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Robin Kinnel, the Silas D. Childs Professor of Chemistry, was interviewed for a Utica Observer-Dispatch article about tourist communities in the Adirondacks. Visitors enjoy the Adirondacks because of the scenery, mountains and lakes, but the three large towns -- Lake George, Lake Placid and Old Forge -- draw many visitors each year. The article notes that the Adirondack Park is unique in that it's a "large area zoned for a variety of purposes and is still called a park. It could serve as a model for other places on how to handle mixed areas," Kinnel said. Kinnel is one of several Hamilton faculty members who teach the Sophomore Seminar "Forever Wild: The Cultural and Natural Histories of the Adirondack Park."

Professor of History Maurice Isserman was interviewed for a Dallas Morning News article about the 1960s. The article, "PEACE, LOVE, HEARTACHE 1969," notes the 35th anniversary of the end of that tumultuous decade of Woodstock, a man on the moon and Charles Manson. Isserman, who was at Woodstock, said in the article, "Manson is the anti-utopia. Like Jim Jones, he was going to create this utopian society. But there's a dark side to utopianism, the urge to reform the world. What if the world doesn't want to be reformed? 'In a peculiar twisted Southern California way, that's what Manson was all about. He could take the Beatles lyric about a blackbird learning how to fly and turn it into an excuse for mass murder,'" said Isserman. He teaches a course about the Sixties at Hamilton and is the co-author of America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s (Oxford) with Michael Kazin.

Pete Coxeter '05 leads a college life that is nothing short of chaotic, where he is dedicated to his academics and athletic commitments. This summer, Coxeter is examining the impact oscillator model to identify the system's chaotic properties. With the help of his advisors, Litchfield Professor of Physics Peter Millet and Director of Laboratories James Schreve, Coxeter hopes to have the model be used as a teaching aid in the classroom for future physics classes.

"Today's Consumer Price Index (CPI) release indicates that inflation in June was running at a 3.3 percent annual rate.  Core CPI inflation, however, (inflation excluding food and energy prices) was much tamer, with a 1.9 percent increase over the previous year," says former Federal Reserve economist and Hamilton College professor Ann Owen.

Edward North Professor of Classics Carl Rubino took a turn at acting on July 11, when he played the role of Alexander Hamilton's friend, Nathaniel Pendleton, in a historic reenactment of the Hamilton-Aaron Burr duel.  Descendants of Hamilton and Burr posed as the historic figures in an event staged by the town of Weehawken, N.J., to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the duel. Rubino had a few speaking lines in the reenactment and is shown holding the injured Hamilton after he was shot.

“Stop Hamilton’s Million Dollar Energy Bill!” Members of the Hamilton community have undoubtedly seen the signs around campus and in dorms. However, other than turning off the lights, how can Hamilton College be more environmentally-friendly?  Dave Gordon (New York, NY), Zachary Hesse (Jenkintown, Pa.) and Matt Himmel (Lexington, Ma.) are trying to find a different, more efficient way to produce energy right on campus; the three were recently awarded a collaborative Emerson Scholarship from Hamilton College to finance their endeavor.

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, was interviewed for the Christian Science Monitor article "Inside Red-and-Blue America." According to the article, today's red-blue phenomenon is hardly the most intense political division the nation has seen. The Republic's founding, for example, pitted Federalists against Anti-Federalists in a bitter rivalry that formed a backdrop for the tragic duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The issue of slavery, of course, cleaved the nation into parties representing North and South. Klinkner said, "Americans have always divided along some lines. Sometimes, you can plot the divisions on a map. At other times, splits run mainly along class or ideological lines." The article concludes, "You can always point to some rule or dynamic in American politics that people think is enduring," Klinkner says, "until it's not."

On Thursday, July 8, Hamilton College hosted a most successful Red Cross Bloodmobile. A total of 57 units of whole blood were donated, which represented 163 percent of the goal of 35! This number included 15 first time donors, which was particularly impressive. Three Hamilton employees were recognized for reaching significant donation amounts.

More than 20 Hamilton College employees, students and alumni ran in the 27th annual Boilermaker, a 15K race in Utica on July 11. With some 10,000 runners, the 9.3 mile race is ranked as one of the top 100 races in the U.S. by Runners's World Magazine. Some Hamilton community members gathered for a photo after the race.

A $100,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation has been awarded to the Couper Scholars program, named in honor of Hamilton alumnus and trustee Richard Couper ’44. Couper was formerly president of the Public Library of New York City and a past president of the Phi Beta Kappa Fellows.