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Despite the threatening rain Hamilton employees enjoyed the annual summer picnic this year on August 19. The picnic featured a Western theme so many employees dressed for the occasion in cowboy hats and other cowboy garb.

Mark Cryer, associate professor of theater, performed 99 Questions You've Always Wanted to Ask an African-American as part of first-year orientations at Skidmore College and Herkimer County Community College in September. Cryer worked on the play with a student, Jared Johnson '02, who conducted interviews of people in New York City to arrive at the questions.

David Stam, the former Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries at the New York Public Library, will be the speaker for the inaugural Couper Phi Beta Kappa Lecture on Friday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m. in the Hamilton Chapel. His talk is titled "An Army without Ammunition: Books and the College Library." The Couper Phi Beta Kappa Lecture honors Hamilton alumnus Richard “Dick” Couper ’44 in recognition of Couper’s commitment and contributions to the College and The Phi Beta Kappa Society. Each fall a distinguished speaker will be invited to present topics related to the College’s special library collections or to present an issue related to libraries generally. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The devastation created by Hurricane Katrina has disrupted many aspects of peoples' lives, especially communication about the status of friends and classmates. Hamilton's alumni office is gathering information concerning the welfare of alumni from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who may have been affected by Katrina. Alumni are encouraged to use the HOLAC message board as a tool to help reconnect with fellow alumni during the post-disaster recovery period. Contact Jon Hysell with questions or if you want to have the Alumni Office help you in making a connection at 866-729-0314 or e-mail at jahysell@hamilton.edu.

Associate Professor of English Catherine Gunther Kodat published an essay, "Posting Yoknapatawpha," in the Fall 2004 issue of Mississippi Quarterly, the annual special issue on William Faulkner. The theme this year is "William Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha," and it was guest edited by Martin Kreiswirth, dean of the faculty of graduate studies of the University of Western Ontario and a Hamilton College graduate (class of 1971, with honors in English).

The American Red Cross will sponsor a blood drive at Hamilton College on Tuesday, September 6, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in The Annex. Walk-ins are welcome.

Associate Professor of English Naomi Guttman attended the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery in Oxford, England, on September 3-4, where she gave a paper, "The Work of Food in the Age of Molecular Gastronomy: Authenticity and Artistry in the Contemporary Food Scene."  According to its Web site, The Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery is an educational charity. Its prime objective is to foster and encourage exploration of food history as a serious topic of research, and the purpose of its charitable status is to allow it to raise funds to sponsor endeavours in this field.

Dr. I. James McMullen of Pembroke College, Oxford University, will present a lecture on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 8 p.m. in KJ 222. His talk is titled “Sacrifices to Confucius in Edo Japan.” Dr. McMullen is a leading scholar of Confucianism in Edo Japan. This event is free and open to the campus community.

Johns Hopkins University professor Les Roberts addressed the Hamilton community in a talk titled, “100,000 Civilian Deaths in Iraq: A Story of Media Spin,” on Thursday, Sept. 1. Roberts, an associate professor at Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, presented the under-published and often misrepresented findings of a study that he conducted along with other researchers from Hopkins and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad.

Hamilton College announces a new film and lecture series, F.I.L.M (Forum for Images and Languages in Motion), scheduled on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. All events are free and open to the public.