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Jason McGavin '12 and Matthew Baxter '11 understand that a peptide's structure can say a lot about how it functions in the body. This summer, they are studying two versions of the peptide Piscidin – Piscidin 1 and Piscidin 3. They will work alongside Associate Professor of Chemistry Myriam Cotten, whose previous work in this field has illustrated that there is a distinct difference between them. 

Three Hamilton College faculty members will be promoted to the rank of professor, effective July 1. Associate professors Gordon Jones, physics; Craig Latrell, theatre; and Ann Owen, economics, will receive the title of professor.

In mid-sentence, Professor of Biology Ernest Williams interrupted his thought to comment on a bird that caught his eye: "Oh, there's a yellow warbler – male, yellowy, with chestnut stripe on the breast," he observed. Seeing Williams in his element is like reading an interactive encyclopedia – Williams talks animatedly about nature and the creatures that inhabit it, such as painted turtles, blue herons and Canada geese. He is conducting what is called a "BioBlitz" this summer with Carly Andrascik '11, an environmental studies major.

Deborah Barany '11 and Anthony Sali '10 describe motor control in a way that would remind a listener of flip-book animation. An action consists of smaller, partial movements, that when assembled together and in the right fashion, trigger the complete maneuver. Similarly, flip books rely on persistence of vision to create the illusion of fluid motion, when in reality, they are just discontinuous images stapled together.

Assistant Professor of Government Peter Cannavo contributed an op-ed, "Ignorance a Weapon in Climate Debate," to the Syracuse Post-Standard (6/21/09). Cannavo writes "Conservatives have long professed skepticism about the idea of anthropogenic climate change, despite decades of research and reams of studies and warnings from the world's leading climatologists. Such skepticism becomes even less credible when those articulating it lack even a grade-school understanding of the science."

De Bao Xu, professor of Chinese, was invited to give a talk (co-authored with Hong Gang Jin) titled "Evaluation and Measurement of Participation and Interactivity in Participatory Web Tools" at ICICE 2009, the 6th International Conference on Internet Chinese Education, Taipei, Taiwan, June 19-21. President of Republic of China Yingjiu Ma delivered the welcome speech at the opening ceremony of the conference, which welcomed more than 500 professionals.

When Courtney Flint '11 was five years old, she learned what it was like to be a colonial American. Her aunt belonged to a group called Past Masters whose members dress in period clothing and resurrect the behavior, skills and lifestyles of Americans during the Revolutionary War era. Flint joined her aunt in these activities and watched the battle re-enactments that were often popular attractions. The raucous canon blasts and trim uniforms intrigued Flint, and as she grew older, she began to wonder about the relationship between the soldiers and the citizenry. 

A team of 10 faculty, administrators and staff attended the Adapting Curriculum for Student Success (ACSS) Summer Symposium at Utica College on June 11 and 12. The topics of discussion included making courses and services more accessible to students with disabilities and learning differences without altering academic expectations.

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the publishing of Michael Harrington's article "Our Fifty Million Poor" in Commentary magazine (a liberal journal of the time), James L. Ferguson Professor of History Maurice Isserman wrote an essay titled "Michael Harrington: Warrior on Poverty" about Harrington and his essay for The New York Times Sunday Book Review.

David Stoughton, resident lighting designer and director of technical theatre, recently served as guest designer at the Ohio Light Opera in Wooster, Ohio. He designed the lighting for the company's production of Mlle. Modiste which will open on July 1 and run through August. This is Stoughton's third design for the opera which is now in its 31st season.