Clayton State Ready for Constitution Week

Constitution Week 2010 is Monday, Sept. 13 to Friday, Sept. 17, and Clayton State University, in the persons of its Civic Engagement Council is ready for its annual observance.

Highlighting the week-long series of events will be the Wednesday, Sept. 15, keynote address by Eric Segall, professor of Law at Georgia State University, who will be speaking on “How the Supreme Court Decides Cases.” Segall’s address will be in room 272 of the James M. Baker University Center, and will run from 2 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.

As is always the case, Clayton State is making use of the resources of the nearby National Archives at Atlanta for Constitution Week. The National Archives will display documents related to the 14th Amendment from Tuesday, Sept. 14 through Friday, Sept. 17 on Main Street on the second floor of the Baker Center. Civic Engagement Council Chair Dr. Joseph Corrado notes that Clayton State professors are encouraged to take their classes to see this exhibit.

Also running throughout the week is another standard feature of Constitution Week at Clayton State, the voter registration drive. From Monday through Friday, voter registration and citizenship tests will be administered on Main Street in the Baker Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 13, will also have the First Amendment Lunch and Learn in Ballroom C of the Student Activities Center, starting at 11:30 a.m. Dr. Barbara Goodman, chair of the Clayton State Department of English, will be a part of the panel for this discussion on, “Leadership and the First Amendment,” which will be led by Kevin Liles, editor-in-chief of the University’s student newspaper, The Bent Tree. The discussion will also feature invited media, industry, and academic professionals discussing the First Amendment and how it directly affects our lives.

Tuesday, Sept. 14 will have three Constitution Week events. The first is a Volunteer Fair in the Student Activities Center Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Representatives from various local organizations and non-profit agencies will be on hand to provide information about what they do, and how students can help. Next is a constitutional debate, moderated by Associate Professor of Philosophy Dr. Alexander Hall and Associate Professor of Communication Dr. Felicia Stewart at the Amphitheatre by Swan Lake, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. Clayton State University Assistant Professor of Teacher Education Dr. Mary Hollowell and her sophomore multicultural education class will be hosting approximately 150 gifted students from Rex Mill Middle School for this event, which will feature three provocative debate issues:

1) Should the 14th Amendment be repealed in order to stop children of illegal immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens?

2) Could Arizona’s bill 1070 be enforced without the use of racial profiling to determine who is suspected of not being a U.S. citizen?

3) Should 1st Amendment protections be abridged due to 9/11 sensitivities?

Finally, State Representative Mike Glanton will be speaking in a “Lead the Way” discussion in the Student Activities Center ballroom at 6 p.m.

The day following Segall’s keynote, the first “New York Times Talk” of the semester will be held on Thursday, Sept. 16, in room 322 of the University Center, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. “Technology and Our Brains” will be facilitated by Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Barbara Musolf. Lunch will be provided for free by the New York Times.

Also on Sept. 16, Clayton State Vice President of External Relations Robert L. “Steve” Stephens, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, will give another Lead the Way Discussion in room 268 of the Baker Center, starting at 11:30 a.m.

On Saturday, Sept. 18, Clayton State AmeriCorps members and Keep Clayton County Beautiful will join in a community service project as they help clean a local Forest Park neighborhood.

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.