How corrupt is that?  See who was voted the Corruption Jerk of the Year in our online poll -  Michael Johnston's follow up to his article, “Democracy Without Politics” (Scene, Spring 2009).

Gingrich spurs lively dialogue in jam-packed Chapel
Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, easily moved from lecturer to town hall host as he initiated a rigorous dialogue with students and community members who filled every available seat and lined the aisles of Memorial Chapel in late March.
    Gingrich spoke without notes during his lecture, in which he said America is in a dangerous place with an economic situation not seen in 80 years. No one has a clue about how to address the crisis, he said, including members of Congress who are “culpable, not capable.”


(Photo by Andrew Daddio)

    Striking a populist tone at times, Gingrich advised audience members to view the recovery efforts with caution. “Over the next three, four, or five months, read, watch, think,” he said. “Don’t assume that the lessons learned in the last forty years apply. We’re in the early stages of fundamental change. You have to go back to first principles because you don’t have a road map to help you.”
    Gingrich, who served for 20 years in Congress and won widespread recognition for developing the Republican Party’s “Contract with America” in 1994, lambasted the CEOs of Citigroup and other struggling financial institutions. But throwing taxpayer money at failing banks is not the way to go, he said, because it doesn’t create the momentum needed to enact meaningful change.
    “I hope people do listen to him and work to make changes,” Sarah Demaree ’09 said after listening to Gingrich. She is working as an intern this summer in the Washington, D.C., office of Rep. Greg Walden, a Republican from Oregon.
    Gingrich took numerous questions from audience members, ranging from the economy, AIG bonuses, and church-state issues to gay marriage.
    “People react to him strongly, and the question-and-answer session gave it that vitality,” said Robert Kraynak, professor of political science and director of the Center for Freedom & Western Civilization, which co-sponsored the event with the College Republicans. “Because we have begun a new era in American politics with the Obama administration, I believe we need to begin a respectful but critical discussion about whether that administration is leading us in the right direction or the wrong direction and whether America is heading for prosperity or decline,” Kraynak added. “Newt Gingrich is the best person in America today to lead us in this discussion.”
— Brittany Messenger ’10

Kevorkian named Schupf Fellow
In April, Colgate named Theresa Kevorkian ’09 to the Paul J. Schupf Fellowship, which funds two years’ study at Oxford. Having spent the last four years studying Arabic and Islamic history, serving as event director for the Student Lecture Forum, coordinating a Middle Eastern film series, and discovering a love for original research, Kevorkian took it all in stride.
    “She is an organizer by nature, someone who takes on multiple tasks and sees them through,” said Alan Cooper, associate professor of history. “She represents the ideal product of a liberal arts education.”
    Kevorkian originally intended to earn a law degree, but she changed her career path after studying abroad in London and digging in the British National Archives. “My time in London showed me two things,” she said. “First, I enjoyed historical research … Second, I loved traveling and really enjoyed living in England.”
    Thanks to the Schupf Fellowship, Kevorkian will be back on the other side of the pond this fall, reading for an MPhil in Islamic studies and history. She hopes that the knowledge she gains will allow her to take part in Middle Eastern diplomacy after graduation.
    To be eligible for the fellowship, Kevorkian applied for the nationally competitive Rhodes Scholarship through the Colgate Committee on Graduate Fellowships. She was invited to stand as a candidate for the Schupf Fellowship and then applied for admission to Oxford.
    Trustee emeritus Paul J. Schupf ’58 endowed the Schupf Fellowship in 2000, providing select Colgate students with the rare opportunity to continue their studies for two years at St. Anne’s College, one of Oxford’s 39 core institutions. Future funding has been augmented thanks to a special friendship that Schupf developed with current Colgate student Evan Lorey ’10. Schupf and Lorey formed an investment partnership, and their success as investors has led to an additional gift to sustain the Schupf Fellowship for academic year 2010–2011.
    Through his participation, Lorey has provided the largest gift ever made by a Colgate student. While helping a classmate succeed, he absorbed a few lessons for himself: “I’ve learned the value of giving back,” said Lorey. “I realized that I don’t have to wait to give back, to be involved.”
    Kevorkian and other top graduates reap the benefits according to Interim President Lyle Roelofs. “Placing them in preeminent postgraduate programs around the world advances their careers, enhances their potential for future impact, and expands our reputation.”
    Schupf, who has also endowed a chair in his father’s name, the W.S. Schupf Professorship in Far Eastern Studies, and funded the creation of the Paul J. Schupf Studio Arts Center along with many other gifts to Col-gate, has two fundamental hopes for recipients of his fellowship. “All I expect is that they benefit to the greatest possible extent from the experience,” he said. “And that they keep in touch.”

