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"Rodney's Wife," a play written and directed by acclaimed playwright and Hamilton College alumnus Richard Nelson '72 opened in New York on November 12, at Playwrights Horizons. The play runs through December 19 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater on West 42nd Street. Nelson won a Tony Award for "James Joyce's The Dead."

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, published an op-ed in the New Republic titled "Money Matters." Klinkner analyzed voter performance in the 2004 presidential election and concluded, "Bush improved his performance with voters at the upper end of the income ladder. Among those making less than $50,000, Bush actually lost ground, as his performance fell from 21 percent in 2000 to 20 percent in 2004. Among those making over $50,000, Bush's performance jumped 3 points, from 28 percent to 31 percent. And most of this improved performance was concentrated among the wealthiest of voters, those making over $100,000. In this group, increases in turnout and support for Bush raised the president's performance from 8 percent to 10 percent. In fact, Bush's gains among the wealthiest Americans account for a good chunk of his popular-vote margin of victory."

Visiting Professor of Communication John Adams was an invited participant at the National Communication Association Convention in Chicago in November. He participated on a discussion panel that addressed the topic of "The Rhetoric of Political Comedy."    

Ann Owen, associate professor of economics and director of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, was interviewed for the Baltimore Sun article, "Fill the cracks or remodel? All agree that change is necessary for Social Security to survive, but some experts disagree sharply with a Bush-backed privatization plan." According to the article "Social Security became a pay-as-you-go system - current workers paying the benefits for those now in retirement. That worked fine as long as there were plenty of workers and not so many retirees. But the nation's demographics began to shift. The equations that worked when Social Security started in 1935 no longer held. Reforms adopted after recommendations by 1983 commission raised the contributions and the retirement age - to 67 - got a nearly bankrupt system back on its feet." Owen said "That extended the life of Social Security, but didn't fix the fundamental problems with it. Those changes helped, but you are going to need to make more if you are going to preserve the same level of benefits."

Professor of Comparative Literature Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz presented a paper at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies conference, InterseXions: Queer Visual Culture at the Crossroads in November. She participated in a panel, "Queer Eye for Material Culture." Her paper was titled "Women in Attic Vase Painting: Bi-focality as Hermeneutic Device."

In anticipation of President Bill Clinton's visit to Hamilton, the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center sponsored a panel discussion on the successes and failures of his administration on Nov. 8. Featuring economics professor Ann Owen, government professors Steve Orvis and David Rivera, and moderated by history professor Doug Ambrose, the panel talked about the Clinton administration's policies in the realms of economics, humanitarian intervention, and the reconstruction of Russia.

Lawrence Korb, the Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, presented a lecture titled "National Security in an Age of Terrorists, Tyrants and Weapons of Mass Destruction," on Nov. 10.  The lecture was part of the Levitt Center Lecture Series titled "U.S. Budget: Power, Politics and Priorities."

Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, was invited to speak before the National Committee on United States – China Relations in November in New York.  Li, author of China’s Leaders: The Next Generation, talked about Chinese leadership transitions. The program, titled "China in Transition: Assessing Recent Political and Economic Developments," featured a panel including Li, Kenneth Lielberthal, visiting scholar at The Brookings Institute, and David Malpass, chief economist at Bear Stearns & Co., Inc.

Hamilton College Professor of Art Steve Goldberg will present "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: Ukiyo-e and Pop Art" as part of the Roehrick Lecture Series. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is Thursday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Kirkland Art Center in Clinton.  This event is in conjunction with the Emerson Gallery exhibition "Inside the Floating World: Japanese Prints from the Lenoir C. Wright Collection."

Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics Mark Masterson published an article on the Roman architect Virtruvius in The American Journal of Philology (125.3 [2004]: pp. 387-416). Masterson explores Vitruvius' portrayal of his profession both through considering his placement in the Roman social hierarchy and through investigating the philosophical issues that attend pleasure and its enjoyment. He also gave two papers:, “The Emperor Julian, Salutius and the Pederastic Intertext” at the Classical Association of the Atlantic States fall meeting in Philadelphia in October; and “Amphiaraus, Pluto, and Poetics in Statius, Thebaid 8" at the American Philological Association meeting in January in San Francisco.