VOL. V, No. 20;
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Dear Arthur,
Today's newsletter includes:
1.
Reports on the Wednesday, May 10
and Thursday, May 11 Middle School
M.U.N.s.
2. Information on
last Saturday's picnic
for high school students and staff at Junior High Park in
Maplewood.
3. Links to more
information on Darfur.
4. Sign-up Sheet &
Information on Civitas Activities for the
Summer.
5. Continuation of
our existing survey on the nomination of
General Michael Hayden at new head of the
C.I.A.
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Civitas Home
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Final Two Middle School Model
U.N.s Major Successes!
 With two fine sessions last week,
Civitas completed its 2005-2006 Middle School Model U.N. student
activities. We extend our thanks to all the students and
faculty members from the schools listed below who ensured that
all six of our sessions this spring were enlightening and most
beneficial to the students.
The results from last
week's session are provided below:
Wednesday, May 10,
2006
1. Care and
Adoption of World Orphans (Hixson Middle School -- Webster
Groves) -- Amended & Passed,
23-8-9
2. Juvenile
Justice (Pattonville Heights) --
Amended & Defeated, 19-15-7
3.
Terrorism (Holman Middle School -- Pattonville)
-- Amended & Defeated, 14-25-1
4. Contaminated Water
(Remington Middle
School
-- Pattonville) --
Passed, 37-3-1
5. Chernobyl /
Radioactive
Environment (Hixson Middle
| Megan LaFolette
(Pattonville Heights, 2006) and Ashlee Brannin (Holman, 2006)
both submitted outstanding resolutions on Wednesday that did not
quite get enough votes to pass. Megan represented New
Zealand and Ashlee represented
Israel. |
School --
Webster Groves)
-- Passed,
25-12-4
Thursday, May 11, 2006
1. HIV / AIDS -- Crossroads School (St.
Louis) -- Amended &
Passed, 17-7-6
2. Human Trafficking
(Jennings Middle School) --
Amended & Passed, 20-1-6
3. HIV / AIDS
-- (McKinley Classical Junior Academy -- St. Louis) -- Passed, 19-1-9
4. Women's Rights in North Korea (Jennings
Middle School) -- Amended &
Passed, 23-3-2
5. Deforestation --
(Jennings Middle School) --
Amended & Defeated, 11-13-6
6. Sex
Trafficking -- (McKinley Classical Junior Academy) -- Defeated, 14-10-6
As the number of
resolutions per date grow to five and six, we want to let
you know in advance that it is possible, though not desired,
that the chairs (Lisa & Arthur) may limit the speaker's list
if we are running significantly behind schedule. Also, we
want to reiterate how important it is for all schools to arrive
prior to 9:00 AM.
| Christina Palmer (l)
and Tempestt Burel (r), both in the class of 2007 at Jennings
Middle School, represented Madagascar on Thursday, May
11. Their terrific resolution on global deforestation was
barely defeated. |
You can access
all submitted resolutions by clicking here.
Middle School Country
Selections for 2005-2006
Photos
from May�10 & May 11, 2006 Middle School Model U.N.
Sessions
By the way, Lisa had a most interesting "Letter to the Editor"
printed in the Tuesday, May 9 St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
With her permission we have reprinted it because we thought that
it would be of interest to our readers:
Scapegoating
teachers
 Like school board members Peter Downs,
Donna Jones and William Purdy, I was dismayed to read St. Louis
School Superintendent Creg Williams' commentary criticizing
teacher absences. The merits of Mr. Williams' claims regarding
sick day abuse is arguable, but more troubling is his choice of
subject matter. Out of the multitude of topics Mr. Williams
could have addressed regarding St. Louis Public Schools, why
choose this one? Why not school funding, classroom discipline,
teacher salaries or the success of some magnet schools?
I support many of the tough decisions Mr. Williams has
made thus far, but he missed the boat on this one. Mr. Downs,
Ms. Jones and Mr. Purdy's defense of teachers was on-target.
Scapegoating teachers and their union demonstrates a profound
lack of understanding of the complexities of what goes on in a
struggling school district. Do a handful of teachers use too
many sick days? Maybe, maybe not. But by using the commentary
page to impugn the professionalism of teachers who are doing a
difficult, often thankless job, Mr. Williams is needlessly
creating a contentious relationship with them. Many of these
teachers are rooting for him and share his enthusiasm for
reform. Perhaps he could focus on these teachers the next time
he writes a commentary.
Lisa
Granich-Kovarik | St. Louis
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High
School Picnic Last Saturday A Chilling Experience
It was so chilly at last Saturday's
Spring picnic and softball
game at Junior High Park in
Maplewood that we couldn't take any photos (or if we did,
they have not yet thawed out). However, we all
survived, in large part because of the most kind and generous
contribution of Bob & Debbie
Fanning (Katie's parents) who provided us
with burgers and dogs and did a terrific job of preparing them
for us.
The softball
game was cancelled due to stimulating intellectual conversation
(a frequent occurance at Civitas events). Special thanks
to everyone who came, who brought food, and who showed that
you're never too old to want to try everything new at a
playground.
