Hamilton in the News

Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, has published an article titled "China's Most Powerful 'Princelings': How Many Will Enter the New Politburo" in the Oct. 17 issue of China Brief, a bi-weekly source of information and analysis covering Greater China published by The Jamestown Foundation.

A letter to the editor written by Assistant Professor of Sociology Stephen Ellingson about a recent New York Times article titled "Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Game at Church" appeared on the publication's Web site on Oct. 14.

Forty years ago, Maurice Isserman, James L. Ferguson Professor of History, attended the Oct. 21 march on the Pentagon, a protest organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. In an article titled "The Flower in the Gun Barrel" in the Oct. 19 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Isserman recounts his experience as a participant and analyzes the event's importance in the evolution of the Vietnam anti-war movement.

Responding to a Christian Science Monitor article titled "Climate warming skeptics: Is the research too political?" Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Peter Cannavo penned a letter to the editor that appears on the publication's news site today. The original article addressed those who still doubted the findings of the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The panel reported that most of the increase in temperatures seen in the last 50 years is due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities. In response Cannavo wrote, "Rather than acknowledge the torrent of evidence establishing global warming and humanity's role in it, they [skeptics] have resorted to conspiracy theories, questionable science, and reliance on marginal uncertainties in climate science.

In "Positioning for Power at China's Communist Congress" published by BusinessWeek on Oct. 9, Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, is quoted extensively on his views concerning the future leadership of China. "No one in the party has the clout to anoint a successor to Chinese leader Hu Jintao," says Li. In discussing the possible four front-runners who could be appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in October with a view to taking over the reins in 2012, he noted that they all possess leadership experience, intellectual caliber and - unlike the existing Politburo members - youth.

In a Reuters article published by The Washington Post, Maurice Isserman, James L. Ferguson Professor of History, commented on the reasons behind dwindling crowds of protestors as opposition to the Iraq War mounts. “Largely absent from the actions are young people, who were the majority of Vietnam-era protesters -- perhaps because they do not risk being drafted into the military or from a sense that they can express their opposition to the war on the Internet, rather than on the streets.” 

Director of Financial Aid Matt Malatesta participated on WIBX's "Speak Out Show" with U.S. Congressman Michael Arcuri on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 9 a.m. in a discussion of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The bill was signed into law by President Bush on Sept. 27.

Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, is quoted extensively in the Oct. 15 issue of TIME magazine in "The Man to See." The article analyzes the leadership of China's president Hu Jintao and the forces and issues within the government that he must address. Li describes the two distinct factions within the government, the populists led by Hu and his allies, and the élitists, made up of so-called princelings--children of top officials--and supporters of former President Jiang Zemin. They represent "two starkly different sociopolitical and geographical constituencies," according to Li.

Junior Eric Kuhn interviewed comedian and political satirist Mo Rocca for MSNBC.com’s monthly column highlighting the charitable engagement of a celebrity. Kuhn talked with Rocca about his work on behalf of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit that pays for poor students to attend Catholic schools in New York City.

In an opinion piece that appeared on Saturday, Sept. 22, in Utica's Observer-Dispatch titled "Warmer world could mean shorter winters for region," Professor of Biology Ernest Williams explained what the economic effects of global warming might mean for central New York.