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Medea Benjamin, founder of the international human rights organization Global Exchange and co-founder of the peace and social justice organization Code Pink: Women for Peace, will present a lecture, "Globalization, What it is, What's Wrong With it, and What Can be Done to Fix it," on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hamilton College Chapel.

Associate Professor of Economics Ann Owen was interviewed for the story, "Wages up for the well-off, but not for others," in the Christian Science Monitor.    According to the article the problem of widening wage inequality is not new, and is rooted in long-term trends. The rise of technology in the workplace, for example, puts a premium on educated workers and eats into the bargaining power of the less-skilled. The entry of about a million immigrants a year, puts downward pressure on wages in many low-income jobs. Offshore outsourcing of jobs and falling union representation also play a role.  Owens said, "All these factors are still present.  We can probably project a future growth in inequality."

Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature Melek Ortabasi was invited to give a talk as part of the Japanese Humanities Lecture Series at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her lecture, given May 23, 2003, was "Ethnology and Dialect: Yanagita Kunio and the Authorship of National Language." Ortabasi also organized a panel on the topic of "Subversive Languages: Writing at the Margins of Modernity in 'Japan,' 1895-1945" for the Modern Languages Association's Annual Conference, held in San Diego in December. The paper she presented as part of that panel was "Yanagita Kunio's Reflections on Snails and the Role of Dialect in Authoring National Language."

John Adams, visiting professor of rhetoric and communication, was quoted in the Associated Press article "Use of In-Phone Cameras Prompts Bans." Adams calls it "cellphonography," and he's been using 20-second video clips taken on his cell phone to make points in class and also sends them to his wife and daughter when he's on business trips. "I personally have had great fun," he says. But he adds, "You have to find new ways of engaging people's ethical and moral sensibilities so it's not a free-for-all."

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, published an op-ed in the Syracuse Post-Standard.  The op-ed, "Letter from Madonna," focused on celebrity endorsement of presidential candidates.  Klinkner said, "Why do candidates debase themselves by associating with celebrities?  Wes Clark seems a decent and thoughtful man, but his willingness to trumpet this kind of endorsement just makes him seem silly."

Two events featuring activists Joy James and Susan Rosenberg will be held in the Kirkland Project at Hamilton College series "Technology, Science, and Democracy:  What’s at Stake?," on Thursday, Feb. 19. Through the Wire (1990), a documentary on the United States penal system's alleged mistreatment of prisoners will be screened at 4:15 p.m. in the Kirner-Johnson auditorium (room 144).  James and Rosenberg will lead a panel discussion titled "Democracy and Captivity:  Human Rights, Technology and the 'Science of Incarceration,'" at 7:30 p.m. in the Fillius Events Barn, Beinecke Student Activities Village.

Jonathan Rick '05 published an op-ed,"N.H. primary: Best and worst of politics," in the Utica, N.Y., Observer-Dispatch.  Rick, who volunteered for Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign in Keene, N.H., said, "Listening to the Democratic candidates... led me to some general reflections... First, ideas matter. A lot. Fundamental political differences are, in fact, differences of worldviews."

Linda Retallack '00, a curator at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, will present, "Framing the West at Monticello:  Thomas Jefferson and Lewis & Clark," on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 4:15 p.m. in the Hamilton College Burke Library Browsing room.  At the same time, Burke Library will unveil a collection of Lewis and Clark books and maps from the 19th century from its rare book collection. The event is sponsored by the history department.

Richard Pinsky, corporate writing consultant, will present, "College Writing/Corporate Writing: What the Successful Writer Needs to Know,"  on Monday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Chemistry Auditorium.

The Emerson Gallery exhibit, "Krieg!: Käthe Kollwitz and Images of War," was featured in the Syracuse, N.Y.,  Post-Standard.  According to the article: "A fabulous exhibition on view at Emerson Gallery at Hamilton College through Feb. 22 presents 21 of Kollwitz's prints accompanied by works of two of her male contemporaries - American George Bellows (1882-1925) and Swiss/French artist Felix Vallotton (1865-1925).  The mostly narrative works by Bellows and Vallotton provide poignant contrasts to Kollwitz's deeply emotional statements.  Hamilton College student-curator Katie Poulin '04 deserves high marks for this thoughtful approach to organizing the show."