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Dear Arthur,

We had a most successful first week of November. On Wed., November 5, we had a fine workshop for nearly 500 Middle School students and teachers. On Saturday, November 8, we had a most spirited Civitas U.N. for high school students. Details on these and other stories are below.

In addition, we have a new survey on "fictionalized history" on TV. We also provide results from last week's survey on whether the U.S. position in Iraq should be "unshakable."

Civitas home page



Middle School Workshop Successful (New)


The biggest (in terms of numbers) Civitas event of the year was a success. Our second annual Civitas U.N. workshop for Middle School students was held last Wednesday, November 5, 2003 from 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM in the Khorassan Room of the Chase-Park Plaza.

Nearly 500 student were in attendance from over fifteen schools. For most, the highlight of the program was the performance by "Africa Voice", a drumming and dancing ensemble from Cote d'Ivoire in western Africa. Africa Voice not only presented; they interacted. At one point, dozens of students were up on the stage with the group and doing their best to imitate the dancers from Africa. At this point, Cote d'Ivoire doesn't have to worry about the competition.

In additon, we had video and PowerPoint presentations. With questions & answers, the PowerPoint was a forty-five minute interactive activity. We covered considerable ground on the United Nations and on the simulated U.N. that is the culmination of the middle school program. Those simulations will take place in March and April of 2004.

All students received Participant Handbooks as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Several high school students also presented a simulation of how a model U.N. works.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

We found out why the old man at the podium had difficult hearing questions. It's not just that he's getting old, but also because all the speakers from the microphones were directed to the audience and none to the stage. We'll fix that next year.

Following up on the question as to what the U.N. did at the time of 9/11, it is indeed true that the first reaction was to evacuate the building because it well could have been an additional target. But once the skies were cleared, the U.N. began work on:

The links below include access to photos from the event; video from the event; and a special "Lost & Found" item.
Photos from Middle School Workshop

Video from Middle School Workshop


LOST & FOUND

Lost and found at the Wednesday, November 5 Middle School workshop was a hat -- or some sort of knitted headgear. If the item pictured at your right is yours or belongs to someone you know, please let us know by calling us at (314) 367-6480 or E-Mailing us at lostandfound@civitas-stl.com




High School Model U.N. Fine Success (New)


The Fall Civitas Model U.N. for high school students was held last Saturday, November 8 at the Chase-Park Plaza. Nearly 100 students attended and they came from as far away as Imperial, MO and Norfolk, VA.

Lively discussion and debate was held in the Security Council; the Economic & Social Committee; the Human Rights Committee; and the Political & Security Committee.

Many resolutions were amended; some to then be passed; others to still be defeated. While there was some initial concern that enough resolutions had not been submitted in advance, the in-depth discussion on the ones that were on the agenda meant that each committee considered only three or four resolutions for the day.

A number of students enjoyed it so much that they are now applying to participate in the upcoming Conference on the Middle East. We are now considering those applications.

Congratulations again to all the fine students and faculty advisors who made Saturday's session such a fine success.

Below are links to photos and video from the session. We were working in "low-light-situations" and this is reflected in the photos and video.
High School Resolutions for Fall, 2003

Photos from November 8, 2003 High School U.N.

Video Links for November 8 Civitas High School U.N.


Middle East Conference Students: ...just one more thing! (New)


We now have sixty-two students who have signed up for the Civitas Middle East Conference. Our initial limit was sixty students; and at one time we actually reduced the maximum number to fifty-one.

Because so many additional students indicated genuine interest in the Conference following last Saturday's Fall U.N. session, we are now considering their applications. We have decided that at this point, final confirmation on a delegate attending will be based on: (a) submitting the research form; (b) submitting the permission form; (c) submitting payment; and (d) a final verbal or E-Mail confirmation that the student will attend the conference.

More information on this is available through E-Mails that are being sent out virtually every day this week and into next week. Please look for these E-Mails.

Intern Bobbi Clemons (aka the "Office Monkey") has developed an outstanding on-line tutorial for research preceding the Civitas Mid-East Conference November 21-22. It is seven and one-half minutes long. It provides an outstanding visual illustration of how to do research on your country and its relationship to the issues that will be discussed in the conference. It demonstrates how to easily do the research and once you have written it up, simply "drop" it into the on-line form that you can submit to Civitas. The research is due on Wednesday, November 19, 2003. You can access the tutorial by clicking on the second link below.


Index to Middle East Conference


Tutorial on Research for the Mid-East Conference


600 Pennies and More! (New)


Nearly 600 pennies lead the way to a $36.04 contribution to UNICEF from students at Long Middle School in St. Louis.

The school's effort was organized by Dr. Hamid Azimiaraghi, on outstanding 8th grade teacher and faculty advisor for Long's participation in the Civitas Middle School Model U.N. We extend our deepest thanks to Dr. Azimiaraghi as well as the students in the school who participated in this successful drive.

UNICEF is a special organization related to the United Nations that gives individuals and community groups opportunities to help hungry and ill children from around the world. UNICEF stands for United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund.
Link to UNICEF






Survey on Fictionalized History on TV


This past week, CBS-TV announced that it would not proceed with a network presentation of their recently produced program, "The Reagans." While right wing pressure was certainly a factor in this decision, so was respect for a man living with Alzheimer's Disease as well as concern for the accuracy of the presentation.

This past Sunday, we had two semi-fictionalized programs on network TV; one on Private Jessica Lynch, the other on Colorado kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart.

Our questions concern the propriety of presenting such programs on network television.
Link to Survey on Fictionalized History on TV


Link to Poll on Civitas Intranet Site






Previous Survey Results (New)


Sixteen U.S. soldiers were killed and another 20 injured when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down by a surface-to-air missile west of Baghdad . This was the deadliest day for Americans in Iraq since May 1. The White House said it mourned Sunday's deaths but stated that American resolve was unshakable. This is a tough question, but do you think that American resolve should be "unshakable?"

Responses % #
1. Yes, forever.
10% 1

2. Yes, at least for now.
10% 1

3. No, we should be able to change policies as circumstances change.
40% 4

4. No; this is part of the reason why we are in the situation that we're in now.
40% 4

5. Not Sure
0% 0

Total : 10

Eighty percent of this small sample indicated that they did not think that "unshakable" was an ideal way to characterize the U.S. commitment to Iraq.




Additional Links

More information about Civitas
Photo Gallery

Streaming Video [Real Media]

Web Calendar

Agendas

Civitas Intranets Site

Civitas Home Page

Previous Newsletters

Maps & Directions
Middle East Conference Index Page

High School General Assembly Assignments for 2003-2004

High School Security Council Assignments for 2003-2004

Civitas Participant Handbook

Resolutions (High School U.N.) for 2003-2004

Checklist for Writing a Model U.N. Resolution

Sample Resolution
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