Hamilton in the News

Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, was interviewed by VOA, BBC and the South China Morning Post about the U.S. presidential election and its implications to U.S. - China relations. In the South China Morning Post article (10/31/2004), "Bush or Kerry, it won't rattle China," Li said, "Public opinion polls in China are quite similar to global ones - people don't like Bush's foreign policy. But the (Chinese) government does not want to take a position because it knows it is a complicated issue."  According to the article, "Campaign strategists for both the Democrats and President Bush's Republican Party were also keenly aware of China's importance to the U.S. It has fast become the biggest exporter to the U.S. of well-produced, competitively priced goods and a major manufacturing base for American companies. Beijing has also been a major buyer of American debt and holder of U.S. dollars."

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, was interviewed by the Boston Globe about the party that loses the presidential election.  According to the article, "There are, the thinking goes, a few ways that a party can end up grateful for a loss. The first is simply by getting out of the way of unpleasant events." Klinkner, who is the author of The Losing Parties, a look at how party national committees react to electoral losses, said "The Democrats are probably glad that Al Smith lost in 1928 because otherwise they would have been saddled with the Great Depression. The Democrats, by this logic, were ill-served by Jimmy Carter's being in office for the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and a President Kerry might have reason to regret being left holding the bag on Iraq."

Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, was a featured guest on the History Channel International program "Global View," Thursday, Oct. 28.  Li discussed the historical context of the rise of China to the present. Li has written several books on Chinese leadership, most recently China's Leaders: The New Generation (2001). He is the editor of the forthcoming book, Bridging Minds across the Pacific: The Sino-U.S. Educational Exchange 1978-2003 (2005).  He is currently working on two book manuscripts: Chinese Technocrats and Urban Subcultures in Shanghai.

Monk Rowe, Joe Williams Director of the Jazz Archive, was interviewed by Investor's Business Daily for the article "Pianist William 'Count' Basie; Be Determined: Musical innovation helped make him Big Band royalty."  According to the article, "It was that fresh approach that made him one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, greatly changing jazz and prefiguring bebop. Instead of keeping the beat with his left hand on the piano, he relied on a rhythm guitarist and upright bass player."  Rowe said, "This novel method allowed Basie (1904-84) and the drummer to play in a minimalist style, as the rhythm section ticked off the beats like a metronome. Basie always said, four beats to the bar and no cheating. That meant every beat got equal weight, and it just flowed."

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, was quoted in the Scripps Howard News Service article "Almost everyone's in a voter bloc this year."  Klinkner said, "It's 'leave no voter behind' this year when the election is so close that both sides are trying whatever it takes to increase turnout."

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, was interviewed for the Investor's Business Daily article "GOP Will Keep Senate, Most Analysts Predict, But Dems Not Finished; Nine Close Races Hold The Key; Dreams of Four seats gone, Republicans now hoping for a net gain of any kind." Klinkner said, "The Democrats haven't put away anything yet. They're running close in Florida, North Carolina, Colorado and Alaska, but none of those have clearly moved into the Democratic column."

Visiting Assistant Professor of History Hans Broedel will be a guest on "The Science Guy," a program on KRFU News Talk Radio, Colombia, Mo., on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 9:25 a.m. Eastern Time. Broedel, a medieval historian, will discuss the history of Halloween and the folklore of witches, goblins and the "un-dead." Broedel is the author of a new book about witches, "The Malleus Maleficarum and the construction of witchcraft: Theology and popular belief" (Manchester University Press, August, 2004). The interview will be available online on KFRU's Web site.

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer article, "True patriotism is whatever ennobles us." "We found that in 2002, patriotism suddenly showed up as a very important factor in voting," said Klinkner who analyzed a national survey of voters after the 2002 election. Unlike in previous elections, patriotism became very partisan after 9/11.

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune for an article about politics and race. According to the article, "Klinkner, who has tried to measure the impact of race on elections nationwide, has scrutinized every single senate and governor's race between 1960 and 2002 and found that black candidates overall averaged five fewer percentage points than whites."

Professor of Anthropology Doug Raybeck was quoted in the Albany Times Union article "Keep hopes and dreams out of a personal ad." Raybeck, who has done extensive research and published studies on the art of the personal ad, said above all else, be honest. "If you're looking for a long-term commitment, say that. Want to enhance your social life? Make that clear. And, well, if you're just looking for sex, you might as well put that out there. Being honest saves everyone time."  The article also appeared in the Chicago Tribune.