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Advocate, May 2009, Vol. [20], No. [7], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

From the Editor’s Desk: Writer’s Block (p. 2)

Adjuncting: Stifling the Economy of Ideas. Renée McGarry (p. 4)

Political Analysis: Letter from Dakar. Michael Busch (p. 7)

Foul Play at Bard? Controversy Ensues After College Terminates Kovel. John Boy (p. 8)

Midlife Crisis for a Movement Icon: At 95, the “Peace Pentagon” Building is Hardly in its Dotage; Is it Nonetheless Nearing the End of Its Days? John Otrompke (p. 10)

Masthead (p. 2)

CUNY News in Brief (p. 3)

Student Enrollment to Hit All-Time High

Even on the Cheap, Education Costs are Difficult to Bear

While …

Growing Change: Local Foods Movements And The Emergence Of Global Social Change, Annie S. Virnig

Political Science Honors Projects

Local foods movements increasingly emerge as social movements with the power to challenge global norms. This paper develops around the question: can local foods movements create holistic sustainability at the global level? I begin by analyzing impetuses behind contemporary local foods movements. I then evaluate sustainability in three case studies – Auroville, India; the Twin Cities, United States; and Southern Africa. I ultimately argue that local foods movements can create sustainable change if they: (1) develop organically within their locale, (2) account for ecological, social, and economic implications of their actions, and (3) build translocal connections across multiple geographic scales.

A Political Construct Of Empathy: From Evolutionary Origins To Political Manifestations, John Westly Risher

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Theories Of Poverty/The Poverty Of Theory, Barbara Stark

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Political Application Of Humor, Matthew K. Harris

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In the weeks preceding the 2008 US Presidential Election, both major party candidates and their running mates made appearances on several late night comedy programs. Candidates told jokes during campaign speeches. Advertisements from both sides featured humor. In examining the campaigns of candidates since the dawn of radio and television, humor is clearly a weapon politicians believe to be important when running for office. In my Capstone Project, I hoped to answer a very basic question: Why? Psychologically, what factors allow humor to be a valuable tool for politicians in appealing to voters?

For the following thesis, I examined research …

Informal Institutions: Proportional Representation And Single Party Dominance In South Africa, Sebastian Watt

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

We Speak For Ourselves: Grassroots Movements In The Struggle For Environmental Justice, Christopher O'Brien

Global Studies Student Scholarship

This literature review and thesis examine two main issues, one on grassroots and community organizing and the other discussing the implications of environmental racism. The paper examines the nature of why low income and minority communities experience a disproportionate amount of environmental injustices, and what can be done at the grassroots level to combat this. Through a review of literature on both community/grassroots organizing and the prevalence of environmental racism within the United States, along with experiential findings through a community partnership, the issues of remedying environmental racism and the effectiveness of the remedies are explored. Environmental racism is a …

'Conflict Analysis:' Exploring The Role Of Kuwait In Mediation In The Middle East, Abdullah R. Al Saleh

Dissertations and Theses

The Middle East is a large geographical area, and while people think of it as a homogeneous area in terms of language and culture, the region IS actually more of a melting pot of ethnic, religious, racial and linguistic groups. Understanding the distinctions between these groups is of paramount importance to understanding the region. Historical rivalries between some groups, for example, Sunni and Shia Muslims, go back hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. Yet, people continue with life. How do countries continue to deal with each other when there are open, unsettled questions, such as boundaries or control of islands? Is …

Negotiating With Separatist Terrorists, Dottie Bond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is in the interest of this thesis to investigate why governments negotiate with separatist terrorists, and why those negotiations succeed or fail. The four cases analyzed in this thesis include: Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, (1983-2009); Russia and the Chechen Republic, (1994-2009); Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, (1993-1994); and Great Britain and the Irish Republican Army, (1985-2009). In this study, four basic questions are addressed: When and why do governments agree to negotiate with separatist terrorists? Is negotiation a viable solution to ending historic ethnic conflicts? Are certain peace agreements and negotiation strategies more …

