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The 8th annual Summer Alumni College, offers alumni, parents and friends two on-campus choices: · Philip A. Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, will facilitate "The 2004 Election," Thursday, July 15 through Sunday, July 18. · Douglas Ambrose, the Sidney Wertimer Associate Professor of History, will facilitate "Life, Love, and Letters: Exploring the Written Worlds of John Adams, Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson," Thursday, July 22, through Sunday, July 25. Most activities for each session will take place in the beautiful Rogers Estate at the edge of the Hamilton campus.

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, gave a lecture on March 10 titled "The Politics of Patriotism," in which he discussed his research on how the idea of "love of country" has affected voting patterns in recent years. The event was sponsored by the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity as part of their lecture series, which aims to improve the academic discourse at Hamilton.

Environmentalist and author Dai Qing's gave a talk, "The Three Gorges Dam: China's Environmental and Political Crisis," as part of the Levitt Center spring series on "The Environment:  Public Policy and Social Responsibility." She outlined the goals set forward for the dam when it was started in the 1970s: to create hydroelectric power, provide flood control and improve navigable shipping routes on the Yangtze River. 

Waking up at 7:30 every morning and getting on a packed subway wears down even the most resilient people. It is very easy to get caught up in the pace of the city and become oblivious to all that is around. Commuting to work is like getting thrown into fast moving rapids. You just move with the flow and try to keep your head above water. I have come to realize that the best way to appreciate New York City is to remove yourself from it and look at it in a new light.

The brilliance of the daytime fades to the view of the night. Orange streetlights contrast with blinking lights of ferries and airplanes and the blue lights that trace the graceful lines of the bridge. From here, it appears to have sails. The waters are black and just a little foreboding. I close my eyes to examine the mental picture. I hope I don't forget this anytime soon.

In his 1925 article "The Port of New York," author Paul Rosenfeld describes a New Yorker's connection to his city.  "We know it here, our relationship with this place in which we live…For they [the buildings] and we have suddenly commenced growing together.  A state of relation has timidly commenced-between the objects, and between the objects and ourselves."

This past Friday, my workday was anything but typical.  As an intern in the Law and Justice Unit of ABC News, I have been helping to cover celebrity court cases.  Friday was a big day for the unit, because rumor had it that the jury assigned to the Martha Stewart trial would reach a verdict.  On Thursday, I was told that I would be helping out at the courthouse. 

Recently, our group was fortunate enough to be allowed to view the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. I say "fortunate enough" because just getting into the building was an experience. Given that it is among the top terrorist targets in the world, Wall and Broad has very tight security.

Having been a "resident" of New York City for a grand total of a month and a half, I have noticed myself slipping into the rhythm of the city much more than I ever thought I would.  Taking the subway, going to work, the gym, and back home to my apartment has become a comfortable, familiar existence. 

To my disappointment, this PATH station did not take MetroCards or credit cards, and it had a fussy machine that accepted only freshly printed bills.  After desperately trying to stuff my wrinkled five-dollar bill into the machine and not receiving even as much as an obnoxious error noise, I began to search frantically for coins.