Instrument pushes Colgate to new level of research
A sophisticated instrument tucked in a Wynn Hall laboratory is providing Colgate researchers with critical information about the structure of small molecules and proteins, data that support the most advanced research practices in chemistry and biochemistry. The instrument, a dual-source X-ray diffractometer, was commissioned in December after the university was awarded a highly competitive grant of $410,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF).


Katherine van den Heever ’09, a biochemistry major, works with the dual source X-ray diffractometer at Wynn Hall.  (Photo by Andrew Daddio)

    Chemistry professor Roger Rowlett said Colgate is the first undergraduate institution in the nation to acquire such an instrument. “It provides our undergraduates with direct exposure and training to research methodologies that are essential to protein chemistry,” he said. “We can now more easily tackle complex problems that our peer institutions would find impractical or impossible.”
    Rowlett and his research assistant, Katherine van den Heever ’09, recently demonstrated how the diffractometer works. A crystal, composed of a highly ordered array of protein molecules, is viewed on the instrument’s video camera. It is roughly the size of a pinhead, or about 100 microns in diameter. The crystal is shot through with an X-ray beam, scattering it in many directions. By looking at the many diffraction patterns and running them through a series of computational models, Rowlett and van den Heever can turn what appears like spots on a computer screen into a picture of the protein’s atomic structure. Determining the molecular structure of proteins is critical to understanding how they operate, and that knowledge is vital in the study of diseases and for developing new pharmaceuticals.
    “Proteins are the molecules that do the dirty work in all living organisms, so understanding how they work is fundamental to many things we’re interested in,” said Rowlett.
    Before Colgate acquired the diffractometer, researchers would have to travel to Brookhaven National Laboratory in Stony Brook, N.Y., or a similar lab to conduct tests on crystal samples. “It’s been great to have this instrument here so we have access to it all the time,” said van den Heever, a biochemistry major. “I’ve gained a lot of good experience working on a difficult technique.”
    Rowlett was the lead investigator on the NSF proposal, working with fellow chemistry professors Anthony Chianese and Rick Geier, who will be able to use the instrument for their research of smaller molecules. Rowlett is excited by the research conducted so far and the potential for further collaborative studies. In fact, he led a “crystallography camp,” or training program, in July for about a dozen visiting professors and students who were eager to utilize the power of the diffractometer.
    “This instrument puts Colgate on the leading edge of undergraduate research capability,” said Rowlett. “We’re excited about the possibilities it provides us.”

Seniors, alumna awarded prestigious fellowships
Several graduating seniors and a recent alumna have been awarded prestigious fellowships that will take them around the world to explore their interests, ranging from documentary filmmaking to sustainability-related issues.
    “I ultimately hope to learn more about myself and the world as I embark on this once-in-a-lifetime journey,” said Sachi Schuricht ’09, recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for a year of independent exploration outside the United States. With the $28,000 prize, Schuricht plans to make a documentary film about the international subculture of “speedcubing,”  the sport of compe-titive Rubik’s Cube solving. She will visit speedcubing communities in Japan, China, Indonesia, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Russia, and Hungary.
    Sarah MacKenzie ’09 and Jacquelyn Harris ’08 were accepted into the U.S. Student Fulbright Program, which provides scholarships to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges.
    MacKenzie will teach conversational English to high school students at public and private schools as well as Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia.
    Harris will be working as an English teaching assistant in German schools. She looks forward to acting as a resource for German students to not only further their understanding of English, but also in obtaining a perspective of American culture.
    As a recipient of the St. Andrew’s Society of the State of New York Scholarship, Kelly Henderson ’09 will pursue a graduate degree in sustainable energy systems at the University of Edinburgh. “While conducting research in Colgate’s physics department, I discovered my interest in the technology behind alternative energies,” said Henderson. “This scholarship will help me take my passion for sustainability to the next level.”
    Victoria Martucci ’10 received an honorable mention for her Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship application.
    At press time, decisions were still pending for several other Fulbright applicants as well as nominees for the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship and the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship.

