Dear Arthur,
Today's
newsletter includes:
1. Information on last
Saturday's Preparation Session
#1 for the "U.N. & the Future"
conference.
2. Information on this Saturday's
Preparation Session
#2 for the "U.N. & the Future"
conference.
3. Updated information
on high school discussion
groups.
4. Updated information
on Middle School class visits
and session rosters.
5. New survey on
NBC's cancellation of "West
Wing."
Special thanks to MarketVolt, the software
company that developed and supports our e-newsletter program.
We hope that you enjoy the format improvements in this week's
newsletter which would only be possible with the fine work of
Harry Imster, Tom Ruwitch, and the rest of the group at Marketvolt.
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First "Reinventing the U.N." Prep
Session Big Success; second one this Saturday, Jan. 28!
We had a most successful preparation
session for our "Reinventing the United Nations" conference last
Saturday, January 21. Gloria presented an outstanding
PowerPoint
presentation that she had created to illustrate the issues in
the conference. It is available for viewing on our web site in
a PDF format, and you can access it by clicking
here. The presentation outlines the wide scope of issues
that are open for discussion in the conference as well as being
in need of creative solutions from students.
After
indulging in the mountain of food and fine beverages that Bobbi had brought to the
meeting, we re-convened in the library. Arthur provided students
with a list of significant events in 1945, the year
in which the U.N. was formally established. In our second
preparation session this Saturday, we will contrast the ways in
which the United Nations functioned in 1945 with the way that it
must now in 2006.
There is a tendency to think that
the world must have been much more simple in 1945 than it is
today. A glance at the events of that year clearly indicate
almost every day brought either turmoil, joy, frustration,
anticipation, or relief. Despite mistakes, the U.N. did a
remarkable job of addressing the major issues following World
War II. However, what it did then and the way in which it was
formulated then may not be appropriate for 2006. Thus, we have
our conference to explore whether the U.N. is in need of
"fixing," and if so, how.
In Preparatory Session #2
this Saturday, we will be viewing the movie "Broken Promises." It is a
documentary that was produced by Citizens United, a conservative
Washington-based organization that is quite critical of the
U.N. Those on our staff who have previewed it believe that it
points out some important short-comings of the U.N. At the same
time, we question factual accuracy and the conclusions drawn.
In any event, it will be a catalyst for discussion this
Saturday.
This Saturday's prep session will be at
Crossroads School (map)
from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.
Any
student who would like to participate in the conference but who
missed last Saturday's session is still welcome. However, you
will be required to do a moderate amount of make-up work to pick
up the information from last Saturday's session.
Once again, an overview of the conference is
the following:
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 42 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. The prep sessions are scheduled
for:
1. Saturday, January 21, 2006 -- done! 2.
Saturday, January 28, 2006 -- this Saturday! 3. Saturday,
February 4, 2006 -- sooner than you might think!
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.
Conference
Home Page Including Link to Application
Form |
Two-minute Lively High School
Discussion Last Saturday!
With major emphasis placed on preparation
for the upcoming Civitas "Reinventing the United Nations"
conference, we had very little time last Saturday for our free
and open discussion. As a matter of fact, we had only two
minutes before everyone had to pull an "outa here!"
During those two minutes, we did discuss the possibility of
Civitas providing students with information about the
international language, Esperanto. By almost
unanimous consent, everyone agreed that it would be a good
idea. As a result, Dr. Ron
Glossop of Southern Illinois University --
Edwardsville will make a ten-minute presentation on Esperanto at
our final preparation session for the conference on Saturday,
February 4.
Topics that we did not have time to
discuss included whether it was "God's will" that a rebuilt New
Orleans be a chocolate city (as suggested by N.O. Mayor Ray
Nagin), assisted suicide, and the so called culture of
corruption in D.C. Hopefully, we will be able to discuss one or
several of these as well as other suggested topics at the
conclusion of this Saturday's, January 28 preparation session
for the "Reinventing the United Nations" conference.
Once again, links to photos and video from previous
discussions as well as model U.N. sessions are located below.
Map
and Directions to Crossroads
School | | |
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Middle School Class Visits Continue
Lisa visited
St. Francis Cabrini,
Crossroads, St. Mary Magdalen,
and Jennings Junior High last week to help
prepare them for their spring Model UN sessions. The students
were introduced to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and did an excellent
job learning how to apply those rights to their resolutions.
Some students found some of the rights in the Declaration
surprising. "We have a right to rest and leisure?" commented
one, "Tell that to our teachers!" Students also learned about
the top five mistakes of resolution-writers and vowed not to
fall into these pitfalls. Undoubtedly we'll see some high
quality resolutions written in the next few weeks. This week
Lisa will be visiting with Maplewood-Richmond Heights
and Loyola Academy, a school that is
new to our program this year. A reminder to
teachers that there will be an exciting, stimulating,
action-packed (and really, really necessary) teachers' meeting
on Monday, February 27th. At the meeting, we'll
choose the resolutions for the spring sessions and discuss other
important details of the General Assemblies. The meeting is at
the luxurious Creve Coeur Government Center and it lasts from
4:00 PM until no later than 5:00 PM. We promise to bring lots of
chocolate, salty food, and caffeinated beverages. contact
Lisa at [email protected]
or (314) 865-4704.
Middle School
Country Selections for
2005-2006 | |
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What does Cancelation of the TV show "West Wing"
mean? NBC has just announced that the program
"West Wing" will be canceled following the 2005-2006 television
season. The program is in its seventh season and when it
debuted, it was acclaimed by many as a "breakthrough" program
that appealed to an "enlightened audience." Our question is,
"Which of the following do you think are the most important
factors in the cancelation of "West Wing?"
a) There
has been a "dumbing down" of the American people and the
television viewing audience.b) The ABC show
"Commander in Chief" has drawn away many of the viewers of "West
Wing." c) NBC doomed "West Wing" to lower ratings by moving
it from 8:00 PM on Wednesdays to 7:00 on Sundays (Central time
zone). d) The quality of the writing and the quality of the
programs has declined through the years. e) Not Sure
Click
here for the survey:
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Previous Survey Results!
Last newsletter's
question was:
If You Were Establishing A
New Voting System in the U.N. General Assembly (in other words, for all 191 members), which
of the following would you consider as factors in changing the
voting strength of a country? (you can select more than one
answer)
Factors You Would Consider
in Revising United Nations
a)
Population of each country. -- 7 (58%) b) Military strength
of each country. -- 1 (8%) c) Economic strength of each
country. -- 5 (42%) d) Human Rights record of each country.
-- 8 (67%) e) None of the above. -- 1 (0%)
(responses to not add up to 100% because respondents
could provide multiple answers)
COMMENTS ON THE
ISSUE
Questions Regarding How
You Would Reform the U.N.
Patty
Rodriguez; Parkway North High School,
2009 I don't think the military strength of
a country should have anything to do with the voting power of
that country because 1) in cases of natural disasters
you're not going to have that strong of a military, and if you
do still have a strong military, they're kind of busy right now,
and 2) because that's what went wrong the first time with the
whole victors of WWII got the veto thing. I also don't think
that economic strength should have anything to do with it simply
because each country has its own economic strengths and
weaknesses and for any third-world country, it's not fair to
say, "Your opinion is less important than ours because we're
richer than you." That's my
opinion. Tony Keel; S.L.U.H.,
2006 I think more than one factor would
ideally go into a weighted vote system, but if I had to choose
one, I'd choose economic power (assuming that is per capita
income too). Human rights record is a good one also, but most
nations have good records anyway. I would suggest a mixture of
economic, military, population, and human rights
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