In addition to reading our newsletters, you may also want to visit our web site by clicking on the link below. We have a good deal of current information, and through the year we will be working on building up our archives from previous years.
Civitas home page
High School Teacher Meeting this Sat., Sept. 6 (Updated)

Our first and only meeting for high school model U.N. faculty advisors will be this Saturday, September 6, from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM at Crossroads School (map below).

The meeting and the agenda will be short. This is because we try to ask very little of our high school teachers. We appreciate how busy they are. The same holds true for their middle and elementary school colleagues.

Essentially, we want to review with teachers how they can best make interested students in their schools aware of how they can receive up-to-date information on Civitas activites. We will provide them with a quick "lesson" on how the Civitas web site works. We'll also give them plenty of written materials to take to students at their schools.

This is the only meeting that we have all year for high school teachers and since there are no activities scheduled on school days, teachers are basically "home free" after this meeting. However, the experience for the students from the teachers' schools will be greatly enhanced they you can make this one meeting.

The agenda for the meeting will include:

1. Our Fall Model U.N. conference
2. Our Fall Conference on the Middle East
3. The October Urban Convergence Conference
4. Our February Conference on "Revenge & Reconciliation"
5. Our Spring focus on Urban Studies, and our ongoing focus on Campaign 2004
6. How to best use the internet resources of Civitas.
7. Model U.N. video.
8. Organizing school chapters.
Directions to Crossroads School
Middle School Teachers Meeting on Monday, Sept. 15 (New)

We are looking forward to our most active Middle School program ever this year. We have a number of new schools that are interested in the program.

Our first meeting for Middle School teachers will be on Monday, September 15, at 4:00 PM on the 10th floor of the Clayton World Trade Center (directions and map below).

We will provide you with far more information about the meeting in next week's newsletter.
Directions to Middle School Teachers Meetings

Next Student Meeting on Saturday, September 13 (New)

Civitas' next high school student activity is on Saturday, September 13. It will feature a discussion group from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM at Crossroads School (link to directions and map below).

During the discussion period, we will have open conversation on a topic or topics of students' choice. This past Saturday we had an outstanding discussion on whether the U.N. or the U.S. should have primary responsibility for rebuilding Iraq. Students were divided on the issue; but discussion was thoughtful and extremely respectful. Congratulations to all students who were on hand.

A likely topic for the agenda on September 13 is whether the United States is setting a proper example for international behavior to developing countries. This naturally emanates from our discussion about the U.N. and the U.S. We hope that numerous students who were not able to attend last Saturday's discussion will be there on the 13th.

Directions to Crossroads School
40 Years of the Dream: Aug. 28, 1963 - Aug. 30, 2003 (Updated)

Eight students who were at last Saturday's discussion requested DVD copies of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech on August 28, 1963. If you would like one as well, please contact the Civitas office at (314) 367-6480 or at civitas@swbell.net.
Text of "I Have A Dream" Speech

Fall Conference on Middle East on October 17-18 (Updated)

We preface this story with an announcement that there will be "one story" newsletter sent out tomorrow (Wednesday, September 3, 2003) on Civitas' Mid-East Conference this Fall.

The first major international conference of the school year for high school students will be our "Conference on the Middle East." It will begin at 3:00 PM on Friday, October 17 and end at 5:30 PM on Saturday, October 18. The conference will be at a new venue: the Doubletree Airport Hotel. We will have very good conference rooms, excellent eating and rooming facilities, and an extremely helpful staff.

We will be sending out a separate e-newsletter on the conference later this week. It will include far more information on our goals for the conference as well as the agenda.

In the meantime students who want to participate in the conference must come to the two preparatory sessions on Saturday, September 20 and Saturday, October 4. They must also commit themselves to research time prior to the conference. We are looking for students who want to really engage in the issues of the Middle East and who are willing to "think outside the box."

With this week's newsletter, we have a link to a sign-up sheet for the conference. Applying to participate will not guarantee a student a slot in the conference, but it will be an excellent first step for a student to take.

We also have available other information on the conference. It can be accessed by the second link below. More information will be available next week.

Application form for Mid-East Conference
Link to Index of Information on Mid-East Conference

Urban Convergence Conference Coming Up (Repeated)

Metropolis St. Louis is sponsoring a conference on the future of St. Louis the weekend of October 3-5. It is called Urban Convergence.

We are looking for any student who is interesting in participating. You don't have to commit yourself to the entire weekend; in fact we have a discussion group and prep session for the Mid-East Conference on Saturday morning. If you are interested, please go to the sign-up link at the bottom of this article.

We will have more information in next week's e-newsletter.

Link to Metropolis St. Louis
Link to sign-up for conference

Photos From Last Saturday Now Available in On-Line (Updated)

We have excellent photos from last Saturday' discussion group at Civitas now on line. You can check them out at the site listed below.

Link to Civitas Photos
Civitas Urban Studies Video Now Available (Updated)

We took video at last Saturday's discussion. It will be available for viewing within the next day or so.

We also have over one hour of video available from the ten days of Civitas Summer Urban Studies this past July. Included are scenes from our "Bird's Eye" View of St. Louis; our meetings with various public officials, our Urban Council, and much more.

We will be adding video from as many Civitas events as possible. We will start with this Saturday's first discussion group of the year.

Please click below to get to our Video Index.
Link to Video Index

Survey on Gasoline Prices (New)

We have just finished de facto summer with the passing of Labor Day. In August, gasoline prices in the U.S. were at their highest ever. Why do you think that was so?

Link to Survey on Gas Prices in the U.S.

Link to Poll on Civitas Intranet Site

Previous Survey Results (New)

Last week's survey was:

President George W. Bush of the United States is asking the United Nations to provide more assistance in the rebuilding of Iraq. However, he is not willing to share any more control with the United Nations. If the U.N. provides more assistance in the rebuilding of Iraq, do you think that it should have more "say" in policy regarding the rebuilding of Iraq?

Responses % #
1. Yes, the U.N. should have more "say." 88.89 % 16

2. No, the U.N. should not have more "say." 11.11 % 2

3. Not Sure 0 % 0

Total 18

More information about Civitas