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Professor of Chinese Hong Gang Jin participated in the annual conference of National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) in Madison, Wisc., in April. Currently the vice president of the council, Jin attended the executive board meeting and the assembly meeting with 14 member organizations representing more than 20 world languages. During the conference, she also chaired a workshop conducted by national experts on "National Foreign Language Standards and Performance Guidelines" and presented a research paper titled "Design curricular objectives for less commonly taught languages: a model based on learning outcomes."

D.C. Hamiltonians were out and about this past Saturday, April 28, lending a hand to help the local community. Hamilton fielded a team as part of the “Hands on D.C. 2007” volunteer project, which sends groups of volunteers to various public schools in the District of Columbia.  According to Washington D.C. Alumni Association President Paul Reichert ’90 “The eight of us on the Hamilton team spent the day painting a classroom, turning it from a dirty and peeling yellow classroom into a bright and fresh blue (an appropriate shade for the Hamilton team). Everyone had a great time and we're eager to do a similar volunteer event next year.”

Al Gore, the 45th vice president of the United States, was the 15th lecturer in the Sacerdote Great Names Series at Hamilton College on Thursday, April 26, in the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House. Mr. Gore's lecture on the threat of global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," was accompanied by the multi-media presentation on which his best-selling book and Academy Award-winning film of the same name are based. Gore asked those in attendance to take on global warming, calling it "the most dangerous crisis we have ever faced in our civilization."

Emily Alinikoff, a candidate for May graduation from Hamilton College, has been awarded a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship to Turkey, where she will teach English.

Former Vice President Al Gore met with Hamilton students from two science classes in a visit before his lecture and multimedia presentation at Hamilton on April 26. Gore had a question and answer discussion with students from Professor Gene Domack’s Global Warming seminar and Professor Ian Rosenstein and Domack’s Global Change sophomore seminar classes. That evening he presented  An Inconvenient Truth to a crowded Margaret Bundy Scott Field House. An Inconvenient Truth brings home Gore's argument that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue but rather as the biggest moral challenge facing our global civilization.

A panel discussion on Darfur will take place on Monday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel. The panel will feature Professor of Government Steve Orvis, Ambassador Edward Walker ‘62 and John Stewart Professor of Philosophy Richard Werner. The panel was organized by students in Werner’s theory and practice of non-violence class.

In confirmation of Hamilton College’s commitment to maintaining and developing policies that are environmentally sound, President Joan Hinde Stewart signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment on Thursday, April 26, prior to former Vice President Al Gore’s arrival on campus. Gore is the Sacerdote Great Names Series speaker at the college’s Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

A few days after the celebration of Earth Day and on the eve of former Vice President Gore's visit to campus, seven Hamilton College students and a Hamilton professor joined Utica Mayor Timothy Julian at a signing of the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement (PDF).  The event took place on Thursday, April 26, at 11 a.m. at the Utica City Hall. The agreement was sent by students and faculty to Mayor Julian along with their commitment to assist in addressing environmental issues.

Greg Hartt '08, Tim Evans '05, co-director of the Center for Molecular Design Karl Kirschner and Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields published an article titled "In Search of CS2(H2O)n=1-4 Clusters" in the April 21 issue of Journal of Chemical Physics. The research has potential impact for understanding the uncertainties in global warming.

Nine students who spent this semester volunteering with refugees in nearby Utica, N.Y., and learning about the refugee resettlement process in the United States gave a presentation on April 25 sharing what they have learned about the experience. The students of Government 202, “Immigrants and Refugees in the U.S.,” spoke about the process by which refugees come to be resettled in the U.S. and the challenges they face in adapting to their new home. They also told the personal stories of refugees they came to meet through their volunteer work with Project SHINE (Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders) in Utica.