COME ON OVER !
Hello, everyone! We'd like to invite you to our office, located at 126 Bedford Street! We are the last office on Bedford Street and the only building made of brick. If you haven't been by in a while, stop by and see our new look. While you're here you should take a look at our FREE BOOKS shelf. The professors donate them for students to take.
The Registration dates for Spring 1997 are:
Tuesday, Nov. 12: Open to Graduate Students
Wednesday, Nov. 13: SR with 98 or more credits,
and 2yr. with 38 or more credits
Thursday, Nov. 14: SR with 83 or more credits,
and 2yr. with 23 or more credits
Friday, Nov. 15: JR with 68 or more credits
Monday, Nov. 18: JR with 53 or more credits
Tuesday, Nov. 19: SO with 38 or more credits
Wednesday, Nov. 20: SO with 23 or more credits
Thursday, Nov. 21: FR and 1yr. students with 10
or more credits
Friday, Nov. 22: FR and 1 yr. students with less
than 10 credits
* Remember you need a new RAN every semester. You get this
number by seeing your advisor. If you need to make an appointment to see your
advisor call 780-4283 and either Shay or Terry would be happy to help you. The
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) number to call to register for classes has
changed the new number to call is 780-5800. You can call at 12:01am on the day
that you are supposed to register.
Internship
Program: The Political Science Department's Internship Program is in its
twenty- fifth year this fall. In addition to local interns who serve in
offices of city and state governments, the private sector, and the Maine
Congressional delegation, four of our students are in Washington D.C. See
Professor Coogan for more information.
Political Science Student Association meetings will be held on
Tuesdays or Thursdays at 2:30pm, at the Political Science office. All are
welcome to attend. Some of the goals of the group are to provide a forum for
discussion, facilitate student input into curriculum and faculty selection.
Michael Hamilton is
our new chair. He started in July and has much energy and many ideas for the
department. He has an open door policy and is happy to talk to students who
stop by the department. His office hours are T/TH 2:30 - 4:30 and F 2:30 -
3:30 this semester.
Tutors Needed to tutor students in POS 101, 102, and 103. For
those interested or for those who would like more information call Terry at
780-4283.
HOT TOPICS
New Courses
POS 202, Legal Process and the Environment is an introduction
to current legal techniques and institutions for environmental protection,
with emphasis on statutory interpretation, rule making, licensing procedures,
and the roles of expert testimony and citizen participation in administrative,
legislative and judicial processes. Offered by Associate Professor Michael
Hamilton at 1:00 - 2:15 T/TH, the course is open to majors and others
interested in environmental issues.
Are the media really biased? If so, in what direction? The
answer may surprise you. To investigate this and other weighty issues, such as
the impact of the internet on world politics or the effect of television on
political attitudes, sign up for Professor Oliver Woshinsky's
course POS 256, Media and Politics which will meet 1:00 - 2:15 T/TH. A
course for all who have ever wondered how Larry King became Ross Perot's
campaign manager.
POS 299 Modern Islamic Fundamentalist Thought, examines modern
Muslim fundamentalist thought and movements since the start of the nineteenth
century. It delves into fundamentalist thought in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran,
Pakistan, and Algeria, analyzing the major theoretical formulations regarding
state and society in Islam. This course addresses the hotly-debated question
of the compatibility of Islamic theory and Western liberal democracy.
Associate Professor Mahmud Faksh will
offer the course for the first time at 11:30 - 12:45 T/TH.
POS 453 Politics of American Policy Making
introduces political analysis of public policy formation and
implementation. Policy processes are examined to see what their study can tell
us about American politics, institutions and political behavior. Particular
attention is paid to "who gets what, when and how" from the US political
system, especially how they get it and why it works that way. Offered by
Associate Professor Michael Hamilton at
4:00 - 5:15 T/TH, the course provides an opportunity for students to examine a
policy of their choice in depth.
POS 484 American Civil Liberties Can
the City of Bangor prevent anti-abortion protesters from demonstrating in
front of a doctor's home? Should a school superintendent be able to fire a
teacher who assigns Bastard Out of Carolina to her high school students? POS
484, American Civil Liberties, 11:30 - 12:45 M/W, will explore these and other
questions with Associate Professor Bill Coogan,
President of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.
MEET THE FACULTY:
Bill
Coogan has been doing research for his new book on civil rights. A lawyer
as well as political scientist, he worked on civil liberties cases in Maine
and California this past summer. He also "vacationed hard:" he bicycled,
sailed, and did a great deal of damage with a chain saw on Martha's Vineyard.
