Libraries Bestow Scholarships and Honors
The University Libraries have announced that Andrew Urbanek has been named the 1998 recipient of the Alice Hastings Murphy Scholarship. Urbanek worked in the library as an undergraduate and is now a student assistant at the Dewey Graduate Library. He will be presented with a $500 scholarship at the library�s 24th annual Staff Recognition Luncheon on April 9.
The Alice Hastings Murphy Scholarship fund provides scholarships for student library employees and full time library staff members who want to become librarians. Urbanek is a graduate student enrolled in a dual Masters degree program in the School of Information Science and Policy and in the Department of English.
Contributions to the fund can be made to the University at Albany Foundation, and sent to Dean Meredith Butler in University Libraries.
Monica Curtis and David Strout have been named the recipients of this year�s Friends of the Libraries Student Service Excellence Awards. The award is presented to one or more undergraduate students each year to express appreciation for contributions and service in the library.
Curtis is a graduating senior and will receive a bachelor�s degree in Spanish. She has worked as a student assistant in the Library Personnel Office since 1996. Strout is also a graduating senior and will receive a B.S. in Biology. He has worked in the Interlibrary Loan department since September of 1995.
Both students are scheduled to be presented with their $500 awards and certificates on April 9 by Alice Hastings Murphy, president of the board of the Friends of the Libraries, and Meredith Butler, dean and director of Albany�s University Libraries, at the Libraries� annual recognition luncheon.
Master Plan Leads to City Parking Plan
Urbitran Associates, Inc. of Norwalk, Conn., will launch a study this month that is aimed at improving parking and transit along the Washington and Western Avenue corridors in the city of Albany.
The study, which is expected to take about six months, is being financed by the University at Albany, the College of Saint Rose, the New York State Office of General Services (OGS) and the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA).
The study is an outgrowth of the University�s Master Planning process. During that process, the city of Albany and the University concluded that better integration of transit and parking is necessary for the University to maximize the potential of each of its campuses, particularly its downtown campus.
At the invitation of the city of Albany and the University, the College of St. Rose, CDTA, OGS, the Capital District Transportation Committee, and area neighborhood associations participated in a series of meetings to discuss mutual needs and opportunities in the corridor areas. The Albany Urban Corridor Study Committee was formed.
The discussions produced a consensus to examine parking and transit and to try to determine if a unified approach would be economically efficient, provide enhanced services, and minimize environmental impact. On March 16, the Albany Urban Corridor Study Committee announced the selection of Urbitran Associates, Inc. to conduct a study projected to cost $100,000.
Collins Nominations Till April 13
President Hitchcock is presently accepting nominations for the 1998 Collins Fellows. The award recognizes members of the teaching faculty who have exhibited extraordinary devotion to the University over a sustained period of time, and to acknowledge their high levels of commitment and service. The award is named after Evan R. Collins, President of the University from 1949 to 1969.
Fellows will receive an advancement in salary and a medal presented at Commencement. In addition, recipients will be included in University - wide convocations and academic ceremonies.
Any member of the University community may nominate a member of the teaching faculty by forwarding a letter with supporting commentary to President Hitchcock before April 13.
Spellman Awards to be Given April 19
The Office of Multicultural Affairs will sponsor the 12th Annual Spellman Achievement Awards Program. Named after the late Seth W. Spellman, Jr., a Distinguished Service Professor and former dean of the School of Social Welfare, the awards recognize significant achievement by African American, Latino, Asian American and Native American students in the areas of academic performance, leadership, and community service.
The ceremony will be held on Sunday, April 19, in the Campus Center Ballroom, beginning at 2 p.m. A reception for the honorees and their family and friends will follow.
CWG Will Fund its Annual Scholarships
The Center for Women in Government of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy has announced the funding of the Fellowship on Women and Public Policy for January - July, 1999. The fellowship carries a $9,000 stipend, and is designed to encourage graduate students to pursue careers in public policy while increasing the capacity of New York State government to address the underrepresentation of women in the public policy process.
Fellowships are open to matriculated students in graduate programs at all accredited colleges and universities in New York State. Applicants must have completed 12 credits of graduate work by May 1998, with degree completion scheduled for May 1999 or after. Candidates must have a demonstrated interest in studies, research, employment or voluntary activities designed to improve the status of women and underrepresented populations.
Applications are available from and must be submitted to the Center for Women in Government. The deadline is May 15.
Zionism and the Holocaust
Leon A. Jick of Brandeis University will deliver the keynote address of the University�s spring series commemorating the centenary of political Zionism and the 50th anniversary of the state of Israel. Zick�s lecture, titled "The Zionist Leadership and the Holocaust", will be held on Wednesday, April 15, at 7:15 p.m. in LC 20 in conjunction with "The Holocaust: Lessons and Legacies," a course jointly sponsored by the history and Judaic studies departments.
Museum to Get Callner Oil
The University Art Museum has been awarded an $8,000 grant from the Richard Florsheim Art Fund to acquire a painting by the artist Richard Callner. The 1997 oil canvas titled "Oriental Window/Wave" will be added to the Museum�s collection.
Callner, who is a faculty emeriti from the University, has work in the collections of the Albany Institute of History & Art; The Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Herbert F. Johnson Museum (Cornell University); Yale University Art Gallery; and The Detroit Institute of Arts, among others. He is noted in particular for his landscape painting incorporating views of the Mohawk-Hudson region.