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Shauna Sweet '03 described some of her experiences thru-hiking in her Levitt Scholar topic, "The Appalachian Trail as an American Pilgrimage." American narratives come together on the Appalachian trail: an adventurer on a perilous journey, a solitary sojourner into the wilderness, a rugged outdoorsman striking across the countryside. This trek along the east coast provided the basis for a sociological research project, and was also the topic of her presentations to school students. Shauna traveled to high schools in the local area including Mohawk, Waterville and Whitesboro, and gave a presentation during spring break at Gardiner High School back home in Maine. She will make another presentation to a biology class at her alma mater, Hall Dale High School in Farmington, Maine.

Public Policy major Matthew Eng ’02 recently completed a senior thesis titled “Wage Determination in the Local Public Sector.” The project helps academics figure out what factors affect wages (employee characteristics, community demographics, etc.) and helps local communities determine fair wages for their municipal employees. The Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Oneida County sponsored the project. However, Matt met on a regular basis with a CCE committee known as the Local Government Education Committee (LGEC). The committee consists of representatives from several local governments and community organizations in Central New York. Matt collected his data through interviews and a survey of municipal workers in Oneida, Herkimer, Madison, and Montgomery Counties. The Executive Summary provides an overview of the theories used, statistical methods applied, and conclusions made in the project.

The Boston Globe (5/29/02) profiled H. Philip West Jr., a 1963 graduate of Hamilton College and executive director of Common Cause in Rhode Island. Dubbed "the godfather of political reform in Rhode Island," by The Providence Journal, while at Hamilton West "began his own activism on a modest scale, working to make campus fraternities less exclusionary and pushing the local Methodist church to undertake community projects."

A book by Associate Professor of English Onno Oerlemans, Romanticism and the Materiality of Nature, was published in March by the University of Toronto Press.

Kirk Pillow, assistant professor of philosophy, published "Versions and Forgeries: A Reply to Kivy" in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 60 (Spring 2002). In April, he was selected to be program chair for next spring's American Society for Aesthetics Eastern Division meeting in Philadelphia. In May, he and Krystyn Schmerbeck '02 presented their summer 2001 Emerson Grant research to an audience of Hamilton alumni in New York City.

Professor of French Roberta L. Krueger has published "Beyond Debate: Gender in Play in Old French Courtly Fiction" in Debating Gender from the Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance, edited by Thelma Fenster and Clare Lees (Palgrave Press, 2002). She also published "'Nouvelles choses:' Social Instability and the Problem of Fashion in 'Le Livre du Chevalier de la Tour Landry,' 'The 'Menagier de Paris,' and Christine de Pizan's 'Livre des Trois Vertus,'" in Medieval Conduct edited by Kathleen Ashley and Robert L. A. Clark (University of Minnesota Press, 2001). This year Krueger was an invited speaker at Cornell University for Quodlibet, an organization of graduate students in medieval studies, to whom she presented "Christine's Treasure: Household Economies in the 'Livre des Trois Vertus.'" She also gave a paper titled "Dysfunctional Families in Christine de Pizan's 'Cite des Dames'" at the annual Romance Languages convention at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Krueger was elected to a three-year term as a member of the Delegate Assembly Organizing Committee of the Modern Language Association. This group sets the agenda and brings forth business at annual meetings of the Delegate Assembly, MLA's legislative body.

Following are remarks by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie Todd Whitman at Hamilton College commencement, May 26.

At the commencement ceremony on May 26, Hamilton College awarded an honorary degree to Dick Hyman, described as "one of the best pianists in jazz today." Throughout this weekend, on channel 19 of the campus cable TV system, you can see and hear a videotaped interview, from the Hamilton College Jazz Archive, with Mr. Hyman. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the career of one of jazz's great musicians.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Todd Whitman told Hamilton College graduates that the September 11 terrorist attacks served as a catalyst for people to help others and urged them to consider volunteering time, in her speech at Hamilton's 190th commencement on Sunday, May 26.

Maggie Hanson '02 earned "All-America" honors with her 5th place performance in the 10,000m at the NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Championships held at Macalester College on May 23. This marks the ninth time Hanson has received All American honors during her college career.