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Sometimes being active in your college and also in your home community isn't as difficult as you might think. For Rachel Bigelow '10, it's the same thing this summer. The Ilion native, funded by the Levitt Community Service Fellowship, has taken up the reins of the Utica Refugee Community Garden, located at the F.X. Matt Apartments, one of the refugee housing units in Utica. Bigelow is working with Judith Owens-Manley, associate director for community research at the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center. Her project was started last year by Jenney Stringer '08, who also received funding from a Levitt Center grant. Stringer negotiated with the Utica Municipal Housing Authority (UMHA) to receive permission to start the garden, and then worked with volunteers and residents to get the project off the ground.

Elizabeth Kessler '10 finds that helping people can be a full-time job. For her internship this summer, Kessler is working at the Family Partnership Center (FPC) in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. She helps the president of the center to coordinate initiatives and facilitate collaboration between the 23 organizations in the building, in order enrich relationships within the center and improve its services. "If these organizations do not reach out to each other, the FPC becomes just one more regular old office building," she says.

I've always found immigration really intriguing," says Meaghan LaVangie, a rising senior from South Portland, Maine. "Maybe because it's so controversial, that's why I'm drawn to it." LaVangie will spend this summer working on a project funded by an Emerson Foundation grant, in collaboration with Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Shelley McConnell. LaVangie will investigate the relationship between civil society and democracy by studying Border Angels and No More Deaths, two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that give humanitarian aid to illegal immigrants on the Mexican border.

"I've always found immigration really intriguing," says Meaghan LaVangie, a rising senior from South Portland, Maine. "Maybe because it's so controversial, that's why I'm drawn to it." LaVangie will spend this summer working on a project funded by an Emerson Foundation grant, in collaboration with Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Shelley McConnell. LaVangie will investigate the relationship between civil society and democracy by studying Border Angels and No More Deaths, two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that give humanitarian aid to illegal immigrants on the Mexican border.

Emily Chamberlain '10 feels she's been thrown into the real world with a vengeance. The rising junior is interning for the Honorable William K. Sessions III, a U.S. district judge for the District of Vermont and vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Assistant Professor of Art Rebecca Murtaugh is currently showing her work titled "To Mark a Significant Space in the Living Room" in the exhibition "Made in New York 2008" at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, N.Y. The show opened on June 21 and runs until August 23. Murtaugh will give a public talk on August 3 at 2 p.m. in the gallery. For more information please visit www.schweinfurthartcenter.org.

The Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center and the Diversity and Social Justice Project are focused on related themes this year: "sustainability: environment, health and poverty" and "environmental justice," respectively. Together they are sponsoring a panel discussion titled "Environmental Justice and Sustainability" on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 4:10 p.m. in the K-J auditorium.

Hamilton's Emerson Gallery is hosting three new exhibitions of Chinese art showcasing both traditional and contemporary works this semester. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4, from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Nearly 300 students registered to vote and completed absentee ballot requests on Tuesday, Aug. 26, as a result of the efforts of Hamilton Engage 08. Two local television stations, NBC-affiliate WKTV and all news cable station News10Now, have reported on the group's success in registering students.

This weekend, the Stanley Theatre will open its doors for a unique piece of community action and entertainment. For the Good Inc., a non-profit organization started by Kirkland alumna Cassandra Harris-Lockwood '74, has collaborated with the youth of Utica and Cornhill to stage The Wonderful Wizard of Was, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's children's classic set in Utica. The show, which is written and produced by Harris-Lockwood, features some of the best-known songs from Quincy Jones' The Wiz and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The Utica production is directed by T. K. Howard. Doris Yager, originator of the locally famed Rhythmlites, is the associate producer, and Hamilton Professor of Music Michael "Doc" Woods serves as music director, as well as the arranger and pit conductor.