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This year eleven students have enrolled in the Department of Government’s year long senior thesis process. They share a description of their research with you here.

Through textual analysis and philosophical study, I explore the themes of morality and justice in the seminal graphic novel Watchmen. Incorporating the thought of Mill, Kant, and Nietzsche, I examine the limitations of moral philosophies and investigate Alan Moore’s interpretation of moral limits.

Oliver Crook

My thesis is about one of Rousseau's works, Emile, and his teach-ing of love in it. The thesis examines Rousseau's understanding of romantic love and its role in the social and political realm. It will also examine Rousseau's genealogy, so to speak, of love and how this passion was born into the human heart. Rousseau stresses the importance of the family and love in order to preserve a good political order, and he also seems to present it as a vessel to a happy life even in a corrupt society.

The world's natural resources are coming under heightened strain as the human race grows. This constantly shifting demand is a huge concern for all levels of government. As these resources become more scarce, the possibility of a Tragedy of the Commons to occur becomes imminent. To avoid the threat of mutual de-struction from the hoarding and overuse of the natural environ-ment, it is important to devise systems and institutions to com-monly manage them in a sustainable manner. This has become especially true at the regional level, where local governments have promoted unsustainable growth policies to increase city reve-nues. This growth imperative is prevalent throughout the US; it is thus a problem of utmost importance.

In Washoe County, Nevada the state mandated regional plan has failed to curb growth or adequately manage the meager water resources in the region. The thesis looks at how certain institu-tions have played a role in helping or hindering sustainable growth policies in the region. To do this, the politics and economics of the region are focused through a case study of three major events in the region's recent history. Rapidly depleting water resources and their control have led to grassroots activism to maintain sustain-able levels of water. The creation of a new development 26 miles

The Department of Government congratulates the following students who are eligible to join the Tau Gamma chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society.

Victoria Aronson, Margaret Ashur, Kyle Bawot, Amy Bergstraesser, Sam Bellows, Andrea Bruckner, April Clark, Oliver Crook, Austin Fisher, Julia Grigel, Elizabeth Gronquist, Terry Ann Howell, David Inkeles, Ian Kelly, Rachel Konowitz, Jason Ludwig, Mingh Nguyen, Tyler Reny, Alexander Robbins, Robert Rubenstein, Danika Robison, Isabelle Russo, Marianne Schwab, Will Sharry, Timothy Shepard, Jennifer Snow,

Gabrielle Sultanik, Ben Vail, Marisola Xhelili

Warren Bianchi, Rachel Bier, Lauria Chin, Dominic Green, Alexandra Grossman, Jennifer Kauffman, Timothy Lueders-Dumont, Devin Mellor, Rasheed Rankine, Matthew Rothenberg, Adam Schmelkin,

Eric Shapiro, Alison Wrynn