Hamilton in the News

Professor of Government Cheng Li is quoted in an article about China’s leaders and the role of Tsinghua University. “It will certainly continue to play a role in the new leadership,” Li said. He adds, “It will not be a vicious power struggle as in the past.” Hinting to a Tsinghua connection among the new political leaders. Common school ties may provide links between politicians who are divided for other reasons.

Woodrow Wilson Fellow and Hamilton Government Professor Cheng Li was quoted in a Reuters article discussing the anticipated change in China's leadership. It is expected that Communist party chief Jiang Zemin and several other leaders will retire from their party jobs in September or October and from their government jobs at a party meeting next year. Li commented, "It seems highly likely that post-Jiang leaders, because of institutional restraints and their own limitations, will rely on power sharing negotiations and consultation more than their predecessors."

Hamilton students and professors were recently featured in the Spring 2002 National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) publication, access. The article, written by Katherine A. Caponi, is complemented by the group's model of esperamicin A1 found on the publication’s cover. Dreyfus Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Chemistry Steven Feldgus is very proud of the group’s publication in the supercomputing periodical. “This might be the only time that NCSA has done a story on an undergraduate centered research project,” said Feldgus. The story tells how the NCSA is arming the Hamiltonians with the supercomputing resources necessary to engage in the war on cancer. According to the article, “Hamilton College joins the front line in computational research on enediynes, naturally occurring molecules commonly called biological warheads for their ability to bind to and split tumors’ DNA backbones.” Also credited in the article were Chantelle Rien '03, Beth Hayes ’02, David Kelland ’05 and Professor of Chemistry George Shields. These and other students are continuing this line of cancer research this summer through an assortment of local and federal grants.

Hamilton alumnus Hugh "Tripp" Jones, '88, was featured in a Boston Globe article highlighting the work of his organization, the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassInc). Celebrating its fifth anniversary, MassInc is dedicated to promoting the vitality of the state's middle class. Promoted as a "non-partisan, evidence-based organization" MassInc has used research, education and journalism to further its four main policy initiatives of "economic prosperity", "safe neighborhoods", "lifelong learning," and "civic renewal." Jones commented, "For me, though, this is pretty basic...I love the business of politics and public policy, but I want a healthy family life, too." He continues, "I've seen what running for office does to people...having kids puts all the other stuff in perspective."

Andrew Barous, a 2001 graduate of Hamilton College, is featured in a Salem Evening News article about joining the Peace Corps. While at Hamilton, Barous’ first cultural exchange was a four-week trip to Costa Rica followed by a semester in Madrid, Spain. He was recently an English teacher with Harvard’s World Teach Program. He says, “living in another culture gives you a whole different perspective.” Barous will spend two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga, a constitutional monarchy made up of 170 islands in the South Pacific where he will learn the native language, Tongan, and undergo technical training for his job as an agricultural business adviser working to improve the Tongan economy.

John Rice '78 was featured in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article about GE's Power Systems division, whose 2001 sales exceeded Atlanta-based Coca-Cola.

Michael Granof, a 1963 graduate of Hamilton and a professor of accounting at the University of Texas at Austin, co-authored an op-ed that appeared in The New York Times (6/28). In "Generally Accepted Accounting Abuses," Granof and co-author Stephen Zeff suggest that in light of recent corporate accounting scandals more federal oversight is needed. They recommend an outside body such as the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq appoint an independent panel for each company listed on the exchange. "These groups would work with corporate audit committees to select audit firms and approve fees," the authors suggest.

A new book by Associate Professor of English Onno Oerlemans, Romanticism and the Materiality of Nature, received a positive review in the British newspaper The Guardian. "His (Oerlemans) perceptive readings of the Romantics uncover a keen sense of nature's materiality, but also reveals a nature that is 'strange and unknowable,' irredeemably 'other.'"

Richard Bernstein '80, chief United States strategist at Merrill Lynch, was interviewed for a New York Times article (6/23/02) about what the weaker dollar means for investors. "The good news is that a weaker dollar is very good for corporate profits. The strong dollar is one reason companies have suffered," Bernstein explained.

A.G. Lafley, a 1969 graduate of Hamilton College and a member of the College's Board of Trustees, is featured in the July 8 edition of Forbes Magazine.The article, "A Fresh Face: A.G. Lafley is giving Procter & Gamble a radical makeover," describes Lafley's 25-year rise through Procter & Gamble, and the company's new emphasis on beauty care products.