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Nietzsche and religious studies may not seem like the most logical companions, but for Deborah Pless '09 (Rockport, Mass.), the tension between them is fascinating. While other students have left the Hill for summer jobs and internships, Pless is researching "Nietzsche and the Dying-Reviving Cycle," a collaborative project with Associate Professor of Philosophy Todd Franklin funded by the Emerson Foundation Grant program.

Nguyen Thi Thao Nguyen, 2008 salutatorian and double major in physics and math, has been named a finalist for the LeRoy Apker Award. The award is given annually by the American Physical Society for outstanding research accomplishments in physics by an undergraduate. Nguyen is Hamilton's fourth finalist. Other Apker finalists were Toru Ohira '86, who worked with Phil Pearle; Brandon Collings '94, who won the award and worked with Ann Silversmith; and the late Qijia Fu '96, who worked with Phil Pearle and died tragically after being struck by lightning while hiking, before the final winner was chosen.

Many people feel that the ability to remember information is positive, like being able to recall facts or our life events. Alternatively, many people consider forgetting a negative process, and feel frustrated when we forget someone's name or what items we need at the supermarket. However, forgetting traumatic life events or what items you needed last time you went to the grocery store can be helpful. Furthermore, having control over what we forget, or the ability to engage in Directed Forgetting, can be even more useful. Although many researchers have previously demonstrated the Directed Forgetting (DF) effect, Avery Rizio '09 (Walpole, Mass.) is working with Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Mark Oakes to further examine DF, investigating the processes that underlie this phenomenon.

Calciobetafite is a relatively new subgroup of the uranium-rich betafites and typically occurs as a primary mineral in pegmatite, a type of igneous rock. The mineral was previously found only in Europe until Richard Munschauer '09 (Buffalo, N.Y.) unearthed the first case of calciobetafite in the United States during a field trip with his Minerology class to the St. Lawrence region of New York State. Munschauer has since been awarded a summer research grant to study his unique rock samples with Associate Professor of Geosciences David Bailey.

For Kara Labs '09, getting to her summer job is not just a matter of a morning commute. The rising senior from Piermont, N.H. is interning in London at Taylor Herring PR, one of the largest public relations firms in England. Established in 2001, the firm's clients range from television shows such as Dr Who, The Apprentice and Britain's Next Top Model to Disney projects like Pushing Daisies.

Evan Smith '87 was appointed president and editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly on July 16, 2008. In accepting these positions, Smith succeeds the founder and publisher of the periodical, Michael Levy. Evan Smith plans to assume these new duties on September 1, after Levy retires on August 31.

What would you do if you had 100,000 artifacts from a Neolithic settlement? Organize them, of course. That's what Lisa Fontes '09 (West Danville, Vt.) and Heather Otis '10 (Fort Mill, S.C.) are doing this summer, working under Visiting Instructor of Anthropology Nathan Goodale. The "teaching and reference assemblage" of artifacts forms only a small fraction of the 1.7 million artifacts discovered at the 12,000 year-old semi-permanent site of Dhra', in what is now Jordan. The students are spending the summer numbering, identifying, and re-bagging each artifact, as well as entering information about the finds into a database.

Associate Professor of English Naomi Guttman will be signing her book Wet Apples, White Blood on Friday, July 25, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Syracuse Artsweek Book Fair, taking place on the 300 block of Montgomery Street in downtown Syracuse. Wet Apples, White Blood was recently awarded the Adirondack Literary Award for Best Book of Poetry in 2007. For more book fair information go to: http://downtownsyracuse.com/static/C126

The University of Massachusetts, Boston, recently granted tenure to Elizabeth Marran K'77. Marran who is  now an associate professor of art, teaches drawing and printmaking. In her message accompanying the announcement, she wrote, "Thank you Bill Salzillo and Bruce Muirhead!"

Moody's Investor Service has assigned Hamilton College an initial rating of Aa2 and said the college's financial outlook is stable.  According to Moody's, "obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk." The addition of the numerical modifier "2" in the initial rating indicates a mid-range ranking in the Aa category.