Despite the hope that President Obama’s clear victory last November might lead to a reduction in partisan polarization, the results of a new survey conducted by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College indicate that American are as divided as ever. Full poll results will be released on Tuesday, May 21, at 10:30 a.m. at www.hamilton.edu/PostElectionPoll.

Recently, as part of the curriculum for the Chinese 495 Practicum of Chinese Language and Culture five Chinese concentrators ventured down to the bottom of the Hill to teach class at Clinton Elementary School.  The program, which collaborates with the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), is funded through a U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant with Professor of Chinese De Bao Xu.

Seven Hamilton students are winding up their semester volunteering at Tradewinds Education Center of Upstate Cerebral Palsy, which serves students with behavioral and developmental disabilities.

Senior biology majors Rebecca Knipp, Ethan Ayres and Matthew Combs presented at the annual meeting of the Helminthological Society of Washington, the nation’s oldest parasitology research society.  The Society met on April 27 at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Ashleigh Smythe also attended.

Associate Professor of Anthropology Chaise LaDousa and Hamilton seniors Paige Cross and Anna Zahm presented papers at the Northeastern Anthropological Association Conference.

The Chicago Sun-Times featured alumnus Kendall Weir ’12 and Professor of Economics Stephen Wu’s study, “The Effects of Character on NFL Draft Status and Subsequent Performance,” in an article discussing the upcoming National Football League draft and the prospects of Notre Dame linebacker Mante Te’o. New Jersey's largest news website, NJ.com, also devoted a column to the research.

Erin Sullivan ’13 has been awarded a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship to Russia.  A Russian studies major, she spent the spring 2012 semester studying at Bard-Smolny College in St. Petersburg, Russia. Sullivan is a Dean’s List student at Hamilton, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in February.

Members of Hamilton’s women’s basketball team took time on April 20 to participate in Oneida County’s 5th annual Intergenerational Clean-up. The women volunteered at Helen Ferro’s home in Utica and Robert Ferguson’s home in Clinton. At both sites the basketball players raked leaves and cleaned the property.

Members of the Philanthropy Committee (HamGive) took part in the Intergenerational Spring Clean Up sponsored by Oneida County on April 20. 
Committee members who took part included Brian Sobotko ’16, Kevin Welsh ’15, Ryan Ong ’16, Suzanne Jacobson ’15, Zoe Lynch ’15, and Jose Vazquez ’15. They cleaned the yard of a homeowner in Clinton.

Students and faculty in the Classics Department participated in the 8th annual Parilia conference, held this year at Colgate University.  Each year the Classics Departments from Hamilton, Colgate, Skidmore and Union Colleges come together in late April (close to the date of Rome's birthday, said to be April 21) for an undergraduate research conference.  Three students from each of the four schools give papers at this day-long conference; after each paper there is lively conversation.