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Connecticut College to discuss nuclear waste, politics

November 13, 2008

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Government Department at Connecticut College will host two lectures this month to discuss nuclear waste and political polling, two timely and relevant topics.

Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the Haines Room of Charles E. Shain Library, Jane Dawson, the Virginia Eason Weinmann '51 Professor of Government at Connecticut College, will give a lecture entitled, "Climate Change, Nuclear Power and the International Politics of Nuclear Waste: Lessons from Scandinavia, Central Europe and Russia."

Dawson will discuss her research on the politics surrounding the search for publicly acceptable disposal sites for the more than 400,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste produced by nuclear power stations around the world. She will discuss the proposals of both developed and developing countries to expand nuclear power in response to global climate change as well as the political opposition that has prevented deep geologic repositories to store the waste from becoming a reality.

Nov. 19 at 4:30 p.m. in the 1941 Room of the Crozier-Williams Student Center, Dr. Douglas Schwartz, a 1988 Connecticut College graduate and director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, will give a lecture entitled, "Polling and the 2008 Presidential Election."

Schwartz followed the presidential race for two years, focusing especially on swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The independent Quinnipiac University Poll is known for its accuracy. They poll regularly in Connecticut, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. They also poll nationally for political races and other issues of public concern. Results are published often in publications like USA Today, New York Times and Washington Post. His lecture is the final in the Government Department's year-long series of speakers and panels on the 2008 election.

Situated on the coast of southern New England, Connecticut College is a highly selective private liberal arts college with 1900 students from all across the country and throughout the world. On the college's 750-acre arboretum campus overlooking Long Island Sound, students and faculty create a vibrant social, cultural and intellectual community enriched by diverse perspectives. The college, founded in 1911, is known for its unique combination of interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.

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For more information contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu