Mark R. Weaver Department of Political Science The College of Wooster Email: mweaver@wooster.edu Phone: 330-263-2416 Fax: 330-263-2340 or 330-263-2693 Address: 130 Kauke Hall 400 East University The College of Wooster Wooster, OH 44691   James Owens and Michael McMaster of the 2006-07 COW Moot Court Team finished second in the country at the ACMA National Tournament on January 19-20, 2007 at Regent Law School in Virginia Beach. (Link to article).   The 2007-2008 ACMA case problem is United States, Petitioner v. William DeNolf, Respondent (Link to Word version, and link to PDF version ). The Rules of the American Collegiate Moot Court Association are available here: Link to Word version, and link to PDF version.

2007-2008 Courses:

The ACMA Midwest Moot Court Tournament, which is sponsored by the Wayne County Bar Association, will be held at The College of Wooster on Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 1. The Midwest Regional is one of seven ACMA qualifier tournaments that will be held in the fall of 2007. The top 25% of the teams at each regional will qualify for the ACMA National Tournament. For further information and updates on the 2007 Midwest Regional Tournament, see the COW Moot Court Page.

The 2007-2008 National Tournament of the American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA) will be held at Drake University Law School, Des Moines, IA on January 18-19, 2008.

The 2007-2008 ACMA case problem is United States, Petitioner v. William DeNolf, Respondent. (Link to Word version and, link to PDF version).
The Rules of the American Collegiate Moot Court Association are available here in PDF and here in Word.

Further reading on moot court :
Preparing Students for an Undergraduate Moot Court Tournament, a paper I delivered at the 2000 APSA national meeting, in PDF.
"Setting Up a Moot Court Team," an article I wrote for MAPLA Briefs (Summer 2005).
"Moot Court: A Student's Perspective," by Michael Broda, Class of 2006, College of Wooster, appeared in MAPLA Briefs (Summer 2005).

The 2006-2007 COW Moot Court Team. James Owens and Mike McMaster finished in Second Place at the ACMA National Tournament, losing in the final round by one ballot. Link to pictures from the 2006-2007 National Tournament.
The 2005-2006 COW Moot Court Team.
The 2004-2005 COW Moot Court Team.
The 2003-2004 COW Moot Court Team.

Environmental Updates:
Environmental Task Force: The objective of the College's Environmental Task Force is: "To provide and maintain a physical environment that supports excellence in the academic and residential programs and exemplifies responsible environmental management."

Local Foods Committee: We are currently working on several projects such as promoting local foods in the dining halls, starting a composting program, and converting College vehicles to biodiesal. Link to the Local Foods Committee page. Link to a story on the conversion of the College's catering van to run on recycled cooking oil from the dining halls.

The 2007 Wooster Forum: “Green Footprints on the Blue Planet.”

Thursday, August 23, 2007: I will be on a panel to discuss John Cronin and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s The Riverkeepers, the summer reading for First Years.

Monday, September 10, 2007:  Tyrone Hayes, Title TBD
From bio: "For biologist and herpetologist Tyrone Hayes, scientific breakthroughs don't begin and end in the laboratory.  They also come from the field.  It was during a night in the boggy African bush that Hayes' flashlight revealed an unexpected discovery:  Several members of the reed frog genus had changed color.  Males, which are normally green, had taken on the reddish background and white spots of females.  Seeking to understand why, Hayes arrived at a theory: During the metamorphosis from tadpole to adult, frogs are very sensitive to changes in their environment including chemicals in the water or in their food supply.  So the change in coloration indicated that the frogs' extremely thin, sensitive skin was reacting to contaminants in the water."

Thursday, September 27, 2007:  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., "Our Environmental Destiny"
From bio: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions.  Mr. Kennedy was named one of Time Magazine's "Heroes for the Planet" for his success in helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River.  The group's achievement helped spawn more than 125
Waterkeeper organizations across the globe."

Tuesday, October 2, 2007:  Ed Begley, Jr., " Live Simply So That Others May Simply Live"
From bio: "The truth about global warming is very inconvenient - it takes ingenuity, sacrifice and commitment to incorporate energy efficiency and sustainable living into daily life.   And nobody knows better than long-time environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr., star of HGTV's acclaimed, Living with Ed, which illuminates his 30+ year passionate commitment to saving the planet, one solar-powered oven at a time.  At the podium, Ed Begley, Jr. brings the audience into his ultra-green world, shedding energy-efficient light on how each of us can make a difference."

Tuesday, October 9, 2007:  Sandra Steingraber, Title TBD
From bio: "Ecologist, author, and cancer survivor, Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized expert on the environmental links to cancer and reproductive health.  Steingraber's highly acclaimed book, Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment presents cancer as a human rights issue.  It was the first to bring together data on toxic releases with newly released data from U.S. cancer registries.  Continuing the investigation begun in Living Downstream, Steingraber's new work, Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood, explores the intimate ecology of motherhood."

Political Science 202: Environmental Policy. I will be teaching Environmental Policy in the spring, but it now has a new number, PSCI 202. Although I do not have a reading list yet, the course will include focus on issues concerning water and food.

I continue to work with Dr. Richard Moore, Team Leader of the Sugar Creek Watershed Project: Sugar Creek Watershed Restoration – A Community Based Approach to Ecosystem  Management.
For more on the Sugar Creek Watershed.

Sprawl and Land-Use Policy:
I am also interested in issues regarding sprawl and land-use policy. According to the Exurban Change Project, College of Food, Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Ohio State University, Ohio ranks eighth in urban land growth (1992-97), but ranks twenty-seventh in population change (1990-2000).

In pursuit of these interests, I currently work with the Wayne County Agriculture Success Team. For reports issued by the Ag Success Team, use the links at the bottom of the Wayne County Commissioners' home page. In the spring and summer of 2004, College of Wooster students administered the Wayne County Producer Survey, using a drop off/pick up technique. A copy of the Executive Summary of the Producer Survey is available here in PDF.

I also serve on the City of Wooster's Planning Commission. To download the City of Wooster's Comprehensive Plan (2002) or the proposed Planning and Zoning Code, go to the home page of the Wooster Planning and Zoning Department.

Other resources:
American Farmland Trust
The Nature Conservancy
Trust for Public Land
Worldwatch Institute. See, in particular, their online feature on food.