Mahmud A. Faksh has
a new book coming out, The Future of Islam in the Middle East: Fundamentalism
in Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia, to be published by Praeger Publishing in
fall 1996. The book assesses comparatively the future of Islamic
fundamentalism in three key countries: Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia. It
focuses on the limits of Islamic fundamentalism as a political force seeking
to disestablish existing regimes, and as a system of thought purporting to
induce an Islamic transformation of state and society. Associate Professor
Faksh argues that the threat of an Islamic avalanche sweeping away the Arab
status quo is overstated and unrealistic.
Irving Fisher
visited the French Caribbean island of Martinique last summer, pursuing
interests concerning government administration there. He toured the capitol
city of Port du France with the chief of the city planning bureau. Port du
France has been offered 470 million francs by the European Common Market to
renovate all aspects of the city, and has many projects underway for low cost
housing, a sports stadium, new postal and customs facilities, highway
construction and repairs. He concluded the Martiniquean social system,
economy, and government administration would be an interesting subject for
analysis, especially for students with an interest in French language and
culture. Interested students should contact Professor Fisher.
Vanessa Friedman will join us in Spring 1997 for a year. A
feminist political theorist with a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland,
Assistant Professor Friedman will teach POS 390, Political and Social Thought
I at 10:00 - 11:15 T/TH; POS 104, Introduction to International Relations at
4:00 - 5:15 MW; and POS 101, American Government at 2:30 - 3:45 T/TH next
semester. Next fall, she's expected to offer POS 201, Women and Politics and
two additional courses.
Michael Hamilton
visited Indonesia for the third time this past summer, but unlike previous
trips, he did not visit coal strip mines. Instead he went to Ujung Kulon
National Park in West Java where he saw endangered Rusa deer that bark like
Schnauzers, fruit-eating fox-bats with a wing span of three feet, and monitor
lizards. He visited an orangutan rehab center on the edge of Mt. Leuser
National Park in northern Sumatera, where his wife Carol held hands with one
of the 14 "wild" orangutans they saw during a six hour hike in the rain
forest. While in Jakarta he completed an evaluation of the first year of work
for a three-year project financed by The World Bank in which the U.S. is
assisting Indonesia in improving its program for regulating environmental
effects of surface mining coal--at no expense to the U.S. taxpayer.
Richard Maiman
traveled to Glasgow this past summer to attend the annual meeting of the
Law & Society Association, where he gave a paper on "Communities of
Practice Among Divorce Lawyers." This paper is one chapter from a nearly-
completed book that examines the professional behavior of divorce lawyers (no,
they aren't all like Arnie Becker). Co-authors are Craig McEwen, a sociologist
at Bowdoin College, and Lynn Mather, a Dartmouth College political scientist.
He spent a week hiking the West Highland Way, a 100- mile long footpath that
winds among some of Scotland's picturesque lochs, moors, and mountains.
Professor Maiman was recently appointed Associate Provost for Graduate Studies
and Research.
Richard Pattenaude,
USM President was appointed Chair of the Systemwide Task Force on
Telecommunications and Information Technology by Chancellor Terrence
MacTaggart. The Task Force is charged during fall 1996 with the ambitious task
of formulating a plan for the University System to meet the challenges of the
information age in the 21st Century. It will examine issues such as distance
learning (EdNet), university and community collaboration, and resource
allocation; define the System's vision for using information technology,
identify goals and planning priorities and recommend strategic investments for
the next five years.
James
Roberts visited Edinburgh, Scotland last summer to see family and get a
taste of culture. He attended a class in the making of haggis, a culinary
delicacy made famous by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Aside from these
pursuits, much of the five weeks was devoted to close observation of the
British political scene, with a special view toward the national elections
coming in April or May 1997. This election will be the focus of POS 345,
British Politics offered 2:30 - 3:45 M/W.
Blake Strack, Adjunct Assistant Professor, will join us again
for the Spring 1997 semester. A policy analyst specializing in health care
policy at UNUM, Inc. with a Ph.D. from S.U.N.Y. - Buffalo, Dr.Strack has
previously taught courses at USM. Look for his POS 102, People and Politics at
5:30 - 6:45 M/W.
Michael Williams
will be be away Spring and Fall 1997. He will spend a year as a Visiting
Research Associate at the Institute for Political Science, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark. Assistant Professor Williams will direct a research
project examining the transformation of European security structures and their
relationship to the expansion of the European Union. He will return to
teaching at USM in January, 1998. We'll miss him.
Oliver Woshinsky
spent his summer recovering from years of writing by finally organizing his
office and filing away all the odd pieces of paper that have been lying on his
desk since 1989. He also did some traveling (Italy, Chicago, Vancouver) and
made a start on a new introductory textbook in political science. In it he
hopes to cram all the ideas that wouldn't fit into his last book, Culture and
Politics (Prentice Hall, 1995).
