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LIVELY DISCUSSION GROUP LAST SATURDAY! 

We want to thank all of the students and faculty advisors who came to our discussion group last Saturday, October 14.  We had lively discussions on three topics.  They are listed below along with links to gather more information.  We hope that if we discuss any of these topics at our next discussion session on Saturday, October 28, that all of us can utilize information from these sources and others.

1. Did Laurie Meier exercise a legitimate right on Thursday, October 12 when she interrupted President George Bush to protest the occupation in Iraq at an "invite-only" gathering in St. Louis?
   
   Audio Link: Laurie Meier on "The Charlie Brennan Show" on KMOX-AM Radio on Friday, October 13.
   
   Written Link: Article in St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the event.
   
2. What are the main issues related to the stem-cell referendum that is on the Missouri ballot on November 7?
   
   For: The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures
   
   Against: Missouri Right to Life
   
   
3. The semi-successful test of a nuclear weapon by North Korea on Monday, October 9.

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction

Regarding the November 18, 2006 High School Model U.N.: 

1. You can also access the country roster on-line by clicking here.   
    
2. We want to remind you that we will have three committees of the General Assembly: (a) Political & Security; (b) Economic & Social; and (c) Human Rights.  Each country needs a representative in each of these committees.
   
3. For schools that have a country that is on the Security Council, they will need a fourth delegate to be a representative in that committee.

• Link to roster of General Assembly countries (192).
• Link to 2006 Security Council countries (15).

Issues that have been suggested for each of the committees include:
    

Political & Security	Economic & Social	Human Rights
Effects of colonialism & imperialism	Alternative Energy	AIDs Research
Election reform	Contraception	Child Soldiers
Illegal Immigration	Disposing of Chemical Waste	Equality for GLBT persons
Not stockpiling arms	Drug Trafficking	FGM
Nuclear proliferation	Genetically Altered Crops/Livestock	Genocide
Occupation of Iraq	International Debt	Police Brutality
Reconstruction of war-torn countries	Invasive Species Control	Refugee Status
Separatist Movements	Propaganda	Slavery
Space (the final frontier)	Public Education	Torture/Geneva Conventions
War on terrorism	Religious Conflict
	Sexual Education
	Universal Health Care

 

Listed below are excellent links to access information on countries that students will be representing.  Next week we will include links to issues likely to be discussed in the model U.N.

• CIA World Factbook
  
• http://www.countryreports.org/
  
• http://www.eldis.org/country/
  
• http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/

Again, our next high school student meeting is a regular discussion group on Saturday, October 28.  It will once again be at Crossroads School (map) from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.  Here is the calendar of events for the next month:

DATE	TIME	PLACE	ACTIVITIES
Mon. 10/23/06	7:00 PM - 9:00 PM	Missouri Historical Society	U.N. Day Program with Gillian Sorensen
Tues. 10/24/06	--	--	U.N. Day
Sat., 10/28/06	9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	Crossroads	Discussion Group #5
Tues., 10/31/06	5:00 PM - 8:00 PM	--	UNICEF Drive
Sat., 11/11/06	9:00 AM - 12:00 AM	Crossroads	Final Prep Session for M.U.N.
Sat., 11/18/06	9:00 AM - 2:30 PM	Radisson Downtown Hotel	Civitas Model U.N.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

We need to receive delegate lists for each school from either faculty advisors or student leaders.  You can enter information on our on-line form by clicking here, or download a copy of the form by clicking here (PDF) or here (MS WORD).

FROM CHINA WITH LOVE

We just learned that one of our long-time supporters has "tied the knot" while in China.  Elizabeth Kiderlin was formerly the executive director of the St. Louis Council on World Affairs.  She has been studying and working in China the last several years.  We just received the following e-mail from her:

Thank you Arthur for your kind wishes. I read the Civitas newsletter faithfully and have often mentioned it in my classes. I sure hope this North Korea situation gets resolved peacefully. However, I feel I am less likely to get blown to bits here in China than if I were back home in the US!  Even so, as my wedding day approached (Oct 7) I said if North Korea messes up my wedding they will have ME to answer to.  Turns out they exploded their bomb the next day. Ha, what would we do these days without a sense of humor?!