Governor appoints Moore to state commission
Colgate professor Nina M. Moore, associate professor of political science, has been appointed by Gov. David A. Paterson to a four-year term on the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The commission is the state agency responsible for investigating complaints of misconduct against judges of the state unified court system and, where appropriate, determining to admonish, censure, or remove from office those judges found to have engaged in unethical behavior. Composed of 11 members, all of whom serve without pay, the commission has a full-time staff operating from offices in Albany, Rochester, and New York.
    “I’m honored to have been selected by the governor for this commission, which I believe provides important oversight of our state’s judicial system,” said Moore. “My hope is to add as much to the commission’s deliberations and investigations as I am sure I will learn from being part of the process and interacting with the finest jurists and attorneys from across the state.”
    Moore has been at Colgate since 1998. She is author of Governing Race: Politics, Policy and the Politics of Race (Praeger 2000) and various articles and papers on the Supreme Court and Congress. She received her BA from Knox College and her MA and PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. Prior to Colgate, Moore held teaching positions at DePaul University, the University of Minnesota, and Loyola University of Chicago.

Faculty promotions
Congratulations are in order for a few professors for whom the Board of Trustees approved promotion to full professor: Evelyn Hart, mathematics; Damhnait McHugh, biology; and Ann Jane Tierney, psychology.


Students in Professor Krisjon Olson’s Core 182 class on Guatemala participate in a role-playing exercise about the plight of immigrants. (Photo by Andrew Daddio)

Debate Society wins award and ranks 16th in the world
Capping off a triumphant year, the Colgate Debate Society received the Debate Program of the Year award from the Society Advocating More and Better Argumentation. The award is given annually to the college debate team that “best illustrates the qualities associated with the founding ideals of the organization”: winning with grace, losing with class, and demonstrating concern for bringing the community together, even under the pressure of competition.
    Following the 2009 World Uni-versities Debate Championships in Cork, Ireland, the Colgate team was ranked 16th in the world, up from 63rd last year. Beating out teams such as Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford, Colgate is ranked third among U.S. colleges. The rankings are based on total point accumulations for the past five years of competition in the world championships.
    As a conclusion to the academic year, society members gathered in Donovan’s Pub for the championship round of their annual intramural debate tournament called the Class of 1884 President’s Cup. Austin Schwartz ’11 and Henrik Temp ’11 came in first place and split the $500 prize. Coming in third, Steve West ’09 won the tournament’s Top Speaker Award and the Class of 1884 Award, which honors the top senior debater for excellence in debate, judging, and mentoring during the course of his or her participation in the society.
    “I’m already looking forward to fall and our continuing adventures,” said team coordinator John Adams. “Their dedication to the pursuit of debate is inspiring.”


James H. Cone, widely credited with founding the black theology movement, spoke in Memorial Chapel about racism in America.

Prestigious fellowships awarded to professors
What do neorealist films from Italy and the effects of climate change in the Russian far east have in common? Two Colgate professors were recently awarded fellowships to continue their research in these areas beginning in the early fall.
    Luca Caminati, associate professor of Italian and film and media studies, is the recipient of a Paul Mellon/National Endowment for the Humanities Post-Doctoral Rome Prize, a residential fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. During his 11-month fellowship, he will explore the origin of the neorealist movement that began in Italy in 1945 and compare the films from that time with pre–World War II documentaries. Referred to as “springtime in Italy,” neorealism was born when the fascist regime ended, leading to an explosion of artistic freedom, particularly among filmmakers. The American Academy in Rome awards the fellowships to 30 artists and scholars to create an interactive community. Caminati said he hopes to collaborate with a scholar of Italian culture who will “help me define this issue of documentary and realist cinema during the fascist period.” He will be writing a book based on his project, which is provisionally titled The Real Realist: Rossellini, Documentary, and the Formation of Italian Neorealism.
    Jessica Graybill, assistant professor of geography, will be expanding on her previous research when she travels to the Russian far east in August to begin a six-month exploration of “Climate Change, Oil, and Salmon in a Globalizing Resource Periphery: Narratives of Vulnerability Around the Sea of Okhotsk.” Graybill is the recipient of an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship. Graybill will develop her findings through interviews with residents of three communities around the Sea of Okhotsk, participant observation, and reading the current research by Russian scientists. “The Arctic and sub-Arctic areas are some of the first to experience climate shifts, and people who live in these regions and depend on the land for survival are feeling those effects first,” she explained. “Research into how people are dealing with these changes and will be dealing with them in the future can lend greater insight into what’s going to be happening with our environment due to climate change,” she said. “And that’s what motivates me — understanding the human side.”



