Department of Political Science Bulletin
APRIL, 2006

Congratulations to: 

 The following undergraduate and graduate students have been honored by the Political Science Department:

 Fred Gantt Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Student to Hope Hughes and Nick Pavlov

Best Student in International Studies to Kelly Doley

 Sam B. McAlister Award for Outstanding Graduate Student to Dasha Radin

Ralph Yarborough Award for Best Undergraduate Paper to Andrew Jung.

Pender Award for Best Graduate Paper to Natalie Elliot

E.C. Buell Award for Best Comparative Politics Student to Andrew Binovi

Morrisson Award for the: best pre-law student to Aida Wondwesson

Frank Feigert Scholarship Award to Karen Sullivan

Congratulations as well to:

The Political Science Department's TWO Honor Professor Award Winners:

Professor John Books

Professor Steve Poe

AND

Professor Kimi King - Winner of the 'Fessor Graham Award.

And if that were not enough!

The UNT Moot Court Team (and its coach, Dr. Kimi King) have been awarded this year's President's Award. "This award honors an individual or group for activities and/or accomplishments, which have brought significant recognition to UNT." The UNT Moot Court Team has certainly done that, making a national name for themselves in the highly competitive world of undergraduate moot court competition. Their success brings UNT to the attention of law schools across the country, increasing the visibility of UNT and the careers of our students.

Please congratulate Kimi, the graduate students who provide cheerful assistance with Moot Court activities (Kinzie Craig, Megan Greening, and Brian Calfano), and all the undergraduate team members:

Rebecca Cormier, Daniel Davis, Laura Gilchrest, Sarah Hoffman, Bethany Hoover, Andrew Jung, Chris Laserinko, Lauren Molidor, Chelsea Mowrer, David Nekunazarazad, Emily Ownby, Tiffany Price, Amy Reaves, Brittanie Smith, Chris Taylor, and Frank Thompson.

In Other News:

Dasha Radin has accepted a tenure-track position in the Department of Political Science at the University of Mississippi.

Kevin Grubbs will receive one of the NTDC scholarships to serve as an intern in DC for the summer.

C. Wilson Jackson, a junior international studies major at the University of North Texas, has been named a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow. As a PPIA Fellow, Jackson is also expected to enroll in one of 41 schools of public affairs, international studies or other graduate programs that comprise the PPIA consortium within two years of receiving his bachelor?s degree, and pursue a career in public service after earning his graduate degree.  This report was written by Nancy Kolsti of UNT Public Affairs.

The promotion of Emile Sahliyeh and James Meernik to the rank of Professor has been approved by Provost Howard Johnson.

Acceptances

Brian Calfano's article, "Bringing the Faithful Back In: The Polarizing Influence of Catholics and White Evangelicals in State Abortion Politics," has been accepted for publication at the American Review of Politics.

Matthew Eshbaugh Soha's ?New Strategies in Presidential Policy Appeals: ?Going Local? to Reform Social Security" (co-authored with Jeff Peake) has been accepted by Presidential Studies Quarterly and will appear in the December 2006 issue

Getting Ink

Steve Forde's chapter, "Benjamin Franklin's "Machiavellian" Civic Virtue" has appeared in the Cambridge University Press volume, Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy.

As well, after his works had been banned by the People's Republic of China since the early Ming dynasty, Cornell University Press has licensed a Chinese publishing house to publish a Chinese-language version of Dr. Forde's book on Thucydides. The book is scheduled to appear in 2007.

Ko Maeda and Misa Nishikawa's. "Duration of Party Control in Parliamentary and Presidential Governments: A Study of 65 Democracies,1950-1998" was published in Comparative Political Studies 39(3): 352-74.

Alumni News

Adel Al-Jubeir (BA, 1982), spokesman for the government of Saudi Arabia was named a distinguished alumnus by UNT and given an honorary doctorate of letters.

Prof. Mohammad Al-Momani (PhD, 2003) is now an Assistant Dean at Yarmouk University in Amman Jordan.

Christian Alvarado (BA, 2005) is working for the Texas Secretary of State in Austin and will be attending the University of Texas Law School in the fall of 2006.

Jennifer Martin-McCollum (BA, 2003) is in her second year of law school at SMU. Her comment, "Employers' Greatest Enemy: Second-Hand Evidence in Hostile Work Environment Claims," has been selected for publication in the Fall 2006 issue of the SMU Law Review.

