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 VOL. V, No. 14;  Tuesday, April 4, 2006

Dear Arthur,

Today's newsletter includes:

1. Final Information on tomorrow's Middle School M.U.N.

2. Report from last Saturday's High School Discussion Group.

3. Information on Washington University's International Film Festival.

4. Information on our new survey system, ZOOMERANG.  Our survey of the week will be on Voting Rights of Felons.


Civitas Home Page
              



First Middle School Model U.N. Tomorrow


The first of six Sprng Model U.N. sessions for middle school students is tomorrow, Wednesday, April 5, 2006.  The participating schools in the first session will be Maplewood-Richmond Heights Middle School, Queen of All Saints (South St. Louis County), and St. Gabriel School (South St. Louis City).  We expect approximately eighty students.  The session will be at the Creve Coeur Government Center (map and directions) from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.

Resolutions to be considered include:

1. Child Trafficking (St. Gabriel's)
2. International Adoption (Queen of All Saints)
3. AIDS (Maplewood-Richmond Heights)
4. Refugees (Queen of All Saints)
5. Tsunami & Natural Disaster Relief (St. Gabriel's)

You can access the five resolutions by clicking here.

After a brief hiatus we will come together on Wednesday, April 26 with Cathedral School (St. Louis City), St. Francis Cabrini (St. Louis City), City Academy (St. Louis City), St. Dominic Savio (South St. Louis County), and St. Mary Magdalen (mid St. Louis County). The rest of the schools will have their General Assemblies on May 3, May 4, May 10, and May 11.

If your school is not among the three participating in the April 5 M.U.N. session, you still have an opportunity to have a Civitas staff member read your rough drafts and provide you with some (we hope) helpful feedback. E-mail your rough drafts (soon please!) to Lisa at [email protected] and she will get back to you quickly with comments about the resolutions and ideas for how to improve them for your General Assembly.  Of course, if you already have the final drafts of your resolutions completed please send those in so we can get them posted on the web.

As always, if you have any questions or need any additional resources for your students, please contact Lisa Granich-Kovarik at [email protected] or (314) 865-4704.

Middle School Country Selections for 2005-2006


Outstanding High School Discussion Last Saturday!



It was a most engaging and informative discussion that we had last Saturday, April 1 (no foolin', of course).  Here's what we did:
  1. Video demonstration of the much easier system Civitas now has allowing readers of this newsletter and others to access our on-line surveys.  Please check out our article below for more information on this.

  2. Discussion on United States immigration policy.  As both houses of Congress wrestle with this issue and politicians align themselves without regard to political party affiliation, the country struggles to find a solution that directly affects over 11 million "illegal aliens."  Our discussion featured arguments from both extremes on the issue: (a) Build a 20-foot wall along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border and pepper the American side with one million land mines to further discourage crossovers, and (b) establish a comprehensive "guest worker" program for the 11 million involved and if they meet certain standards, allow them to apply for American citizenship after six years.  We still have a distance to go before we can recommend any compromise solutions to others. 

  3. Information about the Washington University International Film Festival presented by Danielle Silber (pictured at left).  This presents students, teachers, and anyone else interested in internation affairs with an opportunity to learn much more about "hot spots" in the world that generally are not covered by the mainstream press.  This Wednesday, April 5, the movie "Dreams Die Hard" will be shown.  It profiles survivors of human trafficking across the U.S., highlighting their passion for freedome of justice.  We have more information on the festival in the following story.  You can get complete information on the film festival including times, locations, and further descriptions of the films by clicking here.

    Danielle will be joining us again at our April 29 discussion group.  She will conduct a 30-minute "teach-in" on the human rights abuses and civil war in Darfur (in the Sudan in Africa).  She will be available to take numerous questions on this "somewhat hidden" issue.


We did not have time to discuss other issues such as: (1) Senator Russell Feingold's (D-WI) motion to censure [condemn but not punish] President Bush for unlawful spying on Americans and other questionable acts; (2) another round of rising gasoline prices, and (3) ethical issues involved in betting on sports?  However, when we meet next on Saturday, April 15, from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM, let's keep in mind that as always, the topics are fluid and the ultimate choice comes from the students who are present.  Adults with the curiousity, critical thinking skills, irreverance, and humor of students are welcome as well.

One other item: those students who participated in February's "Reinventing the United Nations" conference will have an opportunity to meet with and address our local chapter of the United Nations Association.  The meeting (which includes dinner at our expense) will be this Sunday, April 9, from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM at the Wei Hong Restaurant in University City.  If you are interested, please contact us by midnight, this Wednesday, April 5, at [email protected]

Link to Photos from Last Saturday's Discussion

Link to Video from Last Saturday's Discussion
(may not be posted until Wednesday)

Map and Directions to Crossroads School


Washington University International Film Festival

Danielle Silber, chairperson of the Washington University International Film Festival, met with high school students at last Saturday's Discussion Group.  She provided us with comprehensive and engaging information on the Festival.  Four films remain, on April 5, April 11, April 20, and April 27.  Some are "stand-alone" films; others will have comments from or discussions lead by professors.  All relate to topics that we have touched upon in both our high school and middle school programs.  We thought that you might be interested.  You can get more information including the listing of the remaining films by clicking here, clicking on the image to the right, or e-mailing Danielle at [email protected].




 Photos!
 Streaming Video!

 




 Become Part of the Civitas Survey Community

We have a brand new survey system at Civitas called ZOOMERANG.  It gives us the opportunity to offer surveys with virtually any format and to concurrently run as many surveys as we wish.  Additionally, it provides much improved anonymity for participants, something that has been of concern to many.  It still retains the option of letting participants who want to have their comments attributed to them to do so.  It does not involve signing in with user names and passwords!

Our surveys have been extremely interesting to those who participate, but the reliability of our results is minimal because our sample size is generally quite small.  Our surveys will become far more meaningful and interesting if more of our readers participate.  ZOOMERANG should make that easier and more secure.

Our survey this week is on the voting rights of felons.
 
Throughout its history, the United States has dealt with questions of fairness within the voting system.  Women could not vote in federal elections until 1920 and minorities (most particularly African-Americans) did not have legislative protection to vote until 1965.  The playing field is still not level, as witnessed by all the controversies involved in the 2000 election.

An issue that seemed somewhat peripheral in the wake of the 2000 election but now has come to the forefront of our consciousness concerns the rights of individuals who have been convicted of felonies.  Do they have voting rights?
Our questions will ask you your opinions on granting voting rights to each of the following groups of people who have interacted with the criminal justice system:

1. People who have been convicted of committing felonies and completed serving their sentences.

2. People who have been convicted of committing felonies and are still serving their sentences (including being in prison).

3. People who have been arrested and indicted for committing felonies but who have not yet been found guilty in a court of law.


Click here for survey on voting rights of felons: 




Previous Survey Results!  

Next week we will provide the results of our surveys on SATs, President Bush's Popularity, and Voting Rights of Prisoners



Additional Links


Streaming Video [Real Media]
 Resolutions (High School U.N.) for 2004-2005
   
Checklist for Writing a Model U.N. Resolution
 

Reinventing U.N.Conference Home Page 
    

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