Live and learn



During spring break, eight students from WRCU radio and the Colgate Activities Board (CAB) traveled to the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, and applied what they learned to their organizations. James Gerken ’11 reports:

The conference is actually a triad of three separate festivals: music, film, and interactive. The trip was a culmination of several months of preparation that resulted in a unique experience.
    We learned that SXSW is a digital-minded festival, from the mobile Wi-Fi hotspots all over downtown to the afternoon panels about blogging and social networking. We fit right in with our own blog, Flickr photo galleries, and Twitter page. Even with the ubiquitous technology, the power of human connections was apparent.
    “I found it surprisingly easy to approach band members, venue managers, and agents, which I know will be invaluable for CAB and for booking shows at Colgate,” said Ceci Menchetti ’11.
    The presence of thousands of people with a similar passion for music provided us with some memorable encounters. Liz Le ’09, who met the manager of a small southern California jazz-metal band, said, “Just talking to her about her experience was one of the most helpful things I did.”
    David Ryan Pokorny ’10 spoke with representatives of other college radio stations and sought inspiration for WRCU. He also attended meetings regarding Internet marketing and promotion and plans to use information from those sessions to start a new student group on campus aimed at promoting Colgate artists.
    Moving from one venue to another, it was clear that SXSW was a unique festival. Bands with little touring experience were performing alongside some of today’s big names, such as Kanye West, and even some seasoned veterans, like two of the biggest headliners, Devo and Metallica.

Faculty retirements

Four members of the faculty — two from the same department — were recognized at commencement for achieving emeritus status upon their retirements.
    As a member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy since 1984, Joseph Amato “is known to his students and fellow faculty as a demanding professor who always seems to find the time to help others understand the intricacies and beauty of physics,” said longtime colleague Tom Balonek, who is also chair of the department. Amato has served the university in many capacities, including twice as department chair, chair of the Scientific Perspectives Core, director of the natural sciences and mathematics division, and most recently as co-author of the Middle States Review. With research interests including the properties of materials and devices at very low temperatures, superconductivity, the physics of impact cratering, and physics education, he has been a major innovator of the physics curriculum both at Colgate and nationwide. Co-author of the textbook Modern Introductory Physics, he developed several novel laboratory apparati and experiments that have received national awards. He received his PhD in experimental solid state physics from Rutgers University.
    As a member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy since 1968, Shimon Malin has taught popular courses on the physics of space-time, relativity, and physics and philosophy. “Shimon is known as a patient, gentle, thoughtful teacher, who has challenged science and non-science students alike as they studied to understand and appreciate our place in the universe,” said Balonek. Malin holds a PhD in theoretical quantum mechanics from the University of Colorado. He has authored dozens of papers and a textbook in his research specialties, which include the foundations of quantum mechanics, general relativity, and cosmology. His recent book Nature Loves to Hide: Quantum Mechanics and Reality, a Western Perspective, aimed at a general audience, probes the relationship between science and philosophy.
    Dierk O. Hoffmann joined the Colgate faculty in 1977 after completing a PhD at the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 1973. He had also done postdoctoral work funded by the German National Research Funds, and worked in educational publishing. His scholarly work has focused on methods and theory of critical text editions, German literary life in early 20th-century Prague, and second-language acquisition. In recent years, his passion shifted somewhat toward technology and the classroom, an area where he has been one of the pioneers at Colgate. His work brought living German authors and contemporary German theater into the Colgate classroom — not only via electronic media, but also in person — and in turn took Colgate out into the world through his many collaborations, both at home and abroad. “All of his work — as a scholar and as a teacher — has been marked by a tremendous enthusiasm for the unconventional,” said Alan Swensen, chair of the Department of German. “Dierk inspired generation after generation of our students with this same enthusiasm.”
    Ibrahim A. Ahmad joined the Department of Mathematics in 2005 as Neil R. Grabois Professor of mathematics. His career as a respected expert in nonparametric statistics, life testing and reliability, actuarial science, and applied probability included various administrative posts both in academia and in industry. He also served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Nonparametric Statistics. Among his honors, Ahmad, who holds a PhD in statistics from Florida State University, is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, American Statistical Association, International Statistical Institute, and the Royal Statistical Society. “While at Colgate, Professor Ahmad has shared his enthusiasm for his field with many students at the introductory and the advanced level,” said Evelyn Hart, chair of the department.