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Paul Allen Miller, professor of classics and comparative literature at the University of South Carolina presented the Department of Classics Winslow Lecture on March 4. Miller discussed how and why “Satire is Wholly Roman.” Miller is a familiar face at Hamilton, having taught classics here in the spring of 1996.

I entered the New York City criminal courts around 5 p.m. and ended up leaving before the end of the process, which was around 11 p.m. During those six hours what I experienced was nothing less than naked, raw, in-your-face examples of what could go wrong in life. Take the drug possessions, weapon possessions, assaults and harassments, petty larceny and theft, multiply all of the above by double digits, and you get the grand total of 500 people who have committed crimes in the city of New York, all of whom do not make enough money to hire a private attorney.

A column by Nat Hentoff in the latest (April 2004) issue of JazzTimes, titled "Bringing Up New Jazz Listeners," mentions Hamilton's Jazz Archive as a resource. An excerpt of the article says:  "As [Gene] Lees says, because of oral history projects at Rutgers' Institute of Jazz Studies, the Smithsonian, Hamilton College, Tulane University, and Claremont McKenna College, generations of students to come will not only be reading what Gene and Doug Ramsey and I and other critics have written from interviews, but 'They'll hear Milt Hinton or Clark Terry talking.'"

Environmentalist, author Dai Qing will give a lecture, "The Three Gorges Dam: China’s Environmental and Political Crisis," on Wednesday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fillius Events Barn at Hamilton College.  The lecture, which is part of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center spring series "The Environment: Public Policy and Social Responsibility," is free and open to the public.

Author and Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Rhodes spoke at Hamilton College on March 3 as part of The Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center lecture series, "The Environment: Public Policy and Social Responsibility.” His lecture, “The Need for Nuclear Power,” sparked much excitement and controversy in the Hamilton College Chapel.

Sixteen Hamilton College seniors were elected this month to the Epsilon chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest honor society. The students are: Jamie Abaied, Elizabeth Barrett, Anna Blabey, Joan Booth, Jennifer Davis, Nadia Dovi, John Durland, David Fanelli, Charles Francis, Sarah Karalunas, Jessica Kent, Jennifer Kostka, Gabrielle Markeson, Doreet Preiss, Kevin Thompson and Nesa Wasarhalev.

Sandra Harding, professor of women’s studies and education at UCLA, gave a lecture titled “Science and Technology Studies in a Postcolonial World: Recent Issues” as part of the Kirkland Project series on “Technology, Science and Democracy” on March 2. Harding is a distinguished figure in the philosophy of science, and the author of several books including The Science Question in Feminism, Whose Science, Whose Knowledge?, Is Science Multicultural?, and her forthcoming Must Science Advance Inequality? She discussed the growing field of multicultural and postcolonial science studies, which use critical rationality to examine science itself.

On Thursday we visited the New York Stock Exchange. Officer Rick Lee of the First Precinct arranged our visit. Ever since 9/11, the stock exchange has been closed to outside tours, so this made the trip extra special. The security on Wall Street is incredible. The streets are blocked off from traffic and guards armed with AK-47’s stand outside the Stock Exchange. We had to go through three security posts to enter the building. First, they asked for ID to make sure we were on the guest list. Then we had to get our picture taken for our special pass. Finally we passed through metal detectors. One of the senior security members was our tour guide. He explained that the Stock Exchange would be a prime target for a terrorist attack. He also explained that the exchange has four different backup power sources, because a loss of power would create chaos. The NYSE runs on two different generators, and two backup batteries.

Today was a very exciting day.  For the first time since arriving in New York City I randomly encountered the same person twice!  My observations thus far have led me to the conclusion that this is very rare.  There are so many anonymous people in this city, all with such contained, limited existences that almost never do you randomly walk past the same person twice.  Of course you will see the people in your apartment building more than once.  You will enter your office building with the same people each morning.  Oftentimes you will even commute with the same crowd.  But when I break free from my daily routine and still run into someone that I may not know personally but at least recognize, I begin to wonder just how rare this is.  I’m sure it is merely a matter of probability.  If you explore the City for long enough, eventually you will encounter the same person twice also wandering a random circuit.  Yet it makes me feel like the City is shrinking around me.  New York is losing its intimidation and I am beginning to realize just how small and restricted the island of Manhattan is.  The more I explore and involve myself in this densely populated city, the more I feel connected and familiar with the people and workings of it.  I feel like I am gradually becoming a real member of this community and a part of New York City.

Since we arrived here and settled into Manhattan, I’ve been picking the brains of the people I’ve met for places to go in this city.  Amidst the handfuls of restaurant, museum and park recommendations, I was given one common suggestion.  In so many words I was told repeatedly that New York is a walking city.