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Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs Alan Cafruny presented his paper titled “Assessing the Transatlantic Relationship: Implications of Trade and Monetary Conflicts for the International Political Economy” in Rome, Italy, at the Istituto Affari Internazionali Conference on New International Challenges: Reassessing the Transatlantic Partnership.

Archival Assistant Katherine Collett recently presented a paper titled "Nicola Meets God: Religion During Term and Vacation in 'Antonia Forest's Marlow Series'" at the 2002 Children's Literature Association Annual Conference.

Hamilton students Kim Lantz ’03, Yuliya Zorkina ’03, Rhea Lyon ’03, and Nickesia Thomas ’03 have spent a portion of their summer working with Professor of Psychology Jonathan Vaughan studying motor control. Lantz and Zorkina worked primarily in the 2-dimensional field and their research gave birth to Lyon and Thomas’s project, which concentrated on the more realistic 3-dimensional approach.

Hamilton students Stephanie Dunn ’03, Milagros Gordillo-Guffanti ’05, Nichola Meserve ’03 and Hannah Stahle ’03 have spent 10 weeks of their summer doing science research under the direction of Professor of Biology David Gapp. The group has been collecting blood and shell samples from turtles found in the Utica Marsh, Westmoreland, and the Rome Sands Plains. A few years ago, turtles in the Utica Marsh died from diabetes. The research being done by Professor Gapp will hopefully prevent this from happening again. Along with looking for diabetes, the group has been performing several tests studying contractions of the small intestine, differences in regulations due to added hormones or elements, regional differences between smooth and circular muscle and the location of certain hormones.

Associate Professor of Biology Patrick Reynolds is presenting a paper at the annual meeting of the American Malacological Society held in Charleston, South Carolina, Aug. 3-7. His paper is titled "Multidisciplinary Approaches to Molluscan Phylogeny." Reynolds has been studying coastal fauna at the National University of Ireland in Galway, and was recently published in Advances in Marine Biology.

Hamilton students Jessica Callahan ’04, Laura Crandall ’04, Emin Hodzic ’05, and Daniel Leonard ’03, have been spending the summer doing research with Associate Professor of Chemistry Karen Brewer. Their research has been done in conjunction with fellow classmates Daniel Allen ’04 and Stephanie Higgins ’04, who are working with Associate Professor of Physics Ann Silversmith. Brewer and her students have been making sol-gel glass, which is glass that is made from slowly grown chemicals infused with rare earth elements, as opposed to the more commonly created glass from sand. While the process is much longer (each sol-gel takes about three to four weeks to complete), it is believed that the optical quality of the glass made from chemicals is greatly enhanced. The correlation between the two groups is that sol-gels, when infused with rare earth elements, will glow under a laser light. Allen and Higgins have been running lasers through sol-gels created by Brewer and her students to discover aspects of “solid state physics.”

Lubi Kutua ’04, a physics and math major, has dedicated 10 weeks of his summer vacation to science research under the direction of Assistant Professor of Physics Gordon Jones. Kutua has been working on a theory that many medical scientists are currently researching, involving the use of MRIs. Scientists hope that they will be able to use polarized helium gas to complete tests on patients that could previously only be done by use of the MRI. Kutua has been building a device, called a nuclear magnetic resonator (NMR), that will measure the amount of polarized helium gas in an area. Kutua had taken an electrics class previously that he enjoyed, so he approached both Professor Jones and Associate Professor of Physics Brian Collett about doing summer research. While research is probably not in Kutua’s future plans, he feels this was a very beneficial experience.

Among the 90 students participating in the summer science research program are Katherine Hankowski ’05, Anna Arnold ’04, and Karen Meagher ’04. The three students are working under the direction of Associate Professor of Biology Herman Lehman and Associate Professor of Chemistry Ian Rosenstein, studying two neurotransmitters found in the nerve cells of the Mandura Sexta caterpillar. The group is attempting to prove that these neurotransmitters do, in fact, exist together, but have been approaching the problem from different angles.

Andy Morgan ’04, a psychology major, has devoted 10 weeks of his summer vacation to science research under the direction of Visiting Instructor of Psychology Jennifer Johnson. Morgan has been studying the correlation between lip reading and dynamic spatial reasoning. It is hypothesized that the large discrepancy in an individual’s ability to lip read is related to one’s ability to see multiple things happen at once, or to be able to spatially reason. At this point in the process, Morgan is generating stimuli and possible tests that could be run to prove the theory. The ultimate goal of his research is to find a way to teach people to dynamically spatially reason, which would then have an impact on their ability to lip read. Morgan is highly interested in this research and hopes to be able to continue working on the project into the fall, when tests would actually be run.

Director of Financial Aid Kenneth Kogut was recently cited in an editoral in Barron's regarding problems with financial aid. I.J. Eisenstadter, author of the editorial, claimed that not only are the principles often involved in deciding who receives financial aid unfair, but the system provides an easy opportunity for individuals to cheat. Kogut was quoted as saying that, "Hamilton may ask to examine tax returns going back two years in addition to current reporting--more than most colleges do," in order to make individuals more accountable and honest.