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Associate Professor of Economics Paul Hagstrom was a participant in the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research’s Policy Forum, “Can Upstate Cities Save Themselves?,” held on Wednesday, June 6, in Albany. Hagstrom. a participant in a panel discussion with professors from Cornell and University of Buffalo and a senior economist from the Federal Reserve, has done extensive research on the economic impact of refugees in central New York. Other participants included the mayor of Rochester, the president of the Congress for the New Urbanism and the upstate chair of the Empire State Development Corp.

The weather might have been unpredictable for Reunions '07 but one thing attendees could count on was an abundance of things to do during the weekend of May 31-June 3. From history classes to art exhibits, musical performances to sports discussions, building tours to a golf tournament, the weekend was packed with 86 activities from the sedate to the stimulating. Sixty-seven members of the class of 1957 were on hand to celebrate their half-century reunion. A total of more than 1,600 participants came to campus. Here's a brief account of a few of the weekend's events.

George Shields, the Winslow Professor of Chemistry, hosted a panel discussion titled "Drug Design and Global Warming: Undergraduates Making a Difference" as an Alumni College during Reunion Weekend on June 1. The panel gave alumni a chance to learn about the myriad research projects students are conducting in his and Co-Director of the Center for Molecular Design Karl Kirschner's computational chemistry and molecular design lab over the summer, as well as an overview of all science research taking place at Hamilton. After describing the research taking place in the lab and the numerous publications his students have co-authored, science students Katherine Alser ’09, Rebecca Mackenzie '08 and Alexa Schwarzman '09 shared their research experiences.

Lizzy Finan '08 and Will Caffry '09 are conducting field work on lizards in Oregon with Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Pete Zani. The three are working at a research site along Wright's Point in Burns, Ore. Will has been helping Prof. Zani with his research on the side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana, while Lizzy studies the social behavior among the lizards and their home-ranges. Lizzy reports "In the colder morning hours we catch as many lizards as possible to bring back to the lab and collect morphology data. The second (warmer) part of the day we spend mapping the topography of Lizzy's research area and conducting focal observations of the territorial lizard within their individual home-ranges." Read more about Lizzy's experience View photos

The Hamilton campus came to life for Reunions on May 31-June 3 as hundreds of Hamilton men and women and Kirkland women connected with old friends, visited those places that hold fond memories, and rediscovered the magic of the Hamilton and Kirkland experience. The 2007 event was the largest reunion in Hamilton's history, with 1,617 alumni and guests attending. Highlights included presentation of the Bell Ringer Award to Patsy Pogue Couper, wife of the late Hamilton trustee Dick Couper '44, at the annual meeting of the Alumni Association on June 2 in the Chapel. The Bell Ringer is presented each year in recognition of contributions made to the College, its alumni and the community. The Reunion keynote lecture featured Christie K '72 and Tom Vilsack '72, former first lady and two-term governor of Iowa.

Former presidential candidate Tom Vilsack '72 and his wife Christie Vilsack K'72, the 2007 reunion keynote speakers, addressed a large and receptive audience in the college's Chapel on Friday, June 1. The couple described their journey in politics as a family and the processes and decisions involved in being considered for a spot as a vice presidential candidate and then in running as a presidential candidate. They are also the parents of two sons, Jess, a 2000 Hamilton graduate, and Douglas.

Associate Professor of Theatre Craig Latrell and Michael Singer, '09 are visiting East Malaysia on an Emerson Student-Faculty grant concerning the effects of globalization on local cultures. Singer is interested in studying how industrialization is affecting the island of Borneo, whose rainforests are among the oldest in the world and whose shoreline serves as an incubator for the eggs of sea turtles. Village cultures represent primarily agrarian and traditional ways of life that are rapidly being eroded by various global forces such as multinational corporations. Singer wants to study how these residents regard, contribute to and resist the forces of globalization.

Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller has published an article titled "Story, Time and Dependent Nationhood in the Uzbek History Curriculum," in _Slavic Review_ Vol. 66, No. 2 (Summer 2007. Slavic Review is a leading interdisciplinary quarterly of Russian, Eurasian and East European studies.

Professor of Chinese De Bao Xu published a second edition of his book, Generative Phonology-Theory and Usage, (China Social Sciences Publishing House, Beijing, 2007). The book covers the up-to-date theories and researches in generative phonology with the illustration of the data across Chinese dialects.

Professor of Classics Shelley Haley has been selected to receive the American Classical League’s Merita Award. The award is presented annually to classicists in recognition of their sustained and distinguished service to ACL and the profession at large. Haley will be presented with the award at the League's annual meeting in June in Nashville. The American Classical League was founded in 1919 for the purpose of fostering the study of classical languages in the United States and Canada.