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Today's newsletter includes:


1. New and updated information on our High School February Conference on the "U.N. & the Future."

2. Information on suggested topics for this Saturday's High School Discussion Group.

3. A new survey on whether it is a "Christmas tree" or a "holiday tree" -- or possibly even a Chanukah bush or something else.


Due to our present proximity to the winter solstice as well as that over the next two weeks, there will not be enough daylight for Civitas to publish another edition of this e-newletter until Tuesday, January 3, 2006. We hope that you will survive its absence.

Civitas Home Page


Enroll now for our February Conference on the UN and the Future

If you could start all over, what kind of international organization would you create? That's the big question you'll be trying to answer as a delegate to the Civitas Conference on the UN and the future, on Friday/Saturday, February 17-18, 2006.

If you'd like to help re-invent the United Nations, now is the time to sign up. More than 30 people have already indicated interest in the conference, and there's still room for more.

At the conference, you'll represent a country of your choosing, and you'll work with other country delegates to create a new "United Nations," [or an organization with an entirely new name] designed to address world issues.

You'll have a lot to consider: What's working at the current UN? What isn't? Why not? Would you create an organization with more limited goals than the current UN, or with broader goals? How would you organize it to be fair to large and small countries? Who would be eligible for membership? How would you structure voting? How would you get money for this organization?

We're looking forward to a thought-provoking conference, where nations with widely varying interests will try to find ways to work together.

Application forms are available on-line and in person [at Saturday discussion groups]. The cost for the entire conference is $60, which includes your hotel room, all meals and snacks, and conference materials. Financial aid is available.

We'll also have two or three prep sessions to help you get ready for the conference. At the sessions, we'll present background information that will help make conference discussions more meaningful. More details on prep sessions will follow.

Prep sessions are currently scheduled for:

1. Saturday, January 21, 2006
2. Saturday, January 28, 2006
3. Saturday, February 4, 2006

They will all be at Crossroads School and will run from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM in conjunction with regular discussion groups.

Prep sessions are a required part of the conference, but it is possible that we will be able to cover all necessary ground in two sessions and turn the third one into a full Civitas discussion group.

They will all be at Crossroads School and will run from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM in conjunction with regular discussion groups.

You can continue to access updated information on the conference by clicking on the link below. We will continue to update our conference web site as we get closer to the conference.


Conference Home Page Including Link to Application Form





High School Discussion This Saturday; Also, more Info on Feb. Conference

Our next Civitas discussion group (and final one of calendar year 2005) is this Saturday, December 17, at Crossroads School from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM (link to map and directions are located at the bottom of this article). We will also be providing more information for students about or February, 2006 conference on "The United Nations and the Future."

On the heels of the vibrant debate at the November 19 high school model U.N. session, we expect to have some interesting topics to discuss. Additionally, we will have had nearly a month for the world to throw a whole new set of interesting issues our way. One topic will certainly be the trial of Saddam Hussein. One of the most unique aspects of this trial is that the American and British "adversarial" trial system is not being used; rather it is more of the "consensus building" method characteristic of trials in France.

Other topics can include the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a convicted murderer in California who had written a number of highly regarded children's books while on death row. Once again, the "executioners" had trouble with actually killing the man. Does that lend credence to the argument that the death penalty is "cruel and unusual?"

Less weighty topics might include: (a) Are the baseball Cardinals betraying the fans trust by saying that with the new stadium, they must now cut their payroll?, (b) How do you know when a Christmas ("holiday") sale is really a sale? We might also try our hand at emulating Time Magazine and selecting our "person, machine, trend, or whatever" of the year 2005.

If you would like to suggest any topics to us, please e-mail us or call us at (314) 367-6480.


Links to photos and video from previous discussions as well as model U.N. sessions are located below.

Map and Directions to Crossroads School


Photos!


Streaming Video!






Survey on Whether It Should Be Called a Christmas Tree or a Holiday Tree




Please take a look at the tree pictured to the right. Do you think that it is most properly called: (a) a Christmas tree; (b) a holiday tree; (c) None of the above; or (d) Not Sure?




Survey on Whether It Should Be Called a Christmas Tree or a Holiday Tree



Previous Survey Results!
Last newsletter's question was:


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The former members of the bipartisan 9/11 commission gave Congress and the president a report card Monday heavy in B's, C's and D's -- with five F's -- saying the nation was ill-prepared for another terrorist attack. The 570-page, 14-chapter report concluded that a "failure of imagination" kept U.S. officials from understanding the al Qaeda threat before the attacks.

F's were cited for the lack of an adequate radio band for first responders, poor airline passenger pre-screening, the "burying" of the overall intelligence budget within the defense budget, and coalition standards for terrorist detention.

Our question is this, "Do you think that the Bush Administration's war on Iraq has been a distraction that has kept the government from devoting necessary resources to fighting the war on terror?"

Responses:

1. Yes 6 (75%)

2. No 2 (25%)

3. Not Sure 0 (0%)


COMMENTS ON THE ISSUE

Whether War on Iraq is Undermining War on Terrorism

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

Well, I do think getting rid of Saddam is a good idea. However, I hate it when people call the Iraq War a "war on terror," because it most certainly is not. Not only did Bush not give us a good reason, we did not finish the job in Afghanistan first. When was the last time you heard anything about Afghanistan or Osama in the news? I cannot remember. All I know is that we are paying for an ill-conceived war in a nation that had no terror connections we know of (we caused them), and now we are not focusing on the actual war against terrorism, the reason all those poor people on 9/11 died.



Michael Mulligan, Jr.; S.L.U.H., 2009

The war in Iraq has helped the war on terror, it has eliminated vital support for terrorists in the Middle East by causing them to attack Muslims in Iraq; something not looked upon favorably by the rest of the Islamic World. It has also built support for America in Iraq, where those who are in favor of the US, despite still being a less than overwhelming portion of the populace, are greatly higher in number than under Saddam. And it has also helped focus the attentions of the terrorists on "liberating" Iraq, rather than attacking the United States itself.


Katie Fanning; Lindbergh High School; 2008

I must admit, I am against both wars. The War on Iraq because of the loss of lives for a debatable cause and the War on Terror because, well, how exactly does one go to war on an improper noun? And yet, from a purely clinical standpoint, it is obvious that spending money on an economic quagmire such as Iraq prevents the government from having enough resources to counter any future terrorist attacks (Saudi Arabia anyone?).




Additional Links


Photo Gallery

Streaming Video [Real Media]

Civitas Calendar

Civitas Intranets Site

Civitas Home Page

Maps & Directions
Previous Newsletters

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

Checklist for Writing a Model U.N. Resolution

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