Department of Political Science Bulletin
May, 2008

Political Science News

Events

The Department of Political Science Annual Spring Banquet honoring our graduating students, and student and faculty award winners was held at the UNT Union Golden Eagle Suite from 5:00 - 7:00 pm Friday, May 9.

Awards:

Fred Gantt Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Political Science: Bradley Clark and Rosa Fonseca

Sam B. McAlister Award for Outstanding Graduate Student in Political Science: Steve Liebel

Clovis Morrisson Award for Best Pre Law Student: Rebecca Vandiver

E.C. Buell Award for Best Comparative Politics Student: Matthew Monedero

Ralph Yarborough Award for Best Undergraduate paper award: Mary Fogle, "A brief for Deborah Morse, and the Juneau School Board in Deborah Morse, and the Juneau School Board, Petitioners -against-Joseph Morse, Respondent"

Pender Award for best Graduate paper award: Travis Hadley, "An Introduction to the Problem of Piety in Plato’s Republic".

Frank Feigert Scholarship Award to Mark Shadden

Acceptances

Prof. Paul Collins’s “U.S. Conflict Behavior and Decision Making on the Federal District Courts” (with Daniel A. Norton, Kenneth L. Manning, and Robert A. Carp) was accepted for publication in the Justice System Journal.

Prof. Elizabeth Oldmixon’s “U.S. Senators’ Support for Israel Examined Through Sponsorship/Co-Sponsorship Decisions, 1993-2002: The Influence of Elite and Constituent Factors” (with Beth Rosenson and Kenneth Wald) was accepted for publication at Foreign Policy Analysis.

Prof. Idean Salehyan's "The Externalities of Civil Strife: Refugees as a Source of International Conflict" was accepted for publication at the American Journal of Political Science.

Prof. Idean Salehyan's manuscript, Rebels Without Borders: Transnational Insurgency and the International Politics of Civil War was accepted for publication by Cornell University Press.

In Print

Prof. Paul Collin’s “The Solicitor General’s Amicus Curiae Strategies in the Supreme Court” (with Chris Nicholson) was published in American Politics Research.

Prof. Paul Collins’s “Transforming the United States Courts of Appeals Databases in Stata” was published in Law & Courts.

Mehmet Gurses (Ph.D., 2006) and Prof. David Mason's "Democracy Out of Anarchy: The Prospects for Post-Civil-War Democracy", was published in Social Science Quarterly.

Prof. Phil Paolino and Prof. James Meernik's edited volume: Democratization in Taiwan: Challenges in Transformation has been published by Ashgate Press.

Recognition

Natalie Elliot has been awarded a summer fellowship through the Jack Miller Center. For the fellowship, she will be attending a two week seminar in American political thought at the University of Virginia this July.

Prof. David Mason was named to the Executive Council of the International Studies Association.

The Moot Court Team

The University of North Texas Moot Court Squad, coached by PSCI Professor Kimi King, ended its competition year with two of its two-student teams ranked first and second in the state by the Texas Undergraduate Moot Court Association and with one of the teams winning the TUMCA competition held at UNT. The association gave out its year-end awards April 5 following the UNT tournament. Nate Gies, a UNT senior political science and philosophy major from Spokane, Wash., and his partner Emily Ownby, a senior political science major from Plano, argued both sides of a fictional court case that is similar to a real Supreme Court case to win the UNT tournament. They defeated another team of UNT students in the finals — Jesus Gonzalez, senior international studies and Spanish major from Diboll, Texas, and Shanna Valentine, senior political science and criminal justice major from Beaumont. A third UNT team of Allie Hallmark, senior political science major from Midland, and Francisco Gonzalez, senior psychology major from Robstown, reached the quarterfinals of the tournament before being eliminated by a team from Stephen F. Austin University that Gonzalez and Valentine defeated in the semifinals.

Valentine and Jesus Gonzalez were ranked as the top team for 2007-08 by TUMCA, based on their performances throughout the year, while Gies and Ownby were ranked the second-best team. UNT’s Moot Court Squad members also won three of the top 10 speaker awards at the UNT tournament, and six of the students were among those named the top 10 orators for the year by TUMCA. Out of the 62 students participating in the UNT tournament, Graham Rainer, junior political science major from Carrollton, was named the tournament’s top speaker. Halmark was named the fifth-best speaker and Ownby was named the ninth best. Rainer was also ranked as the top orator for the year by TUMCA, with Jesus Gonzalez ranked third, Valentine fifth, Ownby seventh, Gies eighth and Hallmark ninth.

Operation Care

During February and March this year, political science students from the University of North Texas worked with Operation Care, an all-volunteer team of military and civilian personal which works with teachers and students in Afghanistan as they rebuild that country. Approximately 175 students collected donated items from Wal-Mart, friends, family and themselves; the donations will be given to children and teachers in Afghanistan. In all, the donations were able to fill 72 backpacks with school supplies, blankets and shoes. As part of an extra credit assignment and civic engagement exercise for the UNT Department of Political Science 1040 and 1050 classes, American Government, several professors in the department participated in optional drive with their classes.

