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Only half an hour from the Hamilton College campus, near Fayetteville, N.Y., there is a rare biological spectacle lying hidden from casual eyes. Green Lake is one of the few meromitic lakes in the world. The term "meromitic" refers to that while most lakes have constant water cycling (water that was at the top of the lake one week could be at the bottom the next) Green Lake has virtually none, leading to portions of water that have been on the bottom of the lake for hundreds of years. For practical purposes, such as swimming or boating, the distinction makes little difference but Greg Ray '08 (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Tara Apo '10 (Maui, HI) and their research advisors Professor of Biology Jinnie Garrett and Assistant Professor of Biology Michael McCormick aren't there to swim. Instead, the team is working to gain new insights into the levels, patterns, and characteristics of diversity in one of the world's most unique and understudied ecosystems.

Nine current and former Hamilton chemistry students published an article in the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry with former postdoctoral associate Steve Feldgus, co-director of the Center for Molecular Design Karl Kirschner, and Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields. The students involved were Katrina Lexa '05, Katherine Alser '09, Amanda Salisburg '08, Damien Ellens '03, Lorena Hernandez '03, Sam Bono '00, Heather Michael '07, Jennifer Derby '01, and Jaime Skiba '02. Their research article, "The Search for Low Energy Conformational Families of Small Peptides: Searching for Active Conformations of Small Peptides in the Absence of a Known Receptor," is the result of six years of research.

Eric Kuhn ’09 published an interview this month with White House Photographer and Special Assistant to the President Eric Draper in PBase Magazine. The Washington Examiner picked up on the Pbase article and reported on both Kuhn and this interview in its newspaper and on its Web site. He met Draper in the West Wing while participating in Hamilton’s Washington, D.C., program last semester. It took Kuhn two years to arrange for the interview, contacting Draper on a regular basis. Draper was able to schedule an interview on Kuhn’s last day in the D.C. program.

Cuttlefish, dogfish, and puffer-fish are not common household pets, but Genevieve Flanders '09 is getting up-close and personal with them this summer. She is spending the summer as an intern at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Massachusetts where she works with those as well as Hermissenda crassicornis sea slugs.

The self-help industry can solve your problems, but at what cost? Melissa Kong ’08 (Sunnyside, N.Y.), who has an Emerson grant to study the self-help revolution, is particularly interested in the gendered assumptions behind our lively self-help culture. Working with the Elihu Root Peace Fund Associate Professor of Women's Studies Vivyan Adair, Kong will research and report on the cultural phenomenon of self-help through the lens of feminist, racial, and cultural criticism.

Vivyan Adair, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Associate Professor of Women's Studies, published an article, a book review and a book chapter during the month of June. The book chapter, “Of Homemakers and Home-Breakers: The Deserving and the Undeserving Poor Mother in Depression Era Literature,” was published in The Literary Mother: Representations of Maternity and Child Care, edited by Susan Staub (McFarland Press, June 2007). Adair's book review, "Unsung heroines: Single Mothers and the American Dream, by Ruth Sidel," appeared in Gender and Society, June 2007, vol. 21, no. 3. The article, titled “Poverty and Story Telling in Higher Education," and written with ACCESS students Paulette Brown, Rose Perez, Nolita Clark and Shannon Stanfield, was published in Storytelling, Self, Society: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Storytelling Studies, volume 3, number 2, May-August 2007.

The New England-style village of Clinton, N.Y., has been transformed into an outdoor walking art gallery as part of a summertime promotion by the local Chamber of Commerce and the Kirkland Art Center.

Bill Huggins, associate director of Physical Plant and his summer intern Adam Brady, who attends Clarkson University, co-authored an article for College Planning and Management magazine (June, 2007). The article, titled “Love those summer break blitzes!,” is a case study of the fast-track renovation of Kirkland residence hall in 2006. Kirkland was built in 1824 and renovated in 1962; in 2006 Kirkland needed renovating again to meet new fire codes and provide handicapped accessibility. In addition the fourth floor was reconstructed to create loft spaces. According to the article, “The building’s age, the presence of asbestos, inaccurate drawings from the past and a strike challenged all those involved to complete the project by summer’s end.” Ultimately the residence hall renovations were completed by August 29.

“Compounding Interest in Your Investment Committee,” an article written by Hamilton trustee and co-chair of the board’s investment committee Henry W. Bedford, II, ’76, was published in the July/August 2007 issue of Trusteeship magazine. Produced by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), Trusteeship reports trends, issues and practices in higher education to help board members and chief executives better understand their distinctive and complementary roles and to strengthen board performance. AGB is the only national association that serves the interests and needs of academic governing boards, boards of institutionally related foundations and campus CEOs and other senior-level campus administrators on issues related to higher education governance and leadership.

More than 40 Hamilton employees, students and alumni participated in the 30th annual Boilermaker, a 15k road race in Utica on July 8. The race consistently 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.