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Max Schnidman ’14 received an Emerson Grant this summer to research virtual marketplaces. Schnidman first became interested in the idea of online markets when he came across the concept in a New York Times article about the video game Diablo III  last August.  According to the Times article, Diablo III would incorporate a virtual “auction house” where players could conduct exchanges between real dollars and in-game currency known as gold. Diablo III’s auction house is the first-ever sanctioned online marketplace where players can engage in real currency exchanges, and Schnidman believes that this development has potential implications for economic and social policy.

Agne Jakubauskaite ’13 has come full circle in the course of her undergraduate research of the newly discovered gene TBhR. Jakubauskaite, a biology concentrator, spent the summer of 2011 learning the ins and outs of protein expression and synthesizing and has now passed on those skills to Jessica Li ’14, a biology concentrator and Olusegun Ogunwomoju ’15. 

Maynard-Knox Professor of Government and Law Frank Anechiarico was an organizer and addressed delegates at the 10th New York City Global Partners Summit “Public Integrity: Anti-Corruption Strategies, Economic Development and Good Governance” June 6-8 at Fordham University School of Law.

24-hour 615 on 6/15 Challenge (www.hamilton.edu/615). Ryan’s motivation: to encourage 615 alumni to make a gift to the college, thereby generating an additional $30,000 challenge gift, the average Hamilton student aid package.

Hamilton faculty Wei-Jen Chang (biology), Natalia Connolly (physics), and Alistair Campbell (computer science) have just been awarded a Multi-Investigator Cottrell College Science Award by the Research Corporation.  This award, in the amount of $100,000, is for developing novel computational techniques for investigating gene interaction networks in fish parasite called Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (Ich).

Julia Litzky ’12 doesn’t sleep much, and that annoys her. “I used to be able to run off three hours a night freshman year,” she said, “but now I have to get  five or six.” In between finalizing her acceptance to Dartmouth’s M.D./Ph.D. program, volunteering at the Writing Center and crafting her own metal jewelry, it’s surprising she had time to sleep at all as her time at Hamilton wound down.

Charter Trustee and Chair of the Committee on Development Jack Withiam ’71 has challenged Hamilton alumni to make their year-end contributions today. Jack, who has been called the “father of the Annual Fund in the new millennium,” promised to contribute $30,000 if 615 alumni make a contribution. 

Ramya Ramnath ’13 and Sarah Ohanesian ’14 are spending the summer researching brain hemisphere perceptional differences under the direction of Assistant Professor of Psychology Serena Butcher. While many of the questions they are asking seem basic, the implications of their research could be fundamental to scientists’ understanding of the human brain.

Eli Bunzel ’13 and Dominic Veconi ’15 are carrying out their summer research by examining single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes originally discovered and researched by Matthew Therkelsen ’12. They’re working under Assistant Professor of Biology Wei-Jen Chang with May graduate Leonard Teng ’12.

The Sedimentology Lab in the Taylor Science Center is busy this summer with eight summer students who are doing research on various aspects of Antarctica sediments as well as the geographically-closer Oneida Lake.