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Please accept the deep and sincere thanks for your generosity from all of us on the Hill. Each year alumni, parents and friends of Hamilton are asked to sustain the College with their unrestricted gifts. In the fund-year that just closed, nearly 10,000 individuals participated and contributed just over $5.8 million. Alumni participation was 52.2%, exceeding 50 percent for a remarkable 27th consecutive year.

Frannie Carley '10 (Cumberland, Maine) is trying something totally new this summer. A rising junior, she has always had "typical summer jobs," she says, working in retail and in restaurants. This summer, however, she wanted to go beyond a summer job and find an internship that would allow her to work in a nonprofit, using her interests in philosophy and government. "I wanted to test the waters of a real job and do some career exploration," she says, "but I knew that I'd need Hamilton's help if I was going to get to explore the nonprofit sector."

Graham Cummiskey '08 has been awarded a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship to Malaysia, where she will teach English. An art history and environmental studies major while at Hamilton, she was one of the original facilitators of the Underground Café. The Underground Café facilitates workshops and programs such as college preparation classes to local inner city teenagers in Utica. Cummiskey also served as Hamilton volunteer coordinator and development intern for the Café.

Professor of Music Michael Woods, "Doctuh" Mike Woods, will direct the Zoe Jazz Ensemble in conjunction with the Cazenovia Chamber of Commerce Concerts in the Park series on Thursday, July 17, from 7-9 p.m.at Cazenovia's Lakeland Park. Woods is also the group's bassist playing with trumpeter Jeff Stockham, Bob Cesari on sax, Rick Compton on drums and Tom Witkowski on piano.

Vancomycin is an effective antibiotic that interferes with cell wall synthesis in bacteria. Because it is so powerful, vancomycin is only used after other antibiotics have failed in order to reduce the development of resistant bacteria; however, vancomycin-resistant bacteria have emerged despite these precautions. Gail Corneau '10 (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and Lydia Rono '11 (Eldoret, Kenya) are working with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nicole Synder to develop a vancomycin derivative incorporating an unnatural carbohydrate to overcome this bacterial resistance.

Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, the Margaret Bundy Scott Professor of Comparative Literature, gave a plenary address titled "Tragedy's Women as Subjects and Objects of the Gaze," at the biennial Celtic Classics Conference held in Cork, Ireland, July 9-12. Rabinowitz was also a co-organizer of the "Vision and Power" workshop at the conference.

Molly Faerber '10 is the recipient of a $5,000 scholarship from Lighthouse International. The organization honors gifted and motivated students for their outstanding courage in overcoming the challenges of vision loss. Faerber received the Judy Van Nostrand Arts Award.

When in doubt, look at what's right around you. Dan Rudel '10 (Metuchen, N.J.) knew he wanted to pursue a research project this summer, but was unsure exactly what to study. He thought about possibilities in the area: "I was looking for things that are interesting about Utica," he says. "I didn't realize how interesting it was until I started research."

Robert Paquette, the Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History, has been nominated by President George W. Bush as a member of the National Council on Humanities for a term expiring January 26, 2014. The Council is charged with advising the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

More than 60 Hamilton students, employees and alumni and their family members participated in the 31st annual Boilermaker, a 15k road race in Utica, on July 13. Hamilton's top finisher was Peter Kosgei '10, who came in 14th with a time of 47:33, among the 9,770 runners. In May Kosgei finished first in the 5,000-meter run and claimed his second national title in as many days at the NCAA Division III men's outdoor track and field championships. The Boilermaker annually attracts elite runners from all over the world, including Olympians and world record holders. The 9.3 mile Boilermaker is rated as one of the top 100 races in the U.S. by Runner's World magazine.