All News

For class last Wednesday, we read Daniel Okrent’s Great Fortune, a fascinating account of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the building of Rockefeller Center.  I was reminded of the book later in the week when I watched the film Ocean’s Eleven. 

The city is filled with reds and pinks – in the windows of stores, the roses on the street – a break from the black, bleak winter.  Even the weather cooperated this Valentine’s Day with a gorgeously sunny day, inspiring millions of New Yorkers to venture outside. 

Professor of Africana Studies Tracy Sharpley-Whiting was interviewed for a Denver Post article about images of women in rap music videos. Sharpley-Whiting said, "Hip-hop's commercial success is heavily dependent upon young black women. In rap lyrics, music videos, films and fashion, young black women are indispensable to the irrepressible mass-media engineered appeal and influence of hip-hop culture."

Associate Professor of Music Michael "Doc" Woods was commissioned to write a musical update of the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" for the Albany Symphony Orchestra. The piece was performed as part of "The Spirituals Project" on Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Canfield Casino in Saratoga, N.Y., and again on Friday, Feb. 20, at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

English Department writer-in-residence Martin Roper will read from his recent fiction on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m. in the Fillius Events Barn. He is the author of ahighly-praised first novel titled Gone.  Excerpted in The New Yorker, this novel has received rave reviews from Booklist, The Washington Post Book World, Newsday, and Time Out New York. It concerns a man who flees a marriage broken by conditions in a tough Dublin neighborhood, only to fall into another troubled affair in New York. The reading, sponsored by the department of English and Creative Writing, is free and open to the public.        

A crowd packed Bundy Scott Field house on Saturday, Feb. 14, as Hamilton alumni, parents and friends celebrated the accomplishments of retiring head basketball coach, Tom Murphy.  Following Coach Murphy's 599th career victory over Rensselaer, Hamilton Trustee and Coach Murphy's first captain, Jack Withiam '71, emceed a ceremony which featured tributes from former players and friends including Michael Schantz '99, John Cavanaugh '87 and John Klauberg '78, and Professor of Philosophy Bob Simon.

Personnel Services will sponsor a luncheon workshop, Planning your Retirement Plan Distributions, on Thursday, March 4, at noon in The Hub, Bristol Center. This seminar will be presented by Paul Bopp '97, Financial Advisor, and is most appropriate for individuals within five or 10 years of retirement.  For reservations for employees and a guest call Personnel Services, ext. 4302.

An interview with Associate Professor of Religious Studies Steve Humphries-Brooks about Mel Gibson's controversial upcoming film, The Passion of the Christ, is scheduled to air on NPR station WRVO's Morning Edition on Tuesday, Feb. 17.  Humphries-Brooks teaches "The Celluloid Savior," a class which explores the depiction of Jesus Christ in Hollywood movies and modern media. The interview can be heard on WRVO's Web site, www.wrvo.fm, with RealAudio Player. 

The deal that will send Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees has the entire city thinking championship again. After the departures of Roger Clemens, David Wells, Nick Johnson, Andy Pettite, and the season- ending knee injury to Aaron Boone, Yankee fans had little to cheer about. The trade news changed all that.

I have been going in to work early and leaving late every night. I even went in on Saturday to help out with compiling the final shots and voice-over for the Monday night Diane Sawyer special.  This challenging experience has taught me a lot about myself and has been rewarding in ways I never expected.