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Four students will continue a long-term research project titled “Silica Sol-Gels Containing Rare Earth Ion Chelates” at Hamilton College this summer as science researchers. Advised by Associate Professor of Chemistry Karen Brewer, Jodi Raymond ’08 (Camillus, N.Y.), Kim Roe ’08 (Maryville, Tenn.), Elizabeth Faroh ’08 (Bradenton, Fla.), and LeAnne Pasquini ’07 (Kingwood, Texas) will continue an investigation of the optical properties, the synthesis and spectroscopy of rare earth based solid materials. (Another student, Louisa Brown ’09, an incoming freshman participating in the Hamilton National Science Foundation's STEP (Science Talent Expansion Program) and the Henry and Camille Dreyfus Foundation Program, will join their research group later this summer.)

Mary Beth Day ’07 (Seneca Falls, NY) has been interested in geology for as long as she can remember. “The intersection of geology and archaeology has long fascinated me,” the geoarcheology major explains. As an aspiring paleoclimatology researcher, Day will continue her long-running research of the Great Basin region of Nevada this summer. Under the advisement of Associate Professor of Geology Dave Bailey, she will be working on a research project titled “Chemical Characterization of Lithic Artifact Source Material” as an Emerson grant reicpient.

As a native of Central New York, John Adams ’06 (Rochester, N.Y.) has witnessed first-hand the decline in the industrial sector in the upstate area. He saw how difficult it was becoming for towns and cities to make ends meet, as the cost of health care and other services continue to rise. “Municipalities across the state and country are undertaking initiatives to raise the efficiency of service delivery and minimize costs,” Adams explains. Adams’ interest in government and concern for his local area inspired him to research the costs of local government services; as a Levitt Fellow, he will work on a project titled “Consolidating Local Government Services: A Viable Cost-Cutting Measure for Onondaga County?”

Hamilton students Meghan Dunn ’06, Pragyan Pradhan ’08, James McConnell '07 and Ngoda Manongi ’08 are working together on a chemistry research project on both terrestrial and exotic atmospheric chemistry. They hope to determine the structure, the levels of heat given off during a given reaction, and kinetics of certain molecules in different atmospheres, including the atmosphere of Mars and Venus. The students will work with Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner on the project titled “Atmospheric Chemistry: Predicting structure, energy, reactivity, frequency and abundance of atmospheric species clustered with water.”

Although Laura Oman ’07 (New Providence, N.J.) has already had great success exploring two of her academic passions, English literature and Asian studies and culture during the academic year, she will be able to concentrate on these two diverse interests this summer. As the recipient of an Emerson grant, Oman will spend her summer working with Hamilton Assistant Professor of English Steven Yao on a project titled “Chineseness in Ezra Pound’s Cathay and the Construction of Race in Early Twentieth Century Discourse.”

Brian Sweeney ’06 (Old Westbury, NY) has been interested in the story of Peter Pan since he was 7 years old. He has read J.M. Barrie’s novel and seen movie adaptations of the classic story. Then this past semester he took Professor Patricia O’Neill’s Children of Empire [course] where the class read the novel. It was not until this class that Sweeney, a rising senior majoring in an interdisciplinary study of English/Comparative Mythology, saw a correlation with the story of Peter Pan and mythology. As the recipient of an Emerson grant, he is now working on one research project that combines these two interests titled, “Peter Pan as a Modern Myth.”

Eleven. To many Hamilton students and faculty, this is the number of weeks remaining in a relaxing summer vacation. However, to Steve Bellona, Hamilton’s Associate Vice President for Facilities and Planning, the rest of the Hamilton College buildings and grounds crew and the builders from Barr and Barr, the next 11 weeks will be less than relaxing, as it is the number of weeks they have left to finish the $56 million science building construction project.

Although the College bears his name, few students at Hamilton have had the opportunity to study Alexander Hamilton. Mike Mortimer ’07 (Montague, NJ) plans to become one of the Hamilton experts at Hamilton after his Emerson research project. His project explores the private Alexander Hamilton and his personal relationship with George Washington.

NASA astronaut Dr. James F. Reilly presented his perspective as a geologist and an astronaut in a lecture titled “Mars Exploration: Rovers to Human Geophysical Crews – A (Fun) Work in Progress” at Hamilton on May 1. Dr. Reilly discussed exploration of the Moon and on Mars; his lecture was complemented by an extensive power point presentation complete with photos and video of space exploration.

New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi presented the final lecture of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center series on the U.S. budget on Wednesday, April 27. Hevesi discussed in the New York state budget and the recent budget process in the context of a “historical reform movement.”