MEET THE STAFF:
Terry
Quinn Administrative Assistant, is usually the first person you meet when
you visit the political science department at 126 Bedford Street. She spent a
year refurbishing the office, making it comfortable for faculty and students,
with a constant dish of candy, new paint, "new" furniture and new atmosphere.
She invites students to come and see the frog collection she keeps in the
first floor rest room.
Shay Bellas is our work study student. She is energetic and
knowledgeable in computerese. She has excellent skills in research, and is
committed to environmental protection. She's planning to go to law school when
she graduates in 1998. We're very lucky to have her assistance.
Editors: Terry Quinn and Shay Bellas
Publisher: Michael S. Hamilton
Department of Political Science
University of Southern Maine
126
Bedford St.
P.O. Box 9300
Portland, Maine 04104-9300 (207) 780-4283
"A Typical Day on Capitol Hill"
by David
Hughes
Intern with Senator
Olympia J. Snow
Washington, D.C.
9:00am. A battle through the picket lines is followed by one at the metal detectors. Staffers are running every which way; into every door and out again. Excitement and pressure grow from the get go. Senator Olympia J. Snow's office is no exception. Six hundred pieces of mail, thirty-five voice mail messages, and seventy E-mail messages came in last night-a bit more than usual, but expected with the end of the 104th Congress approaching.
Ten o'clock. With a ticket just handed to me minutes before, I'm off to the House for a Joint Session. Prime Minister Bruton of Ireland gives a compelling speech for U.S. support in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. Once I return, the phone rings. The State Planning Office in Augusta needs research done and documents mailed. I begin to tackle the request when telephoned by a legislative aide. "Call the White House and bug 'em about the Air Force One issue. Olympia wants an answer," he says. Just then comes a rush assignment. Snowe needs a bill to be dropped in the Hopper immediately. On with my sport coat and off to the Senate Subway. I hop in a car packed with Senators. Moments later we are ushered to a waiting elevator and brought to the Senate doors.
As quickly as I went, I return to the Russell Building. Constituent calls are flooding in and the mail is relentless. While taking down a caller's comments, I edit a few letters, attend to some visitors, and sign for deliveries. The rest of the Maine delegation arrives and I show them to the meeting room where Olympia soon enters. I make the third call of the day to the White House and still no progress. At two o'clock, Snowe, a staffer and I walk to the Dirkson Building, where the Senator presides over a United Nations reform hearing.
4:05pm. The hearing ends and has left more concerns than expected. After making my way to the Senate Gallery, I catch the vote on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. The place is crowded and the press anxious. The tally comes in and staffers bolt back to their offices to prepare the next bill. These last days of the session provide a flurry of political action. The pace of Capitol Hill becomes addictive. 6:29pm.
The Acid Rain Retirement Fund is a new environmental group whose objective is to purchase air pollution emmissions allowances on the open market and retire them forever. For further information, contact: Michael S. Hamilton at MICHAELH@USM.MAINE.EDU or 780-4190.
An abstract of the bibliography and directions for obtaining it follow: SURFACE MINING REGULATION AND RECLAMATION: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RESEARCH REPORTS AVAILABLE FROM THE NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE, 1978-1991, by Michael S. Hamilton, University of Southern Maine, July 1995. 237 pp.
Contains abstracts of technical reports and handbooks related to coal mining and reclamation sponsored by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), U.S. Department of the Interior between 1978 and 1991. NTIS accession numbers, prices and ordering information are included.
Topics include: Abandoned Mine Lands, Alluvial Valley Floors, Approximate Original Contour, Backfilling, Blasting, Blasters Training, Coal Mine Waste, Erosion Control, Spoil Disposal, Fish and Wildlife, Grading, Hydrologic Impacts, Non-Coal Regulation, Overburden Analysis, Prime Farm Land, Remote Sensing, Revegetation, Sediment Control, Sedimentation Ponds, Siltation Structures, Subsidence, Topsoil, Toxic Materials Handling, and Wetlands.
The bibliography is presented in electronic media, availiable at no cost on
the Internet at: http://www.usm.maine.edu/~pos/osm.html.
.
This file may be searched for any keyword or a related section of the U.S.
Code of Federal Regulations by loading it into a word processing program such
as Wordperfect. The complete file may be obtained in DOS or Wordperfect at no
charge by mailing a disc with return postage and mailing address to: Michael
S. Hamilton, Associate Professor of Political Science, Environmental Science
and Policy, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04103. Please
specify which version of Wordperfect is desired.
Comments and especially additional references to research or demonstration projects concerning reclamation of disturbed lands in tropical environs should be directed to: MICHAELH@USM.MAINE.EDU.
