GV PS

Administrative Evil Film Festival

ADMINISTRATIVE EVIL FILM FESTIVAL
---------------------------------------------------------
Odd Fridays September 1 - December 1

CONSPIRACY
When: Friday September 1,  7 pm
Where: Room 109D DeVos Center

Description:
2001 docu-drama directed by Frank Pierson
Language: English
Run time: 96 minutes
Official web site: http://www.spring.net/karenr/mdbro/conspiracy.html

On January 20, 1942, 15 men gathered in a villa on the outskirts of 
Berlin for a clandestine meeting that would ultimately seal the fate of 
the European Jewish population. Ninety minutes later, the blueprint for 
Hitler's Final Solution was in place. Adolf Eichmann prepared 30 
top-secret copies of the meeting's minutes. By the fall of the Reich, 
all had disappeared or been destroyed - except one. The Wannsee 
Protocol, found in the files of the Reich's Foreign Office, is the only 
document where the details of Hitler's maniacal plan were actually 
codified, and serves as the basis for CONSPIRACY.  CONSPIRACY is a 
carefully crafted, completely unsensational film that offers ample proof 
of the banality of evil. There are no histrionics and no comic-book Nazi 
villains, just a small group of politicians and war-weary soldiers 
arguing about the meaning of words and the logistics of extermination, 
calmly preparing to unleash an unimaginable horror on the world.

*  Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (Kenneth 
Branagh)
*  Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie (Loring Mandel)
*  Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role 
(Stanley Tucci)
*  Peabody Award
*  Writers Guild of America Award for Original Long Form Television

About the ADMINISTRATIVE EVIL FILM FESTIVAL: The film festival is 
inspired by the book, UNMASKING ADMINISTRATIVE EVIL by Guy Adams and Dan 
Balfour. "What is different about administrative evil ... is that its 
appearance is masked. Administrative evil may be masked in many 
different ways, but the common characteristic is that people can engage 
in acts of evil without being aware that they are in fact doing anything 
wrong.  Indeed, ordinary people may simply be acting appropriately in 
their organizational role - in essence, just doing what those around 
them would agree they should be doing. ... Even worse, under conditions 
of what we call moral inversion, in which something evil has been 
redefined convincingly as good, ordinary people can all too easily 
encourage in acts of administrative evil while believing that what they 
are doing is not only correct but, in fact, good." (p.xx)

Film  Festival Fall Schedule:

September 1:  Conspiracy
September 15: Wetbacks: The Undocumented Documentary
September 29: La Battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers)
October 13: A State of Mind
October 27: Amistad
November 3: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
November 17: Mobutu, King of Zaire
December 1: De Enclave (The Enclave)

For details, see http://www.gvsu.edu/spna/events.html

Month in review

We have been around for about a month now, which we hear is a really long time measured by Internet time. So why not a month in review post to catch you up on all the excitement you may have missed while vacationing?

Events and Opportunities
Our fabulous social networking volunteer opportunity featuring drag racing
Constitution Day panel on immigration and Who is an American?
The political science honor society

Internships
Some thoughtful advice from Dr. den Dulk about careers in PLS/IR
Paying for internships
Latest internship information

Students and Alumni
Discover the stories of our students and alumni, including:
Erion Veliaj
Sam Moore
Jenny Ventimiglia
Our students at UM Law
David Johnson
A quick list of alumni updates

Faculty Profiles
Kevin den Dulk
Mark Richards

Pre-Law
How to target the right law schools
Differences in how GVSU and LSAC calculate your GPA
About the pre-law category
From the Law Society President

Alumni Updates

Some updates about our PLS and IR alumni:

• Matthew Leep (B.A., Political Science, '06) recently returned from graduate study in Lebanon, and plans to continue he studies in political science at the University of Connecticut this fall.
• Hayley Bazinet (B.A., International Relations, '05) serves in the Peace Corps in the Ukraine.
• Allison Reynolds (B.S., Political Science, '06) is working as Deputy Campaign Director in David LaGrand's campaign for the Michigan State Senate.  She plans to begin law school at the University of Souther California in 2007. She also recently completed a study abroad program at Trinity College in Dublin.
• Jeff Klinger (B.S., Political Science, '05) is on staff with Robert Dean's campaign for Michigan State House of Representatives.  He hopes to begin an MA in political management next year.
• Holly Bennett (B.A., International Relations, '05) works at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Jason Hurst (B.S., Political Science, '05) is beginning law school this fall at Indiana University.
• Katie MacDonell (B.A., Political Science, '05) is completing an MA in International Affairs at Catholic University, as well as working part-time in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. State Department.
• Alan A. Kimber (B.A., Political Science, '93) has been named assistant general counsel for XM Satellite Radio after two years as counsel. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1996.
• Richard Damstra (B.A., Political Science, '96) is serving as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department.  He recently completed intensive language training in Washington, D.C., and will deploy to a U.S. Embassy in Central Asia in the near future.

