Month: August 2019

G.O.A.L.S.

G: I would very much like to travel abroad, although I’m not quite sure where to and for what purpose. While I’m interested primarily in American law, the the laws of one nation often influence those of others, not to mention I have some interest in the function of international law as practiced by the United Nations.

O: During my time at OSU, I would like to gain some hands-on experience with the legal profession, be it through interacting with professionals or job-shadowing. Additionally, to fulfill my other interests, I would like to create a film or perhaps stage a play.

A: I would like to take advantage of the extensive libraries on campus, as well as get to know the life-experiences of faculty since some of the best knowledge is derived from doing rather than just static learning.

L: So far I have joined the Mad Royal Film Society, the Philosophy Club, the Board Game Club, and the Buckeye Gaming Collective. Even if I don’t pursue an official leadership position, I believe that by actively participating in club events and pushing others to do the same will serve a guiding purpose in the club.

S: The end goal in a legal career or one pertaining to the arts is to serve the community in form or another, and to work or intern in these fields would help that cause.

Artifacts

On Representation in the House

  

          Regarding representation in regards of one state to another, the most logical step would be to portion seats based on what percentage of the total United States population a particular state makes up, given the 435 cap on Representatives in the House. This would be rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent for ease of calculation, and from there the nearest whole number. Based on this system, California would go from 53 to 52 votes. Wyoming would maintain its 1 vote, but unfortunately for Montana they would also maintain their 1 vote (mathematically they should yield 1.39 votes). On the bright side (or dark side, depending on how one looks at it), Rhode Island would be reduced from 2 to a fairer 1, and the city of Washington D.C. would gain a singular vote. However, this brings up the problem of what political entities should or should not (if any) ought to get voting representation in the House of Representatives. Additionally, increasing the amount of entities with House representation would also call for changes to be made to the Reapportionment Act of 1929 – namely the aforementioned 435 cap.

      For this, I propose that only the minimum be added such that each state/worthy political entity gets at least 1 vote while still having directly proportional representation. In addition, revising this act would also allow for stricter regulations on Gerrymandering to be put in place; I would propose a system where people who are tested to have minimal knowledge of area demographics draw up the lines, based solely on given population density counts. Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands each make up .05% or less of the total U.S. population (for reference, Wyoming is .17%).

       Given that the Supreme Court has ruled on the existence of insular territories, it would not be necessary to grant representation to these territories, given how marginal their total populations are. On the other hand, both Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico have population percentages that exceed that of Wyoming (being used here as the minimum population), and thus would justify the gaining of representational privileges.

About Me

 

Hello! My name is Jack Brunswick. I am currently enrolled as an Undecided in the College of Arts & Sciences; although I signed up for the Pre-Law track, I also have an interest in film-making, so sooner or later I’ll figure out what exactly I want to major in. With that being said, I find the unique intricacies of law to be fascinating (E.g. Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. and Ernesto Pichardo v. City of Hialeah), as well as the morality (or lack thereof, in certain cases) behind law practitioners and general legal figures.

Outside of academics, my interests range from board gaming, film, video games, and music. I have a particular interest in works that challenge or subvert expectations, such as a number of avant-garde works, but I just as easily enjoy mainstream works as well. To get an easy sense of where my preferences lie, these are among my favorites in various categories:

  • Film: Un Chien Andalou, the works of David Lynch, the works of Quentin Tarantino
  • Music: David Bowie, Jazz Fusion, Can (as well as most progressive German bands of the ’70s)
  • Board games: Cthulhu Wars, Twilight Struggle
  • Vidya games: Dota 2, the Metal Gear Solid series, Killer7
  • Literature: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, the works of H.P. Lovecraft, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure