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The 16th Party Congress meeting in Beijing was a significant event for the future of China. Top leaders are expected to retire and a group of new leaders are anticipated to emerge. How far will China move from rule by a main figure? Cheng Li, professor of government and Woodrow Wilson Fellow, said, "The ramifications go beyond a change of guard. This is the major test to see whether China can move toward a peaceful, orderly, institutionalized form of government."

On the last day of China’s 16th Party Congress meeting more than 2,000 delegates elected 198 full and 158 alternate members, and about 180 of whom were new faces. Those 356 members will select top leaders for the next five years. According to two congress delegates, Hu Jintao was the top vote getter, but it was unclear how many votes he collected. Li said that "I would not underestimate him (Hu). Shanghai Gang controls the Political Bureau, but Hu Jintao’s people are the largest group in the Central Committee. Hu may be more powerful than he appears."

Associate Professor of Chemistry Karen Brewer was the invited speaker in the Chemistry Department Seminar Series at Texas Christian University and at Southern Methodist University. Her talk was titled "Rare Earth-Doped Sol-Gel Glasses: Synthesis, Processing and Spectroscopy" and she discussed the most recent results of her collaborative work with Ann Silversmith, professor of physics, and Dan Boye, professor of physics, Davidson, and several Hamilton students.

An image by Lecturer in Art Sylvia deSwaan, originally used as a poster for a Paul McCartney album,(Venus & Mars, 1975) has been reprinted in the CD and recently in a book "Wingspan" published by Bullfinch Press.

The Chinese 16th Party Congress is meeting in Beijing where it will select the next generations of leaders. Professor of Government and Woodrow Wilson Fellow Cheng Li participated in a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., appeared on two BBC news broadcasts and was interviewed for a Reuters story about this next generation of Chinese leaders. Li is the author of China's Leaders: The New Generation.

Hamilton Government Professor Cheng Li is quoted in an Associated Press article, "Fresh Crop Takes China's Leadership," about the new leaders soon to take over in China. "This will be the least dogmatic generation," Li said. "They will be more flexible, and bolder in terms of reform."

Barbara Tewksbury, Stephen Harper Kirner Professor of Geology, was named president-elect of the American Geological Institute. AGI is a nonprofit federation of 40 geoscientific and professional associations that represent more than 100,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the geoscience profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in mankind's use of resources and interaction with the environment. Tewksbury will be president of AGI during 2003-04.

In a Time Magazine Asia (Nov. 4) article on the Chinese Communist Party's strategy to appease the middle class, Cheng Li, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. and a professor of government said, "These people have vivid memories of the uprising in Tiananmen Square, and have come to see it as a dead end, a revolution that went nowhere." He continued, "The middle class has sided with the government."

On the eve of the 16th Party Congress, Cheng Li, professor of government at Hamilton College and Woodrow Wilson Fellow, will provide an overview of China's 4th Generation leadership at a CNA Corporation press conference held at the National Press Club from 2-4 p.m. on Nov. 7.

Following last month's visit by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani - the latest in the Sacerdote Series Great Names at Hamilton - the Alumni Programs Office circulated an e-mail to the Hamilton community asking for ideas and suggestions for future speakers.