The Senior Thesis is the capstone project for our high school students at Providence. Beginning in the middle of junior year, students choose an interesting topic they believe to be important, and then they research, write and edit a 15-20-page persuasive paper on that topic. Each thesis is supervised and guided by the senior rhetoric teacher and faculty advisors; each one goes through multiple drafts and a panel defense before the final step: a formal presentation of their research to the Providence community.
During an ordinary year, there would be a special time set aside for each senior to give a 10-minute oral presentation of their thesis before an audience of their parents and peers, followed by an audience Q&A session. Additionally, an abstract for each thesis would be included in that year’s issue of Ex Libris (our annual upper-school scholastic journal). As we’re all well-aware, however, this year has been anything but ordinary!
This year’s graduating class has continued to work hard to complete their course work in the midst of unprecedented and challenging circumstances. Regardless of what we are still able to accomplish through technology, though, our seniors have missed out on a special and traditional opportunity to put their hard work on display. So, with full acknowledgement that a blog post cannot make up for that lost opportunity, I do hope you will take the time to read below and appreciate the months of effort and determination put forth by the Providence Senior Class of 2020!
An abstract of each thesis is featured below, with the full-text version available in PDF form by clicking on the link.
Werner, Michael. “Analyzing Government and Renewable Energy.” Senior thesis, Providence Classical Christian Academy, St. Louis, MO, 2020.
As the importance of climate change and renewable energy continues to be questioned by society, many have wondered to what extent the government should become involved in the energy transition. The U.S. government has an obligation to involve itself in the renewable energy transition and should do so by regulating the use of fossil fuels and accelerating a renewable free market. First and foremost, renewable energy transition is important because it positively affects the climate and offers benefits to the energy system of the United States. The benefits are increased sustainability and reliability. Second, the government is obligated to be involved in the transition because involvement is within the government’s proper role. There are two ways in which the government should involve itself in the transition. The government should involve itself by regulating fossil fuels because fossil fuels are the leading cause of the damaged climate. The government should also involve itself by creating a free market for renewable energy because new industries, such as renewable energy, thrive under free markets. (Read full text here)
Haverdink, Cameron L. “College Athletics and the Question of Better Compensation.” Senior Thesis, Providence Classical Christian Academy, St. Louis, MO, 2020.
College athletics is a billion-dollar organization that compensates its players with scholarships and other modest benefits, while coaches and executives at the NCAA receive six and seven digit salaries. Recently, controversy has arisen regarding whether college athletes should be better compensated and, if so, how. This paper argues that athletes are insufficiently compensated in the current system of the NCAA, as they generate massive amounts of money for very little in return, and allow their schools to profit off of their work. Because college athletes deserve to be better compensated, not only should they receive increased access to scholarships and federal aid, they should also be given the ability to participate in sponsorships and brand deals. This solution would not cost the colleges or the NCAA a dime; it would align with Title IX law; it would be fair in that only the most deserving athletes would receive these opportunities; and it would benefit the majority of athletes in crucial ways. Such a solution can become a reality if the NCAA doubles down on their current efforts to increase scholarships and when other states follow efforts recently made by California to address these issues. Such steps would give rise to the creation of a national, uniform law concerning athletes’ endorsement rights. (Read full text here)
Hatfield, Sam. “Reaffirming Rehabilitation.” Senior Thesis, Providence Classical Christian Academy, St. Louis, MO, 2020.
There are many different aspects that contribute to the US’s problem of mass incarceration, and one of the main ones is the high recidivism. Recidivism are the rates at which a prisoner is likely to be re-incarcerated after they have been released from jail. Some people question whether or not in-prison rehabilitation, which is the current way of trying to curb this problem, is a worthwhile investment for the Bureau of Prisons. Due to the U.S.’s current issue of mass incarceration, we should work to improve the in-prison rehabilitation system, because it has the potential to end the cycling of people in and out of jail and in turn provide fiscal benefits and improve our society. Additionally, it is right by scripture for justice to include rehabilitation. When living in a poor area it is likely for children and young adults to be influenced into thinking that crime is the only way out of poverty. Much of this influence comes from older people released from jail and recommitting crimes. This can be stopped by effective rehabilitation, and it has been proven that if we lower crime rates the government and taxpayers will benefit from lower prison costs. Along with the fact that the Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice are required by definition to give prisoners a shot at rehabilitation. The best ways to improve in-prison rehabilitation, and make these reasons for it true, is making programs evidence based, running them more efficiently, and better assessing prisoners risk levels. If we make significant improvements to the in-prison rehabilitation system it will be worthwhile. (Read full text here)
Bosch, Daniel B. “Cyber Security: Protecting the People While Providing for Private Prospects.” Senior Thesis, Providence Classical Christian Academy, St. Louis, MO, 2020.
During the last twenty-five years, the internet has become a revolutionary medium for information sharing and interaction that seemingly ignores physical boundaries. The extraordinary capabilities of the internet have been accompanied by a completely new security threat: the cyber attack. Cyber attacks take advantage of weak computer systems on the open internet to steal information or cause damage. A question that has come out of this threat is whether the United States government should use regulation or other types of involvement to ensure the security of the computer systems of private companies. Usually it makes most sense economically and principally to let companies manage their own systems and security measures, yet negligence on the part of companies has the potential to cause harm to individual citizens. For the vast majority of companies, the risk of a cyber attack is to the company assets, not private citizens. These companies should not have their computer systems regulated, and should be able to make their own judgment as to security. Other companies that hold large quantities of customer data should also be unregulated by the government, but specific laws should be made that fine companies for breaches involving such data. This will incentivize companies to ensure good security, thereby protecting citizens. Finally, the government should play an active regulatory role in protecting the computer systems of our nation’s critical infrastructure companies, as the risks posed by a cyber attack to one of these vital systems are too great. The possibility of large scale physical damage is a threat to American citizens and sovereignty and is, therefore, the government’s responsibility. (Read full text here)
A special thanks to those faculty members who have served as advisors to our seniors throughout this long process: Mrs. Carine Zrodlowski, Mr. Kyle Keating, Mr. Jonathan Mattull, and Mr. Stuart Dace.
Miss Rachel Brewer is in her seventh year of teaching; she came to Providence in 2017. She teaches upper school British and American Literature, Rhetoric, and Medieval History, and supervises Senior Theses. Rachel has her B.A in History from Southern Illinois University and her M.A in Medieval Archaeology from Cardiff University in Wales, U.K.
