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Collaborative Research (continued)
Skidmore students and their professors have worked together
on numerous research projects. This kind of high-level scholarship
does more than enhances a student's understanding in a given
disipline; the practical, hands-on experience and "real-world"
accomplishment also instill a sense of confidence that will
benefit a graduate in any career. Projects from recent years
appear below, arranged by academic area.
Project: Elevating Associate
Justices: The Recipe for Downplaying Ideology in the Appointment
of the Chief Justice? Participants: Assistant Professor Beau Breslin of Government
and Jared Gottlieb '04 Plan: The history and politics surrounding the elevation
of associate justices to the position of chief justice will
be explored. Half of all chief justices selected in the twentieth
century were either sitting associate justices at the time of
the promotion or, in the case of Charles Evans Hughes, had served
previously on the Supreme Court. It will be argued that these
are unique appointments in that they effectively insulate the
appointer (the president) from the political blacklash that
often accompanies federal judicial selections. It will be contended
that elevating an associate justice (who has already been confirmed
by the Senate) allows the president to appoint ideologues with
far less concern about the political costs that typically accompany
appointments of this magnitude.
Project: Free Speech and Internet
Violence: A Justification for Broad Constitutional Protection Participants: Professor Beau Breslin and Jon Eick '02 Plan: The primary focus of this project will be to explore
the relationship between First Amendment jurisprudence and the
growing tendency to use the Internet as a source for the dissemination
of violent information. In the piece, we will ask to what extent
should the First Amendment protect speech that is so violent
in nature as to warrant exclusion from the protective confines
of the First Amendment's free speech doctrine. Our aim is to
propose that this variety of speecha variety that includes
blueprints for the construction of pipe bombs and other forms
of significant destructionmust be afforded constitutional
protection despite its potentially devastating effects. The
history of free speech jurisprudence in this country mandates
that even our most harmful messages enjoy full and robust constitutional
protection.
Project: Reforming the Electoral College: The Partisan
and Policy Consequences of the District System Participants: Assistant Professor Robert C. Turner and Greg Thall
'02 Plan: The purpose of this project is to examine the advantages
and consequences of reforming how America selects its president
via the Electoral College by awarding Electoral College votes
on the basis of the district plan. The project will also examine
how the district system would have avoided many of the fiascoes
of the 2000 presidential election that were created by the winner-take-all
system.
Creative Thought Matters.
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