Ian Barbour, the Carleton College Winifred & Atherton Bean Professor of Science, Technology & Society, Emeritus, was one of the former Templeton Prize winners honored by Prince Philip in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on June 1. Prince Philip has awarded the prize annually since 1972; he recently celebrated his 90th birthday and will be ending most of his official duties. He wished to honor some of the previous prize recipients in addition to this year’s recipient, Sir Martin Rees, a noted astrophysicist and former president of the Royal Society. Barbour received the prize in 1999 in a ceremony in the same room. From the balcony of this room Prince William and Princess Kate kissed each other after their wedding last month.

On Minneapolis/Saint Paul ABC affiliate KSTP, Steven Schier, the Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, answered audience questions via Skype about the looming shutdown of the state of Minnesota government. He says the potential for a short-term shutdown “is pretty high.” Those governmental services deemed “essential” by the court systems would remain up and running, says Schier. A web extra of his appearance is available.

Jack Schneider, Robert A. Oden Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Liberal Arts at Carleton College, wrote an opinion piece in the June 10 edition of the Star Tribune entitled “History bends in the hands of ideologues.” In the article, Schneider uses former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s view of Paul Revere’s intentions during his ride as an example of public figures using history to serve their own purposes. “Now it’s Sarah Palin’s turn, and she wants to cast Revere as a proud gun owner. She wants us to see him as someone who supported the wishes of “well-armed persons” to remain that way. She is out to create a new historical narrative,” he writes. Schneider points out that Palin is hardly the first one to use Revere’s ride to serve their own purpose.

An annual Carleton tradition marks the end of the academic year with the celebration of Honors Convocation, where students and faculty are honored for their outstanding achievements. Stephen Kelly, the Dye Family Professor of Music, gave the keynote address, “My Carleton Education.”

In the May 27 edition of the Christian Science Monitor, Steven Schier, the Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, compares two potential Republican U.S. Presidential candidates in current Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and former Alaska governor and one-time vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. “She’s sort of a mini-Palin,” Schier says in the article. Schier feels if both women’ run, that Palin has the clear advantage, as she’s got far more name recognition, higher poll numbers, and a dedicated national fan base. “If Palin runs, then the air goes out of Bachmann’s balloon,” he says.

Steven Schier, the Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, is quoted in the May 26 edition of U.S. News & World Report talking about the stalemate between the Republicans and Democrats on the jobs issue facing the United States. Schier tells the publication “”Both parties are pretty dug-in ideologically about the job issue. The truth may well lie in between these ideological perspectives, but neither side is willing to acknowledge that publicly, because they’re so committed to their previous positions.”

James Morrissey (New York) of Carleton College has been awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese in China during the summer of 2011. Morrissey, who earlier this year was named as a Goldwater Scholarhip winner, is among the approximately 575 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who received a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s CLS Program to study Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla/Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, or Urdu languages.

Matthew Fink ’11 (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), an international relations/political science major, was featured on NBC’s KARE-11 Minneapolis/Saint Paul affiliate on May 10 as he prepares to graduate from Carleton. The station previously covered Fink when he graduated from Eagan (Minn.) High School, detailing how he’d overcome disabilities that were the result of him being born without a spleen and a resulting Septis infection that necessitated the amputation of his legs and arms below the elbow to save his life. The recent segment talks about how Fink’s Watson Fellowship will allow him to explore how gaming connects people with disabilities to the outside world, how his study abroad experience in China has influenced him academically, and how Fink still hopes to attend medical school and become a surgeon.

Robert Bonner, the Marjorie Crabb Garbisch Professor of History and the Liberal Arts, emeritus, at Carleton College, will be awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from his alma mater, the University of Wyoming, during that institution’s commencement on May 7.

Carleton College students Cody Finke ’12 (Seattle) and James Lu Morrissey ’12 (New York) have been named Goldwater Scholarship winners. Finke, a chemistry major, is interested in HIV-related research and says a high-school volunteering experience sparked his science interest. Morrissey, a chemistry and Chinese double major, has pursued his interest in biomedical research since his sophomore year of high school, working in labs at several medical schools during summers and school breaks, with an emphasis on cancer research.