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On July 31, Andrew Whitman '91 joined Varian Medical Systems as vice president of the newly established Office of Government Affairs in Washington, D.C. Varian, which has global headquarters in Palo Alto, California, is the world's largest manufacturer of radiotherapeutic and radiosurgical instruments and software for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

Molecular geometry, or the structure of atoms within a molecule, is an important facet of chemistry because it plays a determining role in the chemical properties of a substance. One of the most common explanations for molecular shapes is the valence shell electron pair repulsion theory (VSEPR theory). This states that electron pairs surrounding a central atom repel each other, and thus try to stay as far apart as possible. This summer, Michael Petrey '09 (Decatur, Ga.) is examining another aspect of the question by looking at similarities between molecular structures and Steiner trees.

Ernest Williams, the Christian A. Johnson Professor of Biology, attended the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, in Milwaukee, Wis., in early August, where he made two presentations. He presented a research poster, that was coauthored by Associate Professor of Biology Bill Pfitsch, titled "Habitat restoration for lupine and specialist butterflies," and also gave a talk in a special education session, titled "Undergraduates in research: Finding benefits for both students and faculty.

When it came to the black vote after the Civil War, Wenxi Li '10 (Acton, Mass.) says, "The Republicans had everything on their side." In the 1860s it was Republican President Abraham Lincoln who had signed the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves, while the southern Democrats were pursuing a policy of restricting black rights. However, by 1936, that had changed, Li says, and the Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the majority of black votes.

As a double major in psychology and interdisciplinary studies, Jessica Salwen '09 (Ridgefield, Conn.) wanted to find a job that would fit her interests and give her some practical experience in research, which she would need for graduate school. She ended up finding not one, but two. Salwen is working as an intern at the Yale Child Conduct Clinic, and is also helping a sociologist at Fairfield University do research for an upcoming publication.

After the contested presidential election of 2000, public attention suddenly focused on the issue of voting policy and reform. In response to the confusion of that election, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002, which was intended to allow the federal government to organize election administration over all 50 states, modernizing voting equipment and procedures. The changes in election procedure thus make the voting process a mixture of federal, state and local policy.  This summer, Blake Hulnick '09 (Ridgefield, Conn.) is studying how New York State handles election and voting policy by examining HAVA and the subsequent controversy over it.

In support of the final day of Run for the Fallen, members of the Hamilton College and Mohawk Valley communities are invited to participate in a one-mile walk/run beginning at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 24, on the Hamilton campus. Run for the Fallen is a cross-country relay organized by Hamilton alumnus Jon Bellona '03 and several other Hamiltonians to remember their  classmate Michael Cleary '03 and all other service men and women who have died in Iraq.

The New York Times published an opinion piece written by Maurice Isserman, the James L. Ferguson Professor of History, titled "The Descent of Men" in its Sunday "Week in Review" section. Isserman wrote the op-ed following the recent avalanche in Pakistan on K2, the world's second-highest peak, that took the lives of 11 climbers. Isserman is the co-author of the forthcoming Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes published by Yale University Press and available in book stores next month.

Caroline Pierce '10 has an internship this summer that is perfect in many respects. She is working as an intern for the Clean Air Council, a non-profit environmental group in Philadelphia. "I'm just really happy to be working on a subject I find interesting," she says, "learning tons about environmental issues as well as how environmental nonprofits work, and doing work that will have an impact in the future."

Jenny Irons, assistant professor of sociology, recently attended the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Boston, July 31-August 4. Irons served as a panelist at a professional workshop, "Succeeding at a Liberal Arts College." She also served as a discussant for a set of five papers at a session titled, "Social, Cultural, and Organizational Contexts of Collective Behavior."