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In "Positioning for Power at China's Communist Congress" published by BusinessWeek on Oct. 9, Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, is quoted extensively on his views concerning the future leadership of China. "No one in the party has the clout to anoint a successor to Chinese leader Hu Jintao," says Li. In discussing the possible four front-runners who could be appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in October with a view to taking over the reins in 2012, he noted that they all possess leadership experience, intellectual caliber and - unlike the existing Politburo members - youth.

Responding to a Christian Science Monitor article titled "Climate warming skeptics: Is the research too political?" Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Peter Cannavo penned a letter to the editor that appears on the publication's news site today. The original article addressed those who still doubted the findings of the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The panel reported that most of the increase in temperatures seen in the last 50 years is due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities. In response Cannavo wrote, "Rather than acknowledge the torrent of evidence establishing global warming and humanity's role in it, they [skeptics] have resorted to conspiracy theories, questionable science, and reliance on marginal uncertainties in climate science.

Hamilton College has been awarded two related grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will support the work of Eugene Domack, the Joel W. Johnson Professor of Geosciences, and Assistant Professor of Biology Michael McCormick. Both grants will be applied to a series of research expeditions to Antarctica for which Domack will serve as chief scientist as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) International Polar Year program.

The water ways of central New York serve as important laboratories for the study of natural change and societal impacts upon local, regional and even global environment. Hamilton, through the combined support of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (via the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board), now has a vessel capable of providing access to our regional lakes and rivers for the purposes of teaching and research.

Associate Professor of Economics Ann Owens recently published an article titled “Integrating Computer Applications into Economics Electives” in the International Review of Economics Education (Volume 6 Issue 1, 2007). The article advocates for a new way of teaching economics that emphasizes the use of active learning via statistics labs.

Associate Professor of Art History Stephen J. Goldberg presented a paper titled “Frames of Engagement: Video Podcasts and the Teaching of Chinese Culture and Society” on the panel “Sharing Expertise: Podcasts and Web Units for Students and Teachers of Asian Studies” and chaired a panel on “Teaching Together: Simulcasts and Guest Lectures on Asian Studies” at the 2007 Symposium on Asia and the Curriculum. The symposium was held at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs on Sept. 28. “Frames of Engagement” represented a reflection on the suite of six digital video podcasts on which Goldberg and Michael Viveiros, a senior majoring in Asian studies, had collaborated with the support of an Emerson Research Grant this past summer.

In a Reuters article published by The Washington Post, Maurice Isserman, James L. Ferguson Professor of History, commented on the reasons behind dwindling crowds of protestors as opposition to the Iraq War mounts. “Largely absent from the actions are young people, who were the majority of Vietnam-era protesters -- perhaps because they do not risk being drafted into the military or from a sense that they can express their opposition to the war on the Internet, rather than on the streets.” 

Director of Financial Aid Matt Malatesta participated on WIBX's "Speak Out Show" with U.S. Congressman Michael Arcuri on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 9 a.m. in a discussion of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The bill was signed into law by President Bush on Sept. 27.

Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, is quoted extensively in the Oct. 15 issue of TIME magazine in "The Man to See." The article analyzes the leadership of China's president Hu Jintao and the forces and issues within the government that he must address. Li describes the two distinct factions within the government, the populists led by Hu and his allies, and the élitists, made up of so-called princelings--children of top officials--and supporters of former President Jiang Zemin. They represent "two starkly different sociopolitical and geographical constituencies," according to Li.

Junior Eric Kuhn interviewed comedian and political satirist Mo Rocca for MSNBC.com’s monthly column highlighting the charitable engagement of a celebrity. Kuhn talked with Rocca about his work on behalf of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit that pays for poor students to attend Catholic schools in New York City.