Interview With Jeremiah Wright, Arlen Parsa

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 175 minutes

Oral history interview of Jeremiah Wright by Arlen Parsa

Rev. Wright begins by describing his family, his “atypical” childhood, and his early aspirations to become a seminary professor. He explains the impact that the civil rights sit-ins had on his perspective and direction of his career path, attending college, joining the military, and entering the seminary. He explains how he became involved in the anti-Apartheid movement through his acquaintance with South African students in Chicago, his participation in TransAfrica and Commission for Racial Justice, and his involvement in divestment efforts within the churches. He reviews the history …

Getting Off The Victim's Back: A Critical Look At Modern Liberalism, Joe Drexler-Dreis

XULAneXUS

In this paper, I investigate modern liberalism by using radical expressions of protest against the position of blacks in American society as a paradigm. As examples of radical protest, I primarily use Nat Turner‟s vision, but also incorporate the ideas of John Brown, Malcolm X, and Black Power, while I use the modern civil rights movement as an example of modern liberalism. Using these examples, I make the argument that unlike modern liberalism, which justifies an oppressive global political and economic system, radical protest movements epitomized by Nat Turner‟s revolt refused to settle for material concessions at the expense of …

Volume 02, Joseph A. Mann, Kathryn J. Greenly, Scott E. Jenkins, Andrew E. Puckette, Daniel M. Honey, Jeffery P. Ravenhorst, Jamie Elizabeth Mesrobian, Thomas Scott, Jay Crowell, Sarah Spangenberg, Amy S. Eason, Kenny Wolfe, Liz Hale, Rachel Bouchard, Will Semonco, Carley York, Ryan Higgenbothom, Adrienne Heinbaugh, Melissa Dorton, Madeline Hunter, June Ashmore, Clark Barkley, Jay Haley

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Mike's Nite: New Jazz for an Old Instrument by Joseph A. Mann

Investigation of the use of Cucumis Sativus for Remediation Of Chromium from Contaminated Environmental Matrices: An Interdisciplinary Instrumental Analysis Project by Kathryn J. Greenly, Scott E. Jenkins, and Andrew E. Puckette

Development of GC-MS and Chemometric Methods for the Analysis of Accelerants in Arson Cases by Scott Jenkins

Building and Measuring Scalable Computing Systems by Daniel M. Honey and Jeffery P. Ravenhorst

Nomini Hall: A Case Study in the Use of Archival Resources as Guides for Excavation at An Archaeological Site by …

Recent Kremlin Aggression: The Bear Is Back; But Is Russia Ready To Be A Superpower Again?, Blythe Erin Adams

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Barack Obama, Implicit Bias, And The 2008 Election, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Gregory S. Parks

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The election of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth president of the United States suggests that the United States has made great strides with regard to race. The blogs and the pundits may laud Obama’s win as evidence that we now live in a “post-racial America.” But is it accurate to suggest that race no longer significantly influences how Americans evaluate each other? Does Obama’s victory suggest that affirmative action and antidiscrimination protections are no longer necessary? We think not. Ironically, rather than marking the dawn of a post-racial America, Obama’s candidacy reveals how deeply race affects judgment.

Presidential Success In Congress: Factors That Determine The President's Ability To Influcence Congressional Voting, Christine Gibbs

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

This study examines the factors that contribute to presidential success in Congress. Results show that, overall, presidential popularity, the president’s party’s control of Congress and the misery index positively and significantly affect presidential success in Congress, whereas party is not a significant factor. The study also demonstrates that the honeymoon period does not increase a president’s success rate. The results indicate that these variables interact differently within foreign policy compared to domestic policy and in the Senate compared to the House.