PRESS RELEASE January 13, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Matt McDonald, 883-0482, or Michael Hamilton, 780-4190
Adding a new twist to environmental protection and education, the Acid Rain Retirement Fund purchases air pollution emission allowances on the open market and retires them from use.
The Acid Rain Retirement Fund is a new non-profit all-volunteer community group based in southern Maine dedicated to environmental education and reducing pollution in Maine. "It's a new approach to cleaning up the environment, and its simplicity is its strength," says Matt McDonald, President of ARRF. McDonald is an Environmental Science & Policy major at the University of Southern Maine.
Pollution allowances are bought and sold on the Chicago Board of Trade just like corn, pork bellies or any other commodity. Each year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency auctions off to the highest bidder pollution allowances that enable companies to emit one ton of sulfur dioxide. The Acid Rain Retirement Fund raises money and bids alongside polluters for as many allowances as their funds can buy. But instead of using or trading them, ARRF retires them, taking allowances off the market and keeping sulfur dioxide out of the air.
Sulfur dioxide creates serious problems for our environment, especially in the eastern United States. It increases respiratory disorders, severely degrades visibility, impairs the health of our fish and wildlife through acid rain, and damages ecosystems. "Sulfur dioxide and the resulting acid rain cause tremendous damage to our health and environment in Maine," says McDonald.
Maine lakes are affected by acid precipitation. The pH of rain and snow in Maine has been between 3.9 and 5.0 since the mid 1950s (normal pH of rainfall is about 5.6). The pH of precipitation recorded by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in November 1995 was 3.9 at Acadia National Park, 3.9 at Bridgeton, and 4.25 at Greenville. The first two readings indicate strong acidification, the last, moderate acidification, according to Michael Hamilton, Associate Professor of Political Science, Environmental Science & Policy at the University of Southern Maine. Rain is considered abnormally acidic when it has a pH below 5.0, and lakes are considered acidified with a pH of less than 5.5.
According to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, about 100 lakes in Maine currently have pH lower than 5.5. About half these lakes are naturally acidic, the other half caused by acid rain.
The Acid Rain Retirement Fund serves as an educational resource for schools and other community groups on prevention of acid rain. Lori Roth, Board Member of the Acid Rain Retirement Fund, has been working with Shaw Junior High School and Village School in Gorham, helping students in several classes learn about acid rain and recycling.
Students in the Gorham Public School System will conduct a community newspaper drive on Valentine's Day, February 14, and will donate the proceeds to the Acid Rain Retirement Fund to buy emissions allowances. Roth, who is also a member of the Gorham Recycling Committee, thinks it's particularly appropriate to spend money from recycling on cleaning up the air: "This way we get twice the environmental value for community recycling efforts," says Roth.
Newspapers collected by Gorham students will be purchased by William Goodman & Sons, a local recycling company. All money earned will be used by the Acid Rain Retirement Fund to purchase air pollution allowances in the annual EPA auction in March, so they can be retired at Earth Day festivities in April, 1996.
For adult supporters, ARRF is organizing a benefit concert on Thursday, February 29, 1996 at the Hedgehog Pub, 31 India Street in Portland. From 8 PM-closing, entertainment will be provided by Mocha Java, a Boston area cover band, and Beyond Reason, a local rock group performing their own material. All funds raised at the door will go toward the purchase of air pollution emissions allowances.
The Acid Rain Retirement Fund also accepts donations from businesses and individuals. For example, Greg Powers Entertainment will donate the use of a sound system for the benefit concert. Canteen Service Company donated the value of one truckload of recycled cardboard to ARRF. That's the equivalent of about two tons of sulfur dioxide emissions allowances at current market prices.
Emissions allowances currently are selling on the Chicago Board of Trade for about $120/ton, and the price may go lower before March. That's about 6 cents/pound--less expensive than potatoes! That means for 75 cents--the cost of a vending machine candy bar--one can prevent a little over 12 pounds of sulfur dioxide from being emitted to the air, this year and every future year.
At $10, membership in the Acid Rain Retirement Fund is accessible to nearly everyone. For a $10 annual membership donation to ARRF, one can retire about 167 pounds of air pollution; a donation of $5 at the benefit concert will keep about 83 pounds out of the air and lakes of Maine. ARRF is incorporated as a non-profit educational organization in the State of Maine, so contributions are tax deductible.
ARRF's efforts offer an opportunity for people to take effective action to improve environmental quality, while learning more about environmental science and policy. For more information, write: Acid Rain Retirement Fund, P.O. Box 10272, Portland, ME 04104.
 mailto:tquinn@usm.maine.edu |
Political Science Department University of Southern
Maine |
Produced by Jamie Willey - Jwille51@maine.maine.edu
Phone 207-780-4190