Senior+Paper+topics+2008-2009

Topics 2008-2009
Senior Project topics 2008-2009

• Drinking and driving laws—would the US be better off adopting the Canadian model? • Does Obama’s economic stimulus package violate free market norms (as described by Adam Smith)? • What is the relationship between handwriting and identity? Can handwriting instruction alter identity? • What does it mean to say that we have “free will”? Is a student “free” to go from a slacker to a conscientious student? • Can a Presidential candidate marked himself/herself as a “brand,” much like toothpaste is marketed? If so, what does this mean? • Should any sort of encryption (especially as it relates to computer encryption) be banned? Can it be banned? Is totally safe encryption possible? • What role might public art play at BHS? What about “Art-Science”? • Should the US rule out ever using assassinations as a strategy to defend US interests? Would this be a good plan for dealing with Iraq? • Might lucid dreaming be an inexpensive way to improve the crew team? What is lucid dreaming good for? Is it a real phenomenon? • Should patients suffering from depression be given placebos rather than expensive anti-depressants? Would this work? Is it ethical? • Why NOT use sweatshops? If they bring economic benefit to the people who work there (and the countries where they are located), what’s the problem? What are the economics of sweatshop labor? • Can chlorophyll be implanted in human DNA? Can humans get their energy from the sun (rather than from the food they eat)? Would this be a solution to the problem of hunger in the world? • Is Barbie dangerous? What’s the connection between Barbie and eating disorders? Between Barbie and girls’ low self-esteem? • Where the best players in the Negro Leagues (baseball) as good as the best players in Major League Baseball? • What is the neurological cause of déjà vu? How might studying it help us to develop a cure for Alzheimers? • What’s the line between news and entertainment? Between tabloid journalism and news journalism? Between gossip and news? • Should college athletes be paid for playing? At big-name schools only? How much? • Is electro-shock therapy worth the risks? Why was it banned? Should it continue to be banned? When might it be worth the risks? • Is the Wisconsin Plan to deal with meth use a viable model for the country as a whole? Why has it been so successful? • Is drug treatment a reasonable alternative to incarceration for drug users who break laws? • Why haven’t attempts to develop a Federal judicial system on Native American reservations failed? Why isn’t it working now? • Does the KIPPS program work? Are KIPPS schools successful or are they only trying to educate a limit group of students? • What was the main cause of the recent economic meltdown and subsequent recession? Who’s to blame? • Should we be concerned about the Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012? • Can meditation help people who have OCD mental ritual? • Was the West End (Boston) redevelopment project an example of “good urban planning”? • Is synesthesia a mental disorder? Do I have it? • Does yoga have proven (provable?) medical value?