 I would be very pleased if you would pass along my happy news as well as my blog site to anyone you think is interested.

Thank you for the thoughtful offer of contributing to a charity in lieu of a gift. This year I have been suggesting people donate to St. Louis Food Outreach

http://www.foodoutreach.org/home.html

Keep up the good work you and Civitas are doing with the thinking youth (and adults) of St. Louis. Rechard and I open our home to you anytime you'd like to visit China. We are 3 hours south of Beijing. -- Elizabeth

We once again congratulate Elizabeth & Rechard.  We also encourage readers to join the discussion on the Civitas blog regarding the situation in North Korea.  You can access our blog at the following link:

LINK TO CIVITAS BLOG:

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OFFER WORKSHOP ON CHINA FOR CIVITAS STUDENTS and TEACHERS 

During the first two weeks of November, Washington University's freshman International Leadership Program (ILP) will be putting on a series with the theme of "China: Price of Power."  China's economic and political rise has had deep implications for regional leadership (i.e. nuclear proliferation in North Korea), impact on the environment, domestic human rights and international political and economic relations; namely with the United States.  The ILP students are interested in promoting some of these issues to a high school audience to explore Chinese-U.S. relations in a presentation and discussion format.  Ideally this forum will facilitate the exchange of ideas between local high school students and Washington University freshmen so as to establish an academic community interested in promoting understanding of global issues.  The proposed dates for this forum are Tuesday Oct. 31^st at 8:00 PM, Wednesday Nov. 1^st at 8:00 PM or Sunday Nov. 4th at 2:00 PM.

Danielle Silber International Events Coordinator International & Area Studies Department (314) 935 - 8602 [email protected]

 U.N. DAY PROGRAM NEXT MONDAY EVENING

Even though U.N. Day is actually Tuesday, October 24, the United Nations Foundation and the St. Louis UNA-USA Chapter announce a lecture with Gillian Sorensen, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Foundation at the Missouri Historical Museum in Forest Park (map) on Monday, October 23^rd from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.  She will tackle the complexity of the relationship between the United States and the United Nations. The event will begin at 7 PM followed by a reception.  We encourage all media to attend.  Suggested donation is $5.00 (Civitas will cover the cost for all students and teachers in our program).  Below is information on Gillian Sorensen.

Students who have indicated interest in attending the program are:
 

   