Click on the "Alumni" category for regular updates; click on "Students" for more in depth profiles.  Do you have an update for GVSU's Political Science Department?  Contact Professors Mark Richards (richardm@gvsu.edu) or Kevin den Dulk (dendulkk@gvsu.edu), or simply drop a note to any of our other faculty.

March of Dimes Charity RIDE

The March of Dimes is looking for poli sci, IR, Law Society and Pi Sigma Alpha students to volunteer for the March of Dimes RIDE for Babies Sunday, September 17. MOD works in the US and around the world on issues like birth defects, premature birth, pre-natal nutrition, etc. This is a great chance to meet some of your peers, have a great time at the Ride (there will be bands, lunch and drag racing), see some sweet bikes, and help your community. Bring your friends!
  
WHEN:  Sunday, September 17, 2006
WHERE:  Start/Finish: U.S. 131 Motorsports Park—Martin, MI
TIME:  volunteers—3 options
7:00 a.m.-4 p.m.    (All day)
7:00-11:30 a.m.    (Set up and registration)
11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Post ride activities/tear down)
 
All volunteers are greatly appreciated, however please note that volunteers are REALLY needed all day!! We will work with any volunteer’s schedule as we appreciate your time.   
**Lunch and a staff T-shirt will be given to ALL volunteers.

To volunteer please contact volunteer coordinator Tara Evans: 616-956-8558 or Tara.Evans@Foremost.com

Latest Internship Opportunities

As you might expect, during election seasons we get a lot of internship opportunities across our desks in the Political Science Department.  This season has been no exception.  I want to call your attention to several new, and many old, internship opportunities, listed as "Announcements" in the PLS/IR Majors/Minors section of Blackboard.  Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the announcement list, and note that several opportunities have deadlines for application.

Many of these internships are VERY substantive possibilities, including managing campaigns (and please don't think you couldn't possibly run a campaign; anyone with organizational and communication skills can do it), doing legal research, and so on.

Click here for more information about why you should consider internships, and here for general information about the Political Science/IR Internship Program.

Paying for Internships

While only a short-term hardship, it can be difficult to tradeoff paid employment or regular courses to complete PLS or IR internships, which are generally unpaid.  Still, there are opportunities for some funding, including the same financial aid as you would get for any other course.  You can now add to the funding mix a new initiative from Career Services.

Students who will be completing an unpaid, credit-bearing internship for the Fall semester are invited to apply for the Career Services Internship Award.  This award has been established to help off-set the costs of working in unpaid, credit-bearing experiences for students who have demonstrated financial need. The award description and application are available  at www.gvsu.edu/careers (where you will also find information on the seven students who have received the award for last two semesters).

The deadline for fall applications is December 1 for Winter Semester, August 1 for Fall Semester, and April 1 for Spring/Summer Semester. The minimum amount of an award will be $300, and could be increased to as much as $500.

About the pre-law category

Some of the topics we will be covering in the pre-law category of the blog will be:

-Pre-law advising

-Any announcements regarding Law Society and/or pre-law (so when you delete that email you needed, you can find it on the blog).

-Networking via your success stories:
Did you get a job as a paralegal or attorney?
Did you decide on a law school? Did you finish law school?
Have you won any honors or awards?

We want to know. So many of you are accomplishing incredible things, and your peers want to know. Some of you may be modest and not want to tell us, but it helps build networking connections. If you have any information you want to share, please email me (richardm@gvsu.edu). Isra El-beshir, our new Law Society president, will also be blogging on the site and hopefully we will add more bloggers as time goes on.

Although the PLS department is footing the bill for the blog, our pre-law "program" and advising is open to any major and I want the blog to include the stories of any students interested in law, including Legal Studies, History, Business, Philosophy, English and any other major at GVSU.

LSAC GPA vs. GVSU GPA

Did you know that the GPA shown on your GVSU transcript is not necessarily the same GPA LSAC sends to law schools? There are two main differences.

One, LSAC calculates your GPA based on every college-level course you have taken at any institution, not just GVSU. So if you have any transfer credits, LSAC will count your grades in those courses.

Two, GVSU allows you to retake a course and substitute your improved grade. LSAC will count the grades from both times that you took the course. If you are in danger of getting a poor grade in a course, keep in mind that retaking it at GVSU may not help your admission profile as much as you may think.

GPA, LSAT and finding a school

Students frequently ask me how they can narrow down their list of schools. Certainly where you want to live and work is a major factor, but did you know LSAC has a great tool for helping you to determine your likelihood of admission?

Follow this link at the Searchable Edition of the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools and choose the "LSAC Data Search" link. You can input your GPA and LSAT score and find out how likely you are to be admitted at any law school.

If you haven't taken the LSAT yet, try experimenting with different LSAT scores to see how much it changes your odds at schools you are interested in.

Law Society

Hey,

My name is Isra (pronounced Esra`a) El-beshir, I'm the new president and I'm planning on making some major changes. For one we will be having member meetings twice a month, monthly LSAT prep, better communications between e-board and members, fund-raising, volunteering, social and academic events, and more. I would really like to hear what others expect from us, ideas, and questions.

Hope to hear from you,

Isra El-beshir

GV Law Society