All News

2006 Senior Gift Campaign Achieves 60% Participation   The tradition of the Senior Gift is alive and well in the class of 2006. The class blew past their December 9 objective of 50% participation, achieving an unprecedented 60% giving rate ahead of the 2005 winter break.  The effort of the Senior Gift Committee, under the tireless stewardship of co-chairs Zoë Baldwin ’06 and the Katrina Fredlund ’06, supported class results that exceeded expectations and set up the potential for extraordinary and perhaps record-breaking success this spring.   Each year since 1982, the senior class has presented a gift to the College upon graduating. In October of this year, class members worked together to come up with ideas for meaningful contributions to the Hamilton community.  After a difficult voting process, the end decision was to support an internship fund in the name of the class of 2006.  The fund will provide a scholarship each year to an undergraduate who wants to pursue an unpaid internship but would be unable to do so without alternative financial support. The Office of the Dean of Students and Career Center will be responsible for overseeing the distribution of the gift over the years ahead.   Similar in concept to the Joseph F. Anderson ’44 Internship Fund, a strategic component of Excelsior: The Campaign for Hamilton, the class of 2006 Internship Fund holds the promise of being transformative for deserving students. The generosity of the class is emblematic of their enthusiasm and support for our College, and will generate an enduring and tangible legacy for the class as well as the recipients.       The Senior Campaign schedule is defined by four primary participation deadlines set around a generous challenge from the trustees.  This year their goals are to reach 25% by November 17 (completed), 50% by December 9 (completed), 75% by March 3 and 90 % by April 20.  This year, for the first time ever, the committee set the bar even higher with an ideal to achieve 100% participation by graduation.    If you’re interested in contributing to or have additional questions about the class of 2006 Internship Fund, please contact Dave Steadman ’03, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, Regional Events, at dsteadma@hamilton.edu or 315-859-4898. 

Richard Bernstein '80, chief U.S. strategist at Merrill Lynch, was among five financial experts featured in a USA Today investment roundtable article that provides advice for investors in 2006 (12/19/05). Bernstein, who was also on last year's panel of experts, predicts a carbon copy of last year's call: a flat, go-nowhere market. "Earnings will be OK, but the Fed will still be raising rates. As long as the Fed continues to tighten, there is a risk of the market being down," said Bernstein.

Assistant Professor of History Lisa N. Trivedi traveled to Pune, India, to participate in a conference “Towards a History of Consumption in South Asia, 1750-1950,” sponsored by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and by the Indian Council of Social Science Research. She presented a paper “Health Matters: Mill Workers and Maternity Care in Bombay, 1920-1940.”

In the last week, Cheng Li, William R. Kenan Professor of Government, has been interviewed on several radio shows recently and has been quoted in a newspaper article, all focused on the police shooting of farmers in Dongzhou, a seaside village near Hong Kong, who were protesting the loss of their farmland and access to fishing grounds without compensation.

Three members of the Hamilton faculty have been promoted to the rank of professor. Associate Professor of Chemistry Karen Brewer, Associate Professor of Communication Catherine Phelan, and Associate Professor of Biology Patrick Reynolds were promoted, retroactive to July 1.

Meghan Dunn '06, Tim Evans '05, Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner and Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields published an article in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A titled "Prediction of Accurate Anharmonic Experimental Vibrational Frequencies for Water Clusters, (H2O)n, n=2-5." This work was started by Tim Evans as part of his senior thesis last spring and finished by Meghan Dunn over the summer. Dunn wrote the first draft of the paper, which was revised by Kirschner and Shields prior to submission. Dunn and Evans are the first and second co-authors on the paper, which describes how highly accurate calculations of the vibrational modes of water clusters can be used to uniquely identify the (H2O)2, (H2O)3, (H2O)4, and (H2O)5 clusters in the atmosphere. This is the fourth atmospheric chemistry publication for Dunn and the first for Evans from their research at Hamilton. Evans is in graduate school at New York University. Dunn plans a research career in environmental chemistry.

Associate Professor of Music Michael "Doc" Woods created a 'Spiritually Uplifting' tone at his premiere with the Albany Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 8 at the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs. For this performance, Woods had the opportunity to write a new piece titled, "Places of Light" and an arrangement of "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," which fit with the spiritual theme of the program.

Dr. Larry Weed ’45 was featured in an article published in The Economist on December 10 titled “The computer will see you now” about his career-long goal of increasing the use of computers and technology to improve the efficiency of healthcare.

The students of Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Peter Cannavo’s Introduction to Environmental Politics course (Government 285) held a mock U.S. Senate hearing on the Kyoto Treaty on climate change, on Wednesday, December 7. The students represented 10 different interest groups and addressed the “Senators” of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, played by other Government 285 students.

Cheng Li, William R. Kenan Professor of Government, was quoted in an article in the South China Morning Post on December 8. The article, titled "Shanghai faces battle to retain growth record," discussed Shanghai's dilemma with how to maintain economic growth despite increased competition from other centers and central government moves to dampen property speculation. Li summarized the situation, "The top leaders in Shanghai were still obsessed with high-speed property development, without paying much attention to the potential property bubble and other socio-economic problems resulting from the single-minded construction mania."