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Dear Civitas,
We have a short newsletter this week with preliminary information from the Civitas Middle East Conference. We are very pleased with the conference and extend special thanks to the students and teachers who made it such a positive experience.
We do have a new survey on Thanksgiving. We also provide results from last week's survey (a poor poll) on the Democratic candidates for president.
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Middle East Conference Major Success!
We want to extend our thanks to forty-three students and nearly a dozen faculty advisors and members of the Civitas staff who contributed to a most successful Conference on the Middle East last weekend. Students worked in three committees and the results of their deliberations are now going through the final phase of editing. In addition, we have over 100 fine photos (mostly courtesy of Marian Brickner) and some excellent video (Bobbi Clemons). We will give you links to the written reports from the conference as well as the photos and video in next week's newsletter.
We are particularly grateful to St. Louis Post-Dispatch Washington bureau chief Jon Sawyer who presented a most informative and stirring keynote address on Friday evening. Jon has traveled throughout the Middle East and written extensively from the region. Most of all, he warned all of us to be careful of the "law of unintended consequences" when dealing with such a volatile area.
We also thank all the workers at the DoubleTree Hotel at the airport who did much of the "actual heavy lifting."
Index to Middle East Conference
Survey on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving, the holidays -- they're here. Some people love these holiday; others consider it the worst time of the year. This week we solicit your thoughts about Thanksgiving.
Link to Survey on Thanksgiving
Link to Poll on Civitas Intranet Site
Previous Survey Results (New)
An example of a Poor Poll: The Civitas polls may be interesting, but they are not that scientific. We rarely have more than a dozen respondents, and polls that are reliable and valid generally have over 1,000 responses. However, our surveys present opportunities for conjecture and speculation; nothing more. We would love to have more respondents. But here is a poor poll in itself. The question simply is "Who do you support for the Democratic nomination for president?" We will then give you the names of the nine candidates. Why is it a poor poll? Well, besides the small sample size that we will have, it also does not limit the pool of respondents to those whose thinking is valid for the poll. Suppose that the only people who respond are Republicans. Wouldn't they want the "weakest link" among the Democratic candidates to face President Bush? Similarly, if it was a poll about Republican candidates when the GOP did not have an incumbent in office, wouldn't Democrats be interested in "sabotaging" the survey. Thus, we offer you the "standard poll" of the day, but caution all of us to be wary of the results. Again, the question for today is "Who do you support for the Democratic nomination for president?"
Responses % #
1. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean 36% 5
2. Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman 7% 1
3. Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt 7% 1
4. None 21% 3
5. Not Sure 29% 4
Total: 13
As we said when we first announced this survey, it is a poor poll. Interpret the results at your own risk. Here are some comments about the topic:
Bobbi Clemons; Home School, 2004
There are way too many Democrats running.
Bryan Carlin; S.L.U.H., 2006
Actually in the opening statement that was a very insightful thing to say about Republicans because I know quite a few people who actually do vote in the Democratic primaries trying to get the weakest link in that spot.
Raquel Rodriguez; Home School, 2006
For the most part I'm Republican. I however am not so Republican that I would vote for a Republican over a person who I thought was the best choice for president just because they're not Republican. Although the assumptions the poll made are logical and somewhat true, they're not always true. I am tired of the Democrats, I am tired of Bush, in fact I am kind of tired of America and its government. I say we should elect Chris Rock.
Ryan Fanning; Lindbergh, 2007
I would support Mr. Dean largely because of his socially liberal but economically conservative views. Vermont is the only state that's legalized gay marriage, of which I am a supporter.
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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