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Shauna Sweet '03 spent a week at Brigham Young University studying returned missionaries as part of her yearlong senior fellowship. She is looking at the social organization of life transitions. Sweet is studying the returning missionaries and missionaries in the field because "it's very difficult to be reflective and critical of an experience you are in the middle of," said Sweet, adding, "there are a lot that missionaries go through that we don't know and we don't see, especially when it comes to how missionaries interact with each other." Sweet is also studying the Appalachian Trail "thru-hikers" and amateur jazz musicians.

Stephen Wu, assistant professor of economics, and James Bradfield, professor of economics, are quoted in a Journal News (North edition) article about the stock market and consumer confidence. "A lot of this is all about expectations and psychology and not much more than that," Wu said about the interrelationship between low consumer confidence and the Dow Jones industrial average closing lows and vice versa. "Publicly traded companies often raise money to invest in their operations by selling new issues of their own shares. But when the market is as poor as it is now, that becomes a less attractive option," said Bradfield. This causes 401(k)s and pension plans to erode, nevertheless, many people have taken advantage of the slump to borrow money for cars and houses or to refinance homes with the currently low interest rates.

Douglas Massey, outgoing president of the American Sociological Association, will present “Mexican Immigration: Consequences of Failed U.S. Policies” on Monday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m. in the Hamilton Chapel. Massey will examine how the social and economic fabric of Mexico and the U.S. has been affected by U.S.immigration policies. This lecture is part of a series on "immigration and global citizenship" sponsored by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center.

Robert P. Moses '56, H'91, author, mathematician and civil rights activist, gave the keynote address at the "Making Change - Working for Social Justice Conference" organized by the Kirkland Project. His talk was on "The Presumption of Innocence, Sharecropper Education and America's Ideals."

A unique jazz event reunited a group of Hamilton College honorary degree recipients and members of the ensemble Soprano Summit during Fallcoming Weekend. Led by reedmen Kenny Davern H'00 and Bob Wilber H'98, the concert featured drummer Bob Rosengarden H'99, pianist Dick Hyman H'02, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and bassist Keter Betts. The group performed on Friday evening in the Fillius Events Barn and again on Satruday evening in Wellin Hall, Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts. This event was sponsored by the Hamilton College Jazz Archive and dedicated to the memory of Milton F. Fillius Jr. '44, H'96.

Hugh "Tripp" Jones, a 1988 graduate of Hamilton College, was profiled in a Boston Business Journal article. Jones started Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC) along with software mogul Mitchell Kertzman in 1996. "It's amazing the number of people you talk to -- who are active in Democratic and Republican politics -- who said it would be nice if we had a place with credibility to ground the public debate in fact," said Jones. MassINC now serves that function. Issues such as crime, education and affordable housing are tackled by MassINC.

Professor of Government and China political expert Cheng Li was quoted in a Reuters article on Jiang Zemin promoting his political protégés and the potential resentment. “If the Shanghai Gang promotes too many of their protégés to higher posts, the potential political backlash against favoritism will be too strong to ignore,” Li said. Jiang during his years as Party chief surrounded himself with friends from Shanghai. Many did not like the preferential policies granted to Shanghai as the disparity grew between the prosperous east and the impoverished western hinterland.

Professor and Chair of Chemistry George Shields spoke at an Oct. 3 summit on "Delivering Technology Leadership for Life Sciences." The conference was jointly sponsored by SGI and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute to examine the impact of emerging technology on life sciences research, focusing on issues such as safeguarding against bioterrorism and advancing the drug discovery process. Shields who is the director of the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate computational chemistRY (MERCURY) discussed the "Formation of MERCURY and Acquisition of High-Performance Computers to Support Research in Undergraduate Computational Chemistry across New York and New England."

Hamilton students organized a campus rally to show support for President Eugene Tobin. Tobin issued his resignation at a faculty meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Student leaders and several faculty members addressed the community gathering.

Associate Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley presented a paper at the Fourth Annual Conference "Women in Appalachia: Their Heritage and Accomplishments" held at Ohio University, Zanesville. The talk, "The Coon Creek Girls and the Construction of an Appalachian Image," examined this first all-girl string band, led by Lily May Ledford of Pinchem Tight Holler, Ky. Their story is illustrative of the way that music producers created an Appalachian identity for their acts through decisions about music, instrument choice, dress, demeanor, and the group's name. These representations of the "hillbilly gal," with its humorous intent, were popular with audiences, but quite problematic for the band members.