Student pollsters to share insight on city council election

A group Skidmore first-year students has completed the first-ever telephone survey of Saratoga Springs voters and will share information about the outcome of November's city council elections in a presentation Thursday, Dec. 6. The presentation will start at 5 p.m. in Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall. Admission is open without charge to the public.

The students are enrolled in a Scribner Seminar course titled "Who Governs Saratoga Springs?" taught by Robert Turner, associate professor of government. They did a scientific survey of 233 voters by telephone during Nov. 7-11, 2007.

Survey results address the changing political landscape of Saratoga Springs, including "where the red and blue districts are," said Turner. Other topics to be covered include partisan trends in voting; the most important issues to voters; the role of civility in city government; why Scott Johnson, mayor-elect, and Skip Scirroco, incoming supervisor of public works, were successful in their campaigns to unseat incumbents; and implications for the incoming city council, Turner added. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.

All Skidmore freshmen are required to complete a Scribner Seminar. These interdisciplinary courses are the centerpiece of the students' First-Year Experience. The seminars reflect the academic interests and passion of the faculty instructors, and invite first-year students to take intellectual risks while challenging their notions about knowledge.