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Dear Arthur,

We have information in this newsletter about:

1. A most lively discussion group for high school students that we had last Saturday.

2. Information on the Saturday, October 29 meeting for discussion group for high school students and teachers.

3. Announcement of a "winner" from Civitas for the upcoming "Global Solutions, Local Connections" in Santa Fe.

4. Information on the first Civitas on-line conference to be held next Monday, October 24 from 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM (U.N. Day).

5. Middle School Model U.N. Update

6. A new survey on whether the federal government should "bail out" General Motors from financial difficulties.

Civitas Home Page


High School Discussion Last Saturday Very Lively!

After taking a few minutes last Saturday to address some "housekeeping details" for the November 19 Civitas Model U.N., students entered into two lively discussions.

The first was on timely topic of "Should journalists have the right to protect their confidential sources?" The general consensus of the group was that journalists should be able to honor confidentiality. However, some students brought up issues related to national security information that journalists may have received and perhaps they would have a higher duty to turn that information over to the government. We wrestled with the questions involved in this conundrum but did not come up with any finite guidelines or answers.

Following snacks, we dealt with another current topic: "Should Harriet Miers be confirmed as an associate justice to the U.S. Supreme Court?" It did not take long for the conversation to move in the direction of what Ms. Meirs' views might be on reproductive choice and life. While there certainly was no consensus within the group on how they felt about abortion, it was clear that almost everyone felt it important that Ms. Meirs disclose her opinions when she testifies next month before the Senate Judiciary Committee. While this would be most interesting to those at the discussion as well as most Americans, recent court nominees as well as most members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have set precedents that allow candidates to avoid answering such questions because "the issue may later come before the court."

Our next discussion group will be on Saturday, October 29, 2005 at Crossroads School from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM. We will also provide some more vital information on the November 19 Civitas Model U.N.

At the bottom of this article, we have links to the "drafted list of nations" as well as photos and video from recent events.


Map and Directions to Crossroads School


Photos!


Streaming Video!


General Assembly Rosters for 2005-2006



First Civitas On-Line Conference Next Monday, U.N. Day, at 7:00 PM

Next Monday, October 24 (U.N. Day), Civitas will be inaugurating a new type of activity. We now have the capacity to have up to ten people simultaneously engage in an on-line activity. They will be able to go to a special web site for visuals and call into an "800" phone number so that everyone can be "verbally tuned in." Each individual will have time to speak and respond to others. The "conference" will begin at 7:00 PM and last for thirty minutes until 7:30 PM.

The topic of the discussion will be, "What would you do if a military draft was reinstated in the United States?" We hope that no one is faced with that dilemma, but it might be beneficial to address some of the basic considerations at this time.

Again, you can do this all at the comfort of your home. However, you will need to register in advance (by noon next Monday, Oct. 24). If you are interested, just click here and send us a short e-mail indicating your interest. We will then send you a return e-mail with the "800" phone number to call and the web site to go to for the conference.

If you have any questions, call us at (314) 367-6480.
Link to Budget Conferencing



Civitas Student Wins Essay Contest for Global Solutions, Local Connections Conf. in Santa Fe

Just prior to press time for this e-newsletter, we have learned that a Civitas Model U.N. student has won the essay contest which entitles this student to attend the conference courtesy of the local St. Louis chapter of Citizens for Global Solutions. Since we are not certain that the student has received the good news, we are holding off with his (yes, it's a boy!) name. Hopefully we will include both his name and essay in next week's newsletter.

"GLOBAL SOLUTIONS, LOCAL CONNECTIONS: MAKING THE GLOBAL LOCAL,
ONE ACTIVIST AT A TIME"

N O V E M B E R 4 - 6, 2 0 0 5

______________________________________________________________________________________

HEAR PRESENTATIONS AND JOIN IN DISCUSSIONS ON:

HOW & WHY THE U.S. SHOULD BE MORE OF A "GLOBAL TEAM PLAYER"
HOW THE U.N. MUST BE CHANGED TO BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE
WHY LOCAL ISSUES ARE ALSO GLOBAL ISSUES
THE CRITICAL WORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

PARTICIPATE IN THE SECOND ANNUAL MEETING OF THE
POLITICALLY ACTIVE CITIZENS FOR GLOBAL SOLUTIONS
__________________________________________________________________________

Citizens for Global Solutions of Greater St. Louis will provide transportation, registration, meals, & lodging at the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico for a college student or a high-school junior or senior to attend this national convention.
The conference begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday, November 4, so you should be able to leave St. Louis Thursday evening. It ends at noon Sunday, November 6, so you could be back by that night. Getting to & from the St. Louis airport is your responsibility.
If you want to be a contestant for this all-expenses-paid trip, write a 3-5 page typed essay (double-spaced) consisting of two parts. In the first part tell us about your background and why you would be a good person for us to send to this meeting. In the second part share with us your thinking about some of the problems our world community faces and how we might deal with them more effectively.
____________________________________________________________________

In exchange for this subsidy C/GS of St. Louis expects you to give us a brief written report about
the conference & what you learned from it. (This gets published in our local newsletter.)

