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Valerie Purdie-Vaughns, assistant professor of psychology at Yale University, delivered a lecture at Hamilton on March 28 titled, “Out of the Laboratory and Into the University: Stereotype Threat and Powerful Influences on Student Achievement.” Purdie-Vaughns spoke about the phenomenon of stereotype threat, in which students who face negative stereotypes about their academic abilities will perform more poorly. She discussed the research being done on the topic, and how what has been learned can be applied to efforts to alleviate achievement gaps. The lecture was sponsored by the Diversity and Social Justice Project and the Dean of the Faculty.

Leanne Pasquini '07, Hilary Gamble '07, and Julianne Tylko '10 presented research results at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago, March 25-29. All research was the result of collaborative work done with Hamilton science faculty.

Assistant Professor of Biology Mike McCormick co-organized and presided over a symposium at the American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago during March. The symposium titled “Abiotic and Biotic Factors Affecting Contaminant Fate at Iron Oxide Surfaces,” was organized in collaboration with Dr. Ed O’Loughlin of Argonne National Lab and Assistant Professor Dan Giammar at Washington University in St. Louis.

On Friday, March 30, from 12-2 p.m. at Beinecke Student Activities Village, Hamilton in Honduras is collecting donations for the San Jeronimo Bilingual School (SJBS) in Cofradía, Cortés, Honduras. Teachers at the SJBS serve more than 180 pre-K to 9th grade students and families in the Cofradía community, yet lack classroom budgets and textbooks. The school relies on the generosity of American donors for basic supplies. All donations of children’s, young adult and beginning reader books in English, as well as reference materials, National Geographic magazines, index cards, scrap fabric, glitter, paint, paintbrushes, gluesticks, tape, scissors, construction paper, will be greatly appreciated.

At the request of several alumni and parent volunteers, Hamilton Vice President for Communications and Development Dick Tantillo sent a letter clarifying the reasons for the decision not to move forward in establishing the Alexander Hamilton Center. Tantillo acknowledged “the distractions caused by the proposed Alexander Hamilton Center have taken away some of the focus on the exceptional year we are having on College Hill.” He concluded that “Hamilton has enormous momentum.”

Three Hamilton students have been named Barry M. Goldwater Scholars for the 2007-08 academic year. Juniors Marco Allodi, Kristin Alongi and Dan Campbell are among 317 scholars from across the U.S., bringing to 10 the number of Goldwater Scholarships awarded to Hamilton students since 2001. The scholarship is the premier national undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

Pete Zani, visiting assistant professor of biology, led his Tropical Field Ecology (Bio 437) class on a trip to Ecuador over spring break. They spent 12 days and nights in the Amazon (Oriente) and at the Yasuní Research Station operated by the Catholic University of Ecuador in Yasuní National Park. While at the station, students collected data for course projects on topics such as poison-dart frog toxicity, lizard social behavior, and plant physical and chemical defenses. The 11 Hamilton students on the trip were Will Caffry '09, Lizzy Finan '08, Neil Frei '07, Jon Milgrom '08, Kennesaw Richards '07, Kira Rosalsky '07, Kristen Selden '09, Emily Starr '07, Chris Sullivan '09, Meaghan Sutton '07 and Tessa Teichert '07.

Monk Rowe, the Joe Williams Director of the Jazz Archive, contributed an article to Stone Canoe Journal from Syracuse University. His article, "Long As the Music Plays" deals with jazz and race. Stone Canoe, a journal of arts and ideas from Upstate New York, is published annually, each spring, by University College of Syracuse University. Robert Colley '66 is the founder and editor of the journal and John von Bergen '63 is also featured in this issue.

Jana Natya Mach, also known as Janam (People's Theatre Group) a street theatre group from India, will visit Hamilton College for several events on Thursday and Friday, March 29 and 30. The events, sponsored by the Edwin Lee Fund at Hamilton College, the Program in Asian Studies at Hamilton, and the Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, are free and open to the public.

Associate Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley has published a chapter, "Peggy Seeger: From Traditional Folksinger to Contemporary Songwriter," in Ruth Crawford Seeger's Worlds: Innovation and Tradition in Twentieth-Century American Music, Ray Allen & Ellie M. Hisama, eds. (University of Rochester Press, 2007).