Nicolas Rost (MA, 2005) works as an intern for the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees on refugee issues pertaining to Central Africa in Geneva, Switzerland.

Victories

UNT wins another Moot Court Tournament! The Texas Wesleyan School of Law Tournament, had 42 teams (therefore 84 speakers) in attendance from across the state of Texas. UNT took four of the top ten speaker awards given- 1st place: Chris Taylor, 2nd: Bethany Hoover, 3rd: Andy Jung, 4th: Rebecca Cormier. UNT advanced three of the top eight teams to medal rounds. Bethany Hoover and David Nekunazarazad advanced to quarterfinals. Andy Jung and Laura Gilchrest hit fellow team members Chris Taylor and Rebecca Cormier in semifinals. Chris Taylor and Rebecca Cormier advanced to finals and won the tournament.

Taylor and Cormier's win was the fifth out of six wins for UNT in the state of Texas for the last two years. The SFA team UNT hit in finals has been defeated by UNT in finals three out of the last six tournaments over the past two years. For year end sweepstakes awards for the state of Texas UNT repeated it's record setting success from last year taking 2 of the top five team awards and five of the top ten speaker awards. For speaker awards 2nd place Chris Taylor, 3rd Andy Jung, 5th Bethany Hoover, 8th Rebecca Cormier and 9th Chelsea Mowrer. For team awards, Chris Taylor and Rebecca Cormier placed 2nd for the second year in a row and Andy Jung and Laura Gilchrest placed 3rd.

Events

The Department of Political Science's Annual Pi Sigma Alpha Banquet was held Saturday, April 8 at Lantana Lodge to honor all of our graduating majors in political science and international studies, our student award winners and our faculty award winners.

Natalie Elliot receives the Pender Award for the Best Graduate Student Paper.

Pi Sigma Alpha Leaders Kevin Grubs and Kinzie Craig present student and faculty awards.

Prof. Andrew Enterline receives the Mentor of the Year Award from Pi Sigma Alpha

Graduating PSCI Majors

International Studies Graduates

Appearances

At the recent International Studies Association Meetings in San Diego, CA, March 21-26:

Geoff Dancy and Prof. Steve Poe presented "What Comes Before Truth? The Political Determinants of Truth Commission Initiation".

Mehmet Gurses presented "Democracy Out of Anarchy: Influences On Post-Civil War Democratization".

Seonjou Kang presented "Democratization, Globalization & Public Health".

James Meernik presented, "International Support for International Law".

Steve Poe presented "A Risk Assessment Device for Human Rights Abuses in Africa" with Sabine Carey and Nico Rost (two former UNT graduate students).

At the Mediterranean Social & Political Research Conference, Montecalini Terme, Italy:

Emile Sahliyeh presented "The Impact of the Media on Democratization in the Middle East".

Brian Calfano presented "Transmitting Democracy? Assessing Media Influence on Political Rights & Civil Liberties in the Middle East".

At the recent Midwest Political Science Association meetings, April 20 - April 23 in Chicago, IL.

At the Southwest Social Science Conference in San Antonio, Texas, April 5 - April 8.

Kinzie Craig presented "Judicial Decision Making and Abortion Jurisprudence in the U.S. Federal Courts".

Wendy Watson presented "Trends in Certification of State Law Questions," and "The Supreme Court's Selection of Criminal Cases"

Jong-Han Yoon presented "Domestic Socio-Economic Structure & Foreign Policy Making: Environmental Sustainability, Economic Self-Sufficiency & American Foreign Policy".

Other Presentations

John Booth presented two papers at the Latin American Studies Association's International Congress in San Juan, Puerto Rico, "Effects of Violence within Democracies: Political Behavior And Norms in Eight Latin American Nations", (with co-author Patricia Bayer Richard) and "Violence and Response in Central America: Political Participation and Democratic Attitudes."

John Booth presented, on May 5, "A Proposal for a Leading Indicator of Stable Democracy" at the United Nations Development Programme-Latin American Public Opinion Project Conference on Candidate Indicators for Democracy Support, to be held at Vanderbilt University.

Steve Poe gave a talk at the University of Aberdeen, where he was an honorary faculty lecturer, titled "Human Rights and the Quest for Human Dignity" on March 8.  Steve also gave a talk at the University of Nottingham, titled, "Creating the Peace After the Storm: Truth, Democracy and Human Rights in the Wake of Human Rights Abuses." on March 10.