Link to Conference Web Page



Repeat: Middle School Teachers Hold Country Draft

The middle school Model United Nations program is off and rolling after a well-attended and productive teachers' meeting on Monday, October 10! After discussing the upcoming student workshop, classroom visits, and spring General Assemblies, teachers divided up and chose which countries their students would be representing. With twenty-one schools and over five hundred students participating in the program this year, a great diversity of countries were chosen from all regions of the world, thus insuring interesting discussions at our General Assemblies. A link to the rosters of countries for each session is located at the bottom of this story.

If you were one of the teachers who were not able to attend the meeting, please email us your country choices as soon as possible. Make sure to check our website to make sure the countries you'd like have not already been chosen by another school on your date.

Our student workshop on November 16th is just around the corner. Held at the Khorassan Room at the Chase Park Plaza, it promises to be an invaluable introduction to the program for the students as well as a lot of fun. The agenda for the morning includes an interactive power point presentation on the United Nations and our Model UN program, a resolution simulation, and a performance by drummers and dancers from Cote d'Ivoire. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

We will have more information on the November 16th workshop in next week's newsletter.

Should any teacher have any questions, you can contact:

1. The Civitas office [(314) 367-6480) or [email protected]] or
2. Lisa Granich-Kovarik [(314) 865-4704 or [email protected]].
Middle School Country Selections for 2005-2006



Survey on Should the Government Protect General Motors Against Bankruptcy

At one point General Motors was the largest corporation in the United States ever, in terms of its revenues as a percent of GDP. In 1953 Charles Erwin Wilson, then GM president, was named by President Eisenhower as Secretary of Defense. When he was asked, during the hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee if as secretary of defense he could make a decision adverse to the interests of General Motors, Wilson answered affirmatively but added that he could not conceive of such a situation "because for years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa."

Fifty-two years later, General Motors is close to going into bankruptcy. In May 2005, Standard & Poor's downgraded GM's credit rating to junk bond status.

General Motors lost 1.6 billion in July - Sept., 2005. This month, G.M. reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union to cut $1 billion worth of annual health care benefits for hundreds of thousands of American retirees.

This is not the first time that an American auto maker has had serious financial problems. In 1979, the Chrysler Corporation petitioned the United States government for $1 billion in loan guarantees to avoid bankruptcy. Congress and the president provided the loan guarantees and Chrysler. The company brought in a new chief executive (Lee Iacocca who agreed to work for $1.00 a year) and they introduced some new innovative cars to the market. By the early 1980s they were once again financially prospering.

At long last, our question is, "Do you think that the federal government should provide loan guarantees against bankruptcy for General Motors in order to help the financial condition of the company and to protect its contractual obligations to its workers?"

Information Sources: The New York Times and Wikipedia.com

Survey on Should the Government Protect General Motors Against Bankruptcy



Previous Survey Results!

Last newsletter's question was:

Survey on Journalists Being Allowed to Protect Their Confidential Sources


Last week, New York Times writer Judith Miller was set free after 85 days in prison. She had been sentenced to jail because she refused to disclose to a federal prosecutor the name of the person who "leaked" the name of a CIA agent who was tangentially involved in refuting President Bush's argument that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq. As it turned out, Ms. Miller never revealed the CIA agent's name in print nor did she write an article about the issue.

Last week, the person who revealed the CIA agent's name to Ms. Miller said that he would come forward on his own. That meant that Ms. Miller was no longer "holding a secret" and she could be released from prison.

By the way, the "leaker" of the information to Judith Miller was "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Our question (at long last) is: Do you think that journalists should be required to release their confidential sources in a criminal investigation?


Do you think that Journalists Being Allowed to Protect Their Confidential Sources




Responses:

1. Yes 0 (0%)

2. No 4 (45%)

3. Not Sure 5 (55%)


COMMENTS ON THE ISSUE

Comments on Journalists Being Allowed to Protect Their Confidential Sources

Anthony Keel; S.L.U.H., 2006

Well, in cases like this I would say that a journalist should be allowed to keep the name of the person(s) who gave them information a secret. Revealing them would only bring suits against the person who leaked the vital information. If this information is being used in court, however, I think the witness would name themselves anyway or be made to under promises of protection. Also, I think it is extremely funny that Cheney's chief of staff leaked the information about the WMD's. I bet he loses his job. It is wrong that journalists should be imprisoned for protecting the very livelihoods of their witnesses. They most of the time have contracts with them to not reveal their names as a condition of receiving the information.


Patty Rodriguez; Parkway North, 2009

I'm not sure on this issue. On the one hand, she didn't reveal the agent's name, nor did she write an article about it, so really, I don't see how the news even spread. But then again on the other hand, that woman who leaked it should not be allowed to know state secrets if she's going to leak them. I think it depends on the situation.


Note: Over the past week somewhat confusing information has come to light regarding Ms. Miller and her alleged source, Scooter Libby. The courts and the press are currently trying to clarify the situation.


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Photo Gallery

Streaming Video [Real Media]

Civitas Calendar

Civitas Intranets Site

Civitas Home Page

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Previous Newsletters

Resolutions (High School U.N.) for 2004-2005

Checklist for Writing a Model U.N. Resolution

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