Nearly 300 Students to Participate in Academic Festival 2006

Skidmore's eighth annual Academic Festival gets under way at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 3, throughout the campus. All events are open to the public.

Approximately 300 students are participating in this year's festival, and a record number of presentations from nearly every department and program will be offered. According to Philip Boshoff, associate professor of English and director of the Honors Forum, which sponsors academic festival.  As a celebration of academic excellence, this year's festival will showcase the best of our best students' achievements.  As in the past, juniors and seniors will make many of the presentations, but Boshoff sees a new trend emerging.  "Our hope is that in future years more presentations will come from younger students, especially from first-year students in the Scribner Seminars."

Academic Festival will once again showcase the diversity and range of academic and co-curricular events on campus. Highlights include the following presentations:

A Spectrum of Student Films, by Dave Brown '07

Obesity in America, by Jonathon Brestoff '08

Musopen: An Online Music Repository, presented by its founder, Aaron Dunn '06

Measuring Prevalence and Perceptions of Student Drinking and Driving at Skidmore College, Elizabeth Heckel '06

Islamic Jurisprudence and Legalities, by Hager Youssef '08, Tunnazina Ahmed '07, and Alexis Sherman and Ashley Higgins, both Class of '06

The Far-Reaching Impacts of Factory Farming,Erin Kennedy '07

Let's Play, an introduction to the traditional rhythms and communal teaching methods of West African master drummers taught by two white Jewish kids, by Dana Levin '06 and Michael Kaplan '09

Corporal Punishment in Schools: Culturally Sensitive Approach to Alternatives, by Zachary Rolf '06

From Trash Talk to Sexing the Brain: Approaches to Political Thought, Sports, and Science, a panel presentation by Sarah Berheide, Sarah Kunz, Graham Daley, and Molly Greenburg, all Class of '06

Several presentations focus on community topics, including the following:

Why Democrats Swept the Republicans in Saratoga, Eric Hyers '06

Boating and Fishing on Saratoga Lake: Stakeholders' Perceived Threats to Future Recreation, Ted Cavan, Christina Hanley, and Kate Sherman, all Class of '06

Putnam Street Market Place: A Case Study, John Byers '06

'Turbid' Waters of the Kayaderosseras: Human Caused or Glacially Influenced? Erin Black '06

Refreshments will be available throughout the day. Presentations are scheduled through the late afternoon.