Contesting National Identities In An Ethnically Homogeneous State: The Case Of Armenian Democratization, Arus Harutyunyan

Dissertations

This study of recent Armenian identity politics raises two intertwined theoretical questions. First, it asks whether there can be contesting national identities in an ethnically homogeneous state. Second, following theoretical propositions of liberal nationalism it explores whether identity contestation in an ethnically homogeneous state affects political trust, perceptions of social justice, and democratic attitudes.

My research focuses on the analysis of politically relevant national identity issues: Genocide and Relations with Turkey, War in Mountainous Karabagh and Possible Solutions, and Dual Citizenship for Diaspora, and the ways these are perceived by the public and political elites in the Armenian Republic. To …

The Courts As Policy-Makers : A Medical Malpractice Case Study, Jennifer A. Williams

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I argue that the courts are not effective policy-makers because they are a channel for resolving disputes between individuals. I first present the basics of medical malpractice litigation and some of the current literature on the courts as policy-makers. I then address the cultural trends that have made this form of individual dispute resolution common and acceptable, particularly for my case study of medical malpractice. Then I show how some of the individualized aspects of the legal system distort the deterrent effect of lawsuits. I focus on the poor fit between actual negligence and lawsuits that results …

Vote For Me: Appeals To Voters In Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speeches, Donna R. Hoffman, Alison D. Howard

Collected Faculty Scholarship

With the proliferation of primary elections, party conventions began to ratify the choice of nominee typically already long decided. Conventions, however, still provide a forum to highlight and promote the parties' respective nominees. Above all, the convention offers a chance to convince (or, at least begin convincing) the general electorate that it should cast a ballot for the party’s nominee. A candidate’s nomination speech signals the launch of the general election campaign and provides each party’s nominee with a significant rhetorical opportunity. Up to this point in the presidential contest, primarily partisans have been engaged, the general electorate has not. …

The Unanimous Decisions Of The Supreme Court Of Canada As A Test Of The Attitudinal Model, Donald R. Songer, Julia Siripurapu

Faculty Publications

Most of the empirical work on the decision making of justices on the Supreme Court of Canada has taken as its exclusive focus the divided decisions of the Court. In contrast to this extensive body of research on divided decision, the much more limited knowledge of unanimous decisions is troubling because such decisions constitute nearly three-quarters of all of the formal decisions of the Court. The analysis reported below provides a first step towards understanding the neglected nature of unanimous decisions. This investigation of the nature and causes of unanimity in the Supreme Court of Canada explores two competing explanations: …

Reshaping The World Order: How Washington Should Reform International Institutions, Stephen Brooks, William C. Wohlforth

Dartmouth Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Stk’Lara Katılım Potansiyellerinin Örgütsel Vatandaşlık Davranışı Boyutlarından Sivil Erdem Boyutu Çerçevesinde İncelenmesi, Kemal Demirci, Ali Erbaş, Ceren Giderler Atalay

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Competing Social Movements And Local Political Culture : Voting On Ballot Propositions To Ban Same-Sex Marriage., Arnold Fleischmann, Laura Moyer

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Objective: This paper uses social movement theory to explain variation in local support for proposed constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage in 22 states during 2004 and 2006.

Methods: The analysis uses OLS regression with county-level data to explain variation in local support for the amendments.

Results: Support for the amendments in both years was positively related to the proportion of a county that was evangelical or Republican, but negatively related to its level of education and proportion of Catholics. Amendment support was positively related in only one year to the percentage of a county’s population that …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 84, No. 21 [31], Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles:

• Hale, Marianne. Former ALIVE Center Director Signs Plea Agreement – Katrina Phelps
• Barczak, Mary. Student Government Association Sets Date for Student Regent Election
• Hale, Marianne & Josh Moore. Unexpected Outcome – Mike Reynolds, J. Marshall Hughes, Elections
• Sanchez, Armando. A Thousand Words – Rodrix Brooks, Prisoners
• Hale, Marianne. Western Sells $47.6 Million in Bonds – Van Meter Hall, Gordon Ford College of Business, Preston Health & Activities Center, Ivan Wilson Hall, Thompson Science Complex, Parking Lots
• Erskine, Anne. Editorial Cartoon re: Journalistic Freedom! – Roller Coaster
• Extra! Extra! …