“So often students are given a reputation that they don’t care or that they don’t make a difference, and, clearly, all of these amazing people did make a difference!” said Dr. Kimi King, associate professor for the Department of Political Science. “There are so many wonderful things about this project, but the best part of it is helping our military help Afghan children change their future.” Among the students that participated in the school supply drive, three of teaching fellow and doctoral candidate, Cathy Johnson’s students went above and beyond what was needed for the extra credit assignment. Kase Allouzi, a sophomore majoring in biology from Amman, Jordan, went to his former employer, Wal-Mart in Denton, to get the company to donate 20 loaded backpacks. Allouzi, with the help of friend Amnah Salamah, from Baton Rouge Community College, donated five additional backpacks full of supplies. “I knew that I personally couldn't buy a lot of stuff due to the fact that I am a college student, and as we all know, college students have very tight budgets,” said Allouzi. “I wanted to make a difference I thought [to use]… my brain [and Walmart’s] money.”

Ashley Spain, sophomore majoring in history from Amarillo, also challenged her employer, the UNT Student Health Center, to make a group donation; the center donated enough supplies to fill 10 backpacks. “I thought it would be nice to get others involved in helping out the students in Afghanistan, said Spain. “I personally couldn't imagine having gone to elementary school without construction paper and crayons, and it's a great way to help ensure that some of these children can get those items.” Adrienne Scruggs, a King adds that plans are underway for a larger supply drive in the fall that will incorporate participation from different universities throughout North Texas. The Department of Political Science participates in a different civic engagement exercise and extra credit assignment each year. For more information, visit www.liveleak.com/view?i=624_1202633948.

Graduating Seniors

Regina Nicole Bailey
Anthony Lee Bond
Jacqueline Michelle Chitty
Karis Rhea Durant
Bradley Russell Garrett
Chase Aaron Henry
Anam Javed Iqbal
Misty Amber Jenkins
Jonathan Clay Johnson
James Frank Khubiar
Phillip Lane Kregel
Tory Anna Kujawa
Tiffany Dawn Leonard
Joseph Vincent Liberato
Luke Matthew Martin
Kelly Jean McLaughlin
Kenneth Michael Morris
Searcy Redd
Nicole Marie Resendes
Mason Charles Rowan
John Courtney Stefansson
Joseph Lad Vogas
Russell Thomas Yarbrough

Appearances

Midwest Political Science Association Meetings, April 12-14, Chicago, IL.

Prof. Paul Collins presented “Cognitive Dissonance on the U.S. Supreme Court”.

Natalie Elliot presented "Letters and Liberty in the Democratic Age: Alexis de Tocqueville on the Place of the Literary Arts in Modern Democracy."

Prof. Tetsuya Matsubayashi presented “Information Environment and Voter Turnout”.

Jun-deh Wu presented "Explaining Party Influence on Roll-Call Voting: The U.S. House of Representatives, 1879-1998".

International Studies Association Meetings, March 26-30, San Francisco, CA

Prof. John Booth presented “Violence and Democratic Political Capital in Latin American and the Caribbean”.

Prof. Emily Clough presented “INGOs in International Affairs: An Agent-Based Model”.

Prof. Andrew Enterline presented “Dyads De Novo? The Origins of State Pairs and Interstate Behavior”.

Madhav Joshi presented “Post-Civil War Democratization: Promotion of Democracy in a Post-Conflict State”.

Prof. Kimi King and Prof. James Meernik presented “The Shadow of the Future: Truth Commissions, Tribunals and Confidence Building in the Wake of Civil War and Mass Violence”.

Prof. James Meernik and Chris Fariss (MA, 2007) presented “Cereal Correlation and the International Environment: Assessing the Foreign Policy Relationships of the U.S.”.

Other Presentations

Prof. Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha presented “The Tone of Local Presidential News Coverage” at the Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association in San Diego on March 22nd, 2008.

Madhav Joshi presented “Post-Civil War Democratization: Domestic Political Dynamics and the International Factors in Promotion of Democracy in Post-Conflict States” at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association in New Orleans on January 10th, 2008.

Prof. Ko Maeda presented “Has the Electoral System Reform Made Japanese Elections Party-Centered?” at the Asian Studies Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA on April 5th, 2008.

Prof. David Mason was invited to make a presentation on "Sustaining the Peace After Civil War" at the U.S. Army's "Persistent Security Seminar in McLean, VA on March 11.

Prof. David Mason served as a judge in a debate, "Should the U.S. Government Establish a Department of Peace". The debate was part of the South Central Regional Conference for a U.S. Department of Peace, held at Southern Methodist University, April 25-27.

Eddie Meaders, John Todd, and Lisa Solowiej gave a presentation on Texas government to residents of Robson Ranch on May 1.

Prof. Elizabeth Oldmixon presented “Religions Lobbies and Congressional Committees” at the Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Political Science Association in Las Vegas on March 14th, 2008.

Prof. Elizabeth Oldmixon gave an invited talk on the U.S. Congress and the policy of sexual ethics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Jong-Han Yoon presented “The Effect of U.S. Foreign Policy on Peace in the Korean Peninsula: at the Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association in San Diego on March 22nd, 2008.

Erum Shaikh presented "Jihad Past, Present and Future: Osama Bin Laden's Inspiration for Jihad" at the Texas A&M Lone Star Political Theory conference on April 12.

Meagan Williams presented “Judicial Creativity or Justice Being Served: A Look at the Use of Joint Criminal Enterprise in the ICTY Presentation” at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association in New Orleans on January 11th, 2008.

Jong Han Yoon presented “The Effect of US Foreign Policy on Peace in the Korean Peninsula”, at the Annual Meeting of Western Political Science Association, San Diego, March 22, 2008.