s selected photos represent different periods in his artistic career, from the documentary images of his American Road Trips series shot during the early 1970s to the more recent color diptychs of Vietnam and Italy that allow him to pair images and show “uniformity within diversity.” Also featured are photographs from his street photography, public events and Atomic Age series, as well as individual images set in China and Cuba. Most are vintage prints, and many are gelatin silver prints. “Summer Exposure” offers five uniquely different ventures into photographic vision, media and artistic conception, with works by Carolyn Blackwood, Tom Fels, Dana Hoey and William Jaeger, as well.

Eric McDowell, assistant athletic director for sports information, has been named president of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for the 2014-15 academic year. He is a 2009 CoSIDA Hall of Fame Inductee and its 59th president. McDowell took over the leadership position at the organization’s annual convention in June.

Andrew Morris, associate professor of history, presented his paper, “Trailer Cities: The Truman Administration and Disaster Relief, 1947-52,” on a panel at the 2014 Policy History Conference in June in Columbus, Ohio. The paper is research from Morris’ larger project on Hurricane Camille and post-World War II disaster relief policy in the U.S. He also chaired a panel at the same conference on “Re-Evaluating the Place of the Federal Housing Administration in American History.”

Tina Lincer, associate director of Communications and Marketing, was a featured reader in a Bloomsday celebration at the Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy last month. She joined six other writers, including Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy, in reading selections from James Joyce’s novel, "Ulysses."

This summer, Union again hosted the EDGE workshop, a two-week engineering camp for talented high school girls.

The Times Union stopped by for presentations made by the class.

To view a photo gallery, click here.

John Rieffel, assistant professor of computer science, talked about the College's new 3-D printer in an interview with U.S. News and World Report.

Housed in the Collaborative Design Studio in the basement of the Wold Center, the printer was purchased through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

To read the story, click here.

Mary O'Keeffe, a public policy economist who supervises the College's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, was recently honored with a Jefferson Medal, the "Nobel Prize of public service," at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Jefferson Awards Foundation, the annual honors recognize "unsung heroes" from across the country for their community service.

A public policy economist who teaches the College’s service-learning class, “ Income Tax Policy and Practice,” O'Keeffe has helped Union students secure nearly $4 million in state and federal refunds for low-income working families and senior citizens.

To read an article in the Times Union, click here.