Insights From Past Experience With Human Dynamics In Military Operations, Randy Borum

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Social Networks And Correct Voting, Scott D. Mcclurg, Anand E. Sokhey

Working Papers

Decades of research suggest that social interaction influences opinion formation and affects voting behavior. However, recent work concerning the nexus between deliberation and democratic practice--particularly in the American context--has re-focused attention on the normative consequences of socially-driven political behavior. Among the most common criticisms of interpersonal networks are that most people have very insular social circles, and that when they do not they are unlikely to engage in politics. In this paper we provide evidence that such pessimistic assessments are unwarranted, though for somewhat unexpected reasons. Using data from the American Component of the 1992 Cross-National Election Project and the …

The Dark Side Of The Band Of Brothers: Explaining Unit Participation In War Crimes, Christi L. Siver

Political Science Faculty Publications

On July 25, 1950, an American infantry unit killed a large number of refugees near the South Korean village of No Gun Ri. On December 12, 1948, a British patrol killed twenty-five civilians near the Malayan village of Batang Kali. On March 16, 1993, members of the Canadian Airborne Regiment beat a Somali teenager to death. While each of these events is horrific, they also represent only one side of the story; many units in these conflicts, facing similar threats, did not kill civilians. This variation raises a critical question: why do some units participate in war crimes while others …

Applying The Information Age Combat Model: Quantitative Analysis Of Network Centric Operations, Sean Deller, Shannon R. Bowling, Ghaith A. Rabadi, Andreas Tolk, Michael I. Bell

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

The nature of and the approach to command and control is evolving in order to meet the challenges of Information Age warfare. One of the main tasks of command and control is the arrangement of the assets within a combat force in order to ensure their ability to manage and exploit information. Connectivity between the various assets represents existence, capacity, reliability, and other attributes of links establishing the connectivity. The Information Age Combat Model was introduced by Cares in 2005 to contribute to the development of an understanding of the influence of connectivity on force effectiveness that can lead eventually …

Becoming Good Europeans? Globality, The Eu And The Potential To Realize Nietzsche's Idea Of Europe, Michael J. Mcneal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation takes up Friedrich Nietzsche’s notion of ‘good Europeanism’ and his related idea of Europe to show how the former disposition may be cultivated to achieve the latter—a reinvigorated culture on the continent. It does so by applying his vitalist politics and power ontology (will to power hypothesis and theory of decadence) to critique European integration in the broader context of globalization. The analysis enables me to theorize how “healthy” individuals might exploit opportunities in the present to become 'good Europeans', with the aim of realizing Nietzsche’s quasi-cosmopolitan idea of Europe. It is my primary contention that Nietzsche’s diagnosis …

2009: Final Report "Is It Time To Change The Drinking Age In The United States?"

CACTUS--Citizens' Assembly for Critical Thinking About the United States

The 2009 Citizens' Assembly for Critical Thinking about the United States must study proposals for changing the current legal drinking age, identify and analyze the perceived problems leading to these proposals as well as arguments in support of the current legal drinking age, and decide if a change is warranted, at what level of government should it be implemented, and whether other provisions should be mandated as part of the change.

Coughlin And Cleveland, Karen G. Ketchaver

Masters Theses

Father Charles E. Coughlin was one of the most prominent, and most controversial, figures in the United States in the 1930s and in the early years of the 1940s. This Canadian-born cleric rose from the life of an ordinary parish priest to becoming one of the leading radio phenomena of his day, masterfully using the new medium to command a vast audience. Coughlin began his radio career addressing religious subjects, but he expanded into the realm of politics by the early 1930s. His views became more and more extreme, and, by the latter part of the decade, he became increasingly …