Voter ID law upheld by SCOTUS

Hamilton alumnus, Government major, visits campus

Stuart Ingis '93 gave a talk titled "The Policy of Privacy" concerning Internet law and privacy protection on Thursday, April 24. Ingis, a partner in the law firm of Venable LLP, discussed current topics of debate around Internet policy and the possible implications that shaping Internet policy has for democracy in the near and distant future.

Green Party Wins Mock Election Debate

The Green Party, led by Sam Dwyer, won a mock parliamentary debate sponsored by the students in Government 112: Introduction to Comparative Politics. The debate was held in the fictitious country of West Europa on April 17 and was the capstone of a semester-long project in the course taught by Assistant Professor of Government Sharon Werning Rivera.

Six party leaders faced a lively and enthusiastic audience as they debated issues pertinent to real European countries, such as immigration policy, unemployment, regional separatism, and the war in Iraq. In addition to Dwyer, debate participants included Heather Prigg, Ricky Bottini, Steve Mello, Sophie Boehm, and Joe Buicko. Parties ran the gamut of Western Europe's political spectrum, from neo-fascist to communist, and included—aside from the Green Party—the Conservative Revolutionist Party, Progressive Economic Party, United Socialist Party, New Workers’ Party, and Cultural Preservation Party.

The panel of expert judges, which decided the winner based on the content and delivery of the presentations, included Professor of Communication Catherine Phelan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Shelley McConnell, Visiting Assistant Professor of Government, Oral Communication Lab Peer Tutor Ntokozo Xaba '08, and David R. Foster '10.

Government Department Dinner

May 5, 6PM. Don't miss it!

Bitter beer face

The image the Clinton campaign should have used to capitalize on "bittergate" in Pennsylvania.

A 21st century campaign

Seniors dissect politics

Don't miss your colleagues speaking about their research for senior theses. Reception in Little Pub follows each set of presentations.

Monday April 21 7PM

Matt D'Amico, "Digital Pluralism: The Internet and Interest Groups"
Jack Prior, "Don't Tase Me Bro, but Vote for Me: Youtube and Campaigns"
Sarah Bryant, "Money and Politics: Assessing BCRA in 2006 and 2008"
Reid Snyder, "The Selling of the President 1968-2008: The Changing Role of Campaign Consultants"

Location Science G041

Tuesday, April 22 7PM
Richard Bryan, "Before Steroids: The Political History of Congress and Baseball"
Jon Glusband, "Magnum Force: Gun Control as a Campaign Issue"
Katie Plummer, "We are the Change:The Electoral Significance of Generation Y"

Location Science G041

Wednesday April 23 7PM

Garrett Reeb, "Barack Obama and the Politics of Racial Identity"
Ann Bickerton, "Is a Woman's Place in the White House? Hillary Clinton and the Politics of Gender"
Emanuel Rosario, "Issues of Race and Ethnicity in Disaster Preparedness and Planning: The Case of Katrina" Location: Kirner-Johnson 223

Who Killed the Electric Car?

On Wednesday, April 16, Democracy Matters is showing the documentary film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" at 8pm in the KJ Red Pit (109). The showing is free and open to the public, and will include a discussion at the end of the film about its political implications, and those of alternative energy, climate change, and the environment more broadly.

Contact: karowe@hamilton.edu
RSVP: Facebook

John Hewko '79 visits campus

John Hewko '79, Vice President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, was on campus on April 9 and 10th, giving a public talk, meeting with students at the Career Center, and visiting Professor Orvis's class. Hewko was a Government major and lacrosse player at Hamilton. To see a summary of his distinguished career, click on title.

50 greatest political moments

Mock Trial

From Wenxi Li :

Hamilton College Mock Trial (HCMT), started by Alex Kaufman '06 and Adam Gordon '06, is now in its sixth year of competition. This past March, one of Hamilton's competitiong teams qualified for the American Mock Trial Association National Tournament in Hamilton, Ohio. This is the second consecutive year that a Hamilton team has qualified for the national tournament. The eight person team who traveled to Ohio included Andrew Bjorkman '10, Megha Hoon '11, Caitlin Fitzsimons '11, Eddie Ajaeb '11, Liz Farrington '10, Tim Kubarych '10, Ngoc Nguyen '11, and Wenxi Li '10. Liz Farrington was awarded an Outstanding Witness Award.

The Mock Trial team travels to compete in a few invitational tournaments each year, such as at Lafayette College and Cornell Univeristy, and attends the regional competition at Syracuse University in February. Comprised of students who play lawyer and witness roles, the team is given one civil or criminal case to prepare each year for competition. The team practices a few times each week, and is always looking for new memebers. If you are interested in joining, please be sure to look out for our e-mails!

Student Summit on the Environment

Hamilton is a member of the group sponsoring the event.

Summer Seminar in Leadership Skills

Summer seminars in free market economics

Scholarships available. Click on title for more info.

Obama in 30 seconds

I recently received the email below. Any budding media gurus?

Hi again,

I wrote a few weeks ago about MoveOn.org's "Obama in 30 Seconds."

I wanted to let you know that we've set a new deadline for submissions: April 15th.

f you know of students who are working on an ad, it'd be great if you could let them know about the extra time. And if you posted the flyer that we sent, we've posted a new one with the updated dates at: http://cdn.moveon.org/content/pdfs/Obama30Flyer-color.pdf

Thanks so much for your time!

-Laura Dawn, Creative Director, MoveOn.org

Citizen Schools

Citizen Schools, a remarkably successful non-profit organization providing apprenticeships, mentoring, and after school learning to middle school students, has launched a paid Teaching Fellow program leading to an M.A. degree in education. To find out more about the program click on title of this post. The Executive Director of Citizen Schools Boston is John Werner '92.

Comings and goings

Congratulations to Nick Tampio, who has accepted a tenure track position at Fordham University. He served Hamilton admirably as a visiting professor.

Congratulations to Peter Cannavo, who was hired in a national search for a newly authorized tenure track position in environmental politics. Peter will be on a research leave in 2008-2009, and the department is in the process of hiring a visiting professor to teach his courses.

After a term as Associate Dean of Students, Phil Klinkner will be on research leave in 2008-2009.

Carol Drogus continues her service as Associate Dean of Students. She will be replaced again next year by Shelley McConnell.

Cheng Li continues his leave at the Brookings Institution. He will be replaced again by Dingding Chen.

Frank Anechiarico will be teaching at the Air Force Academy in 2008-2009. He will be replaced by Morgan Marietta, who will teach Con Law, APP, Parties and Elections, and a new course called the Politics of the Supreme Court. .

Rob Martin will direct the Semester in Washington Program in fall, 2008. Ted Eismeier will direct the program in spring, 2009.

Hamilton was Ahead of the Curve

In case you had not heard . . .

When the House of Representatives returned from recess in January, the Rayburn and Longworth cafeterias greeted us with a new food service provider. The new service is more ecologically friendly, sustainable, part of Speaker Pelosi's "Greening the Capitol."

But those white and green coffee cups STILL get too hot. Thankfully, I went to Hamilton College and spent enough time in the Green Cafe at McEwen dining hall to remember that.

Perhaps when Amb. Walker holds his discussion on April 10, I'll bring a cup of Cafe Kilimanjaro from Cannon carry-out, just for old time sake (even if it isn't 8:30 in the morning).

Beyond Red State Blue State

Click on title to see CSM's interactive electoral map.

What you need to know about race for Democratic nomination for president