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The Hamilton College Democrats is a campus student group that works throughout the school year to promote civic engagement in the Hamilton community as well as support the politics of the Democratic Party. Several members have also taken the opportunity this summer to get involved in the political process through internships and volunteering.

Marla Marquez ’14 is spending her summer interning at the New England Center for Children (NECC), where her remarkable internship allows her to gain valuable career-related experience while at the same time giving back to the community. The NECC is a private, nonprofit autism research and education center in Southborough, Mass.

Brent Plate, visiting associate professor of religious studies, presented two papers this summer. The first was at the International Media, Religion and Culture conference, a scholarly meeting held biennially in a different part of the world. This year's conference was hosted by Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the forefront of Middle Eastern news coverage, but another conflict of nearly equal importance taking place within the borders of Israel has largely escaped media coverage. As a Levitt Summer Research Fellowship recipient, Joshua Yates ’14 is researching the internal struggle between Israel’s secular Jewish population, which identifies with Judaism but does not strictly adhere to Jewish law, and its ultra-orthodox population of Haredim.  He is working with Professor of History Shoshana Keller.

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Abhishek Amar presented an invited lecture about the beginning of exploration and excavation of ancient religious centers on July 12 at the Deccan College Post Graduate Research Institute in Pune, India.

In its bicentennial year, Hamilton has broken all previous philanthropic records, raising $42.5 million in 2011-12 versus the past record total, $30.8 million in 2006-07. This year’s success pushed the three-year Bicentennial Initiatives campaign beyond its original goal of $117 million 16 months ahead of its scheduled conclusion. In response, the Board of Trustees in June raised the goal to $133 million.

The College conducted a large-scale emergency drill on campus on Friday, July 20, the third in a series of yearly exercises to ensure that the Hamilton Emergency Response Team (HERT) is proficient in handling emergencies utilizing the Incident Command System (ICS). “Hamilton considers these mock drills to be an important and essential part of the college’s emergency preparedness efforts,” said Director of Campus Safety Francis Manfredo.

Take a group of Hamilton employees eager to volunteer in the community, put them in a warehouse full of unused books headed for the discard pile, and what has evolved is a Community Bookshelf service project that benefits many local organizations.

Images of alphabetizing manila folders and stuffing envelopes usually come to mind when thinking of undergraduate internships, but William Godinez ’13 spends his time at work a bit differently. As an intern for the Portland Timbers Major League Soccer team, he often works one-on-one with professional soccer players, represents the team at community events, and translates information for season ticket holders

Research has found that it’s more startling to hear a single loud sound than a soft sound followed by a loud sound. This neurological phenomenon is called pre-pulse inhibition and exists so that the body can adapt to loud stimuli when it is supplied with a warning. Allison Reeder ’14 has been awarded a science summer research grant to study pre-pulse inhibition in rats under the direction of Stone Professor of Psychology Douglas Weldon.