Genevieve Buthod (Rosati-Kain) Jessica Davie (Soldan International) Jodie Dobinsky (Parkway North) Morgan DeBaun (Rosati-Kain) Megan Favignano (Rosati-Kain) Rachel King (Rosati-Kain)		Philip Knapp (Edwardsville) Michael Mulligan (S.L.U.H.) Allison Reed (Rosati-Kain) Caryn Simpson  (Bishop DuBourg) Devin Wright (Rosati-Kain)
UNICEF 2007 If you really want to "pig-out" on Halloween and you don't care about the suffering of hundreds of millions of children in the world, read no further.  However, if "enough is enough" when it comes to sweets on Halloween and you want to do something to help feed and care for starving children in the world, we hope that you will consider collecting money for UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) on Halloween night.  We can provide you with all the necessary information including the simple instructions on how to do it, one or more collection boxes, and then how to send in the money you collect to UNICEF.  You can get the information from us at the Saturday, October 28 Civitas high school discussion at Crossroads or we can send you what you need.  Just e-mail us if you would like materials. Special thanks to Jessica Davie and Ellen Robinson, both seniors at Soldan International Studies High School, who are taking the initiative to organize a school-wide program!
M.S. COUNTRY ASSIGNMENTS NOW POSTED! Middle School teachers and students can now access country rosters for each of the nine Spring dates for the model U.N.  The rosters are available at http://civitas-stl.com/civ0607/MS/MS-country-rosters.htm.       Teachers can now move at their own rate in assigning countries to particular students.  The next important event for middle school teachers and students alike is the Fall workshop on Monday, November 13.  We are expecting nearly 1,000 students and teachers at the session.  It will be held in the Khorassan Room of the Chase-Park Plaza (map and directions) from 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM. Twelve high school students have signed up to help us with the workshop that morning.  They are: If you have any questions about anything that has taken place to date (most particularly the country draft), or any upcoming activities, please do not hesitate to contact Lisa Granich-Kovarik at [email protected] or (314) 865-4704. Genevieve Buthod (Rosati-Kain) Jessica Davie (Soldan International) Morgan DeBaun (Rosati-Kain) Megan Favignano (Rosati-Kain) Amy Keys (Rosati-Kain) Rachel King (Rosati-Kain) Philip Knapp (Edwardsville) Zora McGinnis (Metro) Michael Mulligan (S.L.U.H.) Allison Reed (Rosati-Kain) Ellen Robinson  (Soldan International) Devin Wright (Rosati-Kain) As published last week, we are excited to announce that Professor Joe Davis has agreed to work with both Civitas students and local college and university students on an international simulation.  Professor Davis, in consultation with Civitas and university staffs, will create a hypothetical international issue for students to deal with.  The issue will be one in which there will be numerous "players," most of whom have their own unique ideas about how to deal with the problem.  As the evening progresses, students will have to wrestle with the task of trying to reach some sort of a consensus as to how to solve the problem (from past experience, the students may or may not be able to do this.).  You can expect that alliances will be made and broken; that conflict will exist within each individual's mind as well as within the group.  The key question will be whether or not students will be able to "give a little (or a lot) in the hope of gaining a lot (or a little).  Past reviews of Dr. Joe Davis' simulations are extremely positive. We will have it on a Friday evening, most likely from 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM.  We'll have plenty of food and other goodies.  Right now we need to figure out what date works best the group. Our choices are: Friday, November 10 Friday, November 17 We need your feedback to help us settle upon a date.  If you are interested in the simulation, please e-mail us and tell us so and also indicate which of the two dates above work best for you.  If you have any questions, please e-mail us at [email protected] or call us at (314) 367-6480.     SORRY... .... but the October 15, 2006 deadline to submit essays for the "Bi-Partisan Foreign Policy Conference sponsored by CITIZENS FOR GLOBAL SOLUTIONS has passed. 10th Annual St. Louis Coalition for HUMAN RIGHTS Essay Contest Open to all Middle & High School Students in the Metro St. Louis Area HS: 1st Prize $200 � 2nd Prize $100 �3rd Prize $50 MS: 1st Prize $100 � 2nd Prize $50 � 3rd Prize $25 Honorable Mentions "In a democracy, what is the relationship between human rights and religious freedom?" Essay must be no more than 500 words (preferably typed) on the above theme. Discussion questions for thought are: How is religious freedom protected in a democracy? What are the areas of conflict and how do you see them being resolved? When is religious freedom in violation of other human rights? Is separation of church and state the best way to address freedom of religion? What do you personally do to respect and protect the religious freedom of others? Can a democracy work without freedom of religion? What specific practices or laws need to be changed or strengthened to protect religious freedom? Deadline for essays is October 31, 2006! Mail essay entries to P. O. Box 5277, St. Louis, MO 63115 or email to [email protected]. Include a cover page that gives full name, address, grade and school of student. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Winning essays will be read by their authors on December 10 2006 at the Celebration for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 4:00 p.m. at Forest Park Community College For more information, call the St. Louis Coalition for Human Rights at (314) 652-7663 Additional Links Photo Gallery Streaming Video [Real Media] Civitas Calendar for 2006-2007  Civitas Intranets Site Civitas Home Page    Civitas Blog Maps & Directions Previous Newsletters  Resolutions (High School U.N.) for 2004-2005     Checklist for Writing a Model U.N. Resolution   Reinventing U.N.Conference Home Page       General Assembly Countries Security Council Countries  Middle School Country Rosters for 2006-2007