REMINDER: High School
"Teach-in" on Darfur Big Success; More Resources Now
Available
Thanks so much to the "Fearsome
Fivesome" from Washington University (lead by Danielle Silber, chairperson of
the Washington University International Film Festival) who came
to Crossroads last Saturday to conduct a "teach-in" on
Darfur. Darfur is the western area of the Sudan in Africa,
and while many of its citizens have been fighting for their own
independence, the Sudanese government has suppressed them, using
a variety of forms of torture as well as the conscription of
child mercenaries.
The "teach-in" was extremely
informative and most students seemed anxious to see if they
could do something to address the situation.
In next
week's newsletter, we will have links to a number of resources
regarding Darfur, including ones in which Americans can directly
help. One item that concerned readers may want to put in
their calendars now is a "Call for
Action -- Vigil for Darfur" on Wednesday, May
10, 2006 (photo
essay on Darfur by Jerry
Fowler, one of the speakers on
Wednesday). It will be at the Missouri Historical Society
(Jefferson Memorial) at 6:30 PM. We will have more details
next week.
Link
to Photos from April�29 Discussion
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AND
YOU SAW IT FIRST!
-c.JPG) Those of you who took advantage of the
opportunity to see Frank
Popper's documentary on Jeff Smith's 2004
campaign for the 3rd Missouri Congressional District are way
ahead of the curve. Frank's doc is one of fifty selections
chosen from 1,700 entries to be shown at to be aired at the
Silverdocs Festival, which is run by the American Film Institute
and the Discovery Channel. This will be held in the
Washington, DC area beginning June 13. We wish Frank, Matt
Coen, and everyone else involved in the production of this most
revealing look inside an unvarnished political campaign the best
of success in the competition! We'll keep you informed
about what happens at the Silverdocs Festival.
To
read Deb Peterson's blurb in the Post-Dispatch on this
development, click
here!
| | Photos! | | Streaming
Video! |
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Sign-up Form for Civitas Summer
Activities Still Available
As
mentioned in earlier newsletters, Civitas is sponsoring a variety
one and two-day activities this summer. Now you can access
our sign-up form
and indicate your interest. The form allows you to
indicate what activities are of interest to you and what days
and weeks work best for you. If you are interested, please
access the form by clicking
here:
Once again, the activites
are:
- Urban Studies Event: An
analysis of the controversy over 12 acres of Forest Park located
east of Kingshighway and just south of Barnes-Jewish
Hospital. We will meet with planners for both Forest Park
and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. We will also meet officials
the city of St. Louis and close-by neighborhoods.
And....we will make a necessary stop at Crown Candy
Company. (This was the topic of
last week's on-line survey!) [Update: On
Thursday, April 20, a vote was held by a city panel that gave
permission to Barnes-Jewish Hospital to move ahead with plans to
negotiate the lease with Forest Park. However, the measure
must pass to other legislative hurdles including the St. Louis
Board of Alderpersons.] This issue will still be
"hot" when we
analyze it this summer.
- Urban Studies Event: "Bird's-Eye View
of St. Louis"...this is an
"oldie-but-goodie." We will study how land-use changes in
St. Louis from the perspectives of the Metropolitan Life
Building (downtown); Continental
Building (Mid-Town); University Club
(Richmond Heights), and possibly the DoubleTree West
Hotel (Chesterfield). We'll also make sure that
we have time for a tasty meal.
- Public Policy by the
Numbers: This is an activity open to students
and teachers alike. We'll examine how important it is to
analyze issues by "smart use" of numbers. Using computers,
we will take a look at issues ranging from traffic
management in St. Louis to raising revenue for
the United Nations.
Unfortunately, we do will not have a
Civitas Night at the
Ballpark this summer. Tickets are hard to
get for a spontaneous group such as ours! We will revive
this activity when the team tanks and the novelty of the
less-than-overwhelming new stadium wears off.
Once
again, we want you to know that we want you to know that we
have an on-line sign-up
sheet available for you. If
you have any questions about the activities or the form, please
call us at (314) 367-6480 or e-mail us at
[email protected].
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Survey on President Bush's Nominee to
head C.I.A. (continued)
We are extending last week's
survey for another week because
it is so
timely!
President Bush has
nominated General Michael Hayden to be the next director of the
Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.). Many Republicans and
Democrats alike have already expressed reservations about
supporting General Hayden, primarily because (1) they do not
feel that this is a good time to have the head of the C.I.A. be
from the military, and (2) General Hayden has been an
enthusiastic supporter of the administration's policy of spying
on American citizens without court-obtained warrents. Our
question is, "From what you know at this point, would you
support General Hayden as director of the C.I.A.?" (If you
would like more information, click
here to get background information from the New York
Times).
Click here to take the survey:
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Previous Survey
Results!
Not Applicable this Week!
RESULTS:
COMMENTS:
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Additional
Links
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| Resolutions
(High School U.N.) for 2004-2005
| Checklist
for Writing a Model U.N. Resolution
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Reinventing U.N.Conference Home
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