Professor of Government David Paris '71 published an essay on the newly released book Academically Adrift on the blog Faculty Focus on March 14. Paris wrote in Holding Up a Mirror to Higher Education, “…no one has any particular incentive to put student learning front and center. … students prioritize obtaining credentials over learning and social life over academics, faculty view scholarship—as opposed to (rigorous) teaching—as a source of rewards and advancement, and institutions have no incentive to compete with regard to learning outcomes as opposed to status and amenities.”

Before coming to Hamilton, Sam Reider ’14 created a decision tool on a whiteboard to help organize his college choices. During his first year on campus, he converted his process into an automated program and loaded it onto his site www.CollegePick.us. The New York Times’ The Choice, a site designed to “demystify college admissions and aid,” featured Reider’s site in a March 8 article, Online Aid for Making ‘The Decision,’ From a College Freshman.

Professor of Anthropology Charlotte Beck was quoted in the journal Science, in LiveScience, in The Oregonian and in U.S. News & World Report about a study, published in the journal Science on March 4, that raised questions about how prehistoric peoples, upon their arrival from Asia, journeyed south to the Americas. Beck and Professor of Anthropology Tom Jones published a paper in 2010 that concluded that the initial colonization of the intermountain region of the Great Basin was probably by populations from the Pacific coastal area and not, as conventional wisdom holds, from the Great Plains.

Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies Brent Plate’s perspectives on this year’s Oscar nominees and the themes conveyed by them appear on several major media sites including CNN.com, Religion Dispatches and beliefnet.com. “It’s kind of an unusual year – almost all of the top films have relatively little explicit religious dimensions to them,” said Plate. “But these films are asking the same questions that religions ask: Where did we come from, how did we get here, where are we going and who are we?”

Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton’s recording for the nationally syndicated Academic Minute program was featured on InsideHigherEd’s website on Feb. 22. Borton discusses why trying to suppress negative thoughts is often counterproductive on the recording that was broadcast by public radio station WAMC on Feb. 7.

Associate Professor of Government Robert Martin spoke about a proposed extension of some of the provisions of the Patriot Act in the face of growing concerns over home-grown terrorism in an article titled “Why is Patriot Act under fire if homegrown terror threat is rising?” in The Christian Science Monitor. The article appeared in the international newspaper, published daily online and weekly in print, on Feb. 10.

CNN’s State of the Union program will again feature Ambassador Edward Walker ’62, the Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Global Political Theory, on Sunday, Feb. 13, for the third consecutive week for a discussion of the situation in Egypt with CNN’s Candy Crowley and former U.N. Ambassador John Negroponte. Richard Bernstein ’80, Richard Bernstein, CEO and chief investment officer of Richard Bernstein Advisors, interviewed Walker on Friday, February 11, and Walker will also be interviewed on Friday, Feb. 11, by Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball at 7 p.m.

The journal Nature published a paper on Feb. 9 co-authored by Eugene Domack, the J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Environmental Studies; alumna Amelia Shevenell ’96, his former student who is now a lecturer at the University College London; Anitra Ingalls, University of Washington professor; and C. Kelly, a University of Washington graduate. Titled “Holocene Southern Ocean surface temperature variability west of the Antarctic Peninsula,” the paper is also featured in the journal’s News and Views section which highlights papers of special note.

Edward S. Walker Jr. '62, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Israel and the United Arab Emirates and the Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Global Political Theory, has spent many hours in the last few days with the national and international media sharing his insights on the continuing protests in Egypt. Beginning with an interview on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition on Jan. 28, Walker has spoken with print, radio and TV reporters on the situation.

Edward S. Walker, Jr., '62 former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel and the Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Global Political Theory, was interviewed this morning on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Walker spoke with host Steve Inskeep about the violent clashes in Egypt and the challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's authority.