Westminster College Announces Constitution Day Winner

Dawn McDonough, a Westminster College freshman elementary education major, won the Sept. 19 Constitution Day competition.

McDonough is a daughter of Donald and Linda McDonough of Struthers, Ohio, and a graduate of Struthers High School. She received a gift certificate to Rachel's Roadhouse for correctly answering the most questions on an electoral college quiz that she picked up in a section of the mathematics course for non-majors taught by Dr. Carolyn Cuff, Westminster professor of mathematics and 1978 Westminster graduate.

Several sections of the liberal arts mathematics are studying the mathematics of voting systems this semester. Cuff explained, "Mathematics can be used to analyze elections from a candidate's point of view (analyzing the optimal position which should be taken on a particular controversial topic); from a voter's point of view (analyzing potential voting strategies in a multi-candidate election); and from a polling perspective (analyzing potential effects of a pollster's questions in asking preferences between the top two candidates or between three or more candidates)."

Constitution Day is observed each year on or about Sept. 17 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. Originally named Citizenship Day, recent legislation sponsored by Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia renamed it Constitution and Citizenship Day.

Dr. Timothy Cuff, Westminster associate professor of history and 1978 Westminster graduate, coordinated the Westminster observance.

"The Constitution Day activity we've held at Westminster for the past several years has successfully served the purpose which Senator Byrd intended," he said. "For students who have participated in the Constitution quiz-this year, focused on the electoral college-it has been an opportunity to explore some of the nooks and crannies of the Constitution. Even those students who only attended the lecture/activity still had the chance to gain a deeper understanding of the document which frames our government and specifies an individual's rights."

Contact Dr. Timothy Cuff at (724) 946-6152 or e-mail cufft@westminster.edu for more information.

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