Advanced Committees

Advanced Committees

Advanced Committees offer experienced students the opportunity to participate at Rutgers Model Congress in a more intensive setting.  Typically limited to about 15 students, these committees will challenge participants to go beyond the traditional Model Congress experience, and represent a variety of important political actors.  Students in these committees are expected to develop a comprehensive understanding of their topics, and their assigned role.

Click here for a list of available Advanced Committee roles.

Press Corps:  Drew Woods

The importance for the National Press Corps has never been higher in today’s day and age. Often considered the “4th Branch” of the United States Government, the Press serve the people by ensuring that the happenings of government are available: both the positives and negatives.  Students in this committee will have the opportunity to act as members of the Press as they investigate and report on events throughout the conference.

President’s Technology Roundtable:  Indraneel Purohit

In February 2011, tech luminaries met with President Obama to discuss the state of technology in the country.  In 2013, they will meet with the President again to produce a policy paper for the direction they think the country should take on the issues of software patents, net neutrality, cyber security, entrepreneurship, STEM education, technology infrastructure among others.

Federal Communications Commission:  Lisabeth Matyash

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was established on June
19, 1934 as specified in the Communications Act of 1934 and amended by
the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to: “make available so far as
possible, to all the people of the United States, without
discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin,
or sex, rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio
communication services with adequate facilities at reasonable
charges.”

In this committee, delegates representing various FCC commissioners, bureaus, and
offices will look into various issues that the FCC deals with on a
daily basis. Some of these issues include fraud, propriety standards,
net neutrality, the use of “white space,” cybersecurity, the Internet,
communications during a time of crisis, and the role of the FCC in the
international community.

Supreme Court:  Katherine Chang

United States v. Antoine Jones:  Respondent Antoine Jones was suspected by the FBI and local police of narcotic violations. Without a warrant, the government installed a GPS tracking device on Jones’s car and continuously monitored its movement on public streets for 28 days. The Supreme Court must determine the constitutionality of the Petitioner’s warrantless use of a tracking device on the Respondent’s vehicle.

Golan v. Holder:  Section 514 of the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreement Act grants copyright protection to certain foreign works that have already entered the public domain.  Petitioners include those who will be affected by the removal of such works from the public domain.  The Supreme Court will determine the constitutionality of Section 514 and its implementation.

Historic Constitutional Convention 1787:  Malvi Shah

The committee on the Constitutional Convention of 1787 will explore the past as delegates step into the roles of representatives in the convention. Fresh out of the American Revolution, the newly formed democracy attempted to establish a central government through the Articles of Confederation. Discontent with the direction that the new law of the land was taking, a belief that the framework should be reviewed, at the very least, pervaded the country. This committee will attempt to tackle the problems arisen after the Articles, keeping in mind the issues of state’s rights versus federal power, individual rights, representation in legislation, and slavery, among many others. 
  

National Security Agency:  Jeremy Nunez

Much like the Space Race and Nuclear Arms Race that developed during the 1950s, the International Community has entered an Information Race. The rise of the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States was based on the value of, and need for, our nation to protect its information from foreign adversaries. Through the use of information assurance and signals intelligence, the NSA has been able to add an intangible layer of security that further compliments the, historic, defense of the Military. The question that rises now is, does this new type of security come at a cost? The actions of the NSA, over the last few years, have dangerously challenged our founding doctrine, the Constitution, and brought into serious question the idea of security versus liberty. The rising value of one, or the other, could historically change the landscape of national security.