Civitas Newsletter of October 31, 2006

UNICEF TONIGHT

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. Just e-mail us if you would like materials.

Report from High School Discussion Group last Saturday

Our fifth high school discussion group of the 2006-2007 school year was held last Saturday at Crossroads School (map) from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.

The group eschewed international topics and went with a couple of issues closer to home. We spent considerable time discussing the hot issue of stem cell research. This was the second time that students have visited this issue this year. We will have some real enlightenment on Saturday, December 16 when Dr. Michael DeBaun, father of Rosati-Kain junior Morgan DeBaun, meets with students. He is Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Biostatistics and Neurology and directs the Sickle Cell Medical Treatment and Education Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Our next meeting is a preparation session for the high school model U.N. The prep session will be on Saturday, November 11, at Crossroads (map) from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.

Click here for more photos

PREPARATION FOR HIGH SCHOOL MODEL U.N.

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

Our final preparation session for the high school model U.N. will be on Saturday, November 11 at Crossroads School (map) from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.

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).

da Blog:

ROCK, SCISSORS, or PAPER

Election fraud is as old as elections. Recent elections have been characterized by everything from dead people in Chicago being ordered by Mayor Richard Daley to vote for John F. Kennedy for president to recent photo-ID measures that have the effect of disenfranchising the poor, the elderly, and the ill-informed to and the plethora of voting methods we now have -- some of which are as easy to use as paper and pencil and others that require a sophisticated computer programmer to install at a polling place.

Paper ballots can be counted, but that is tedious and prone to human error. New touch-screen machines are most confusing to that part of our population that is not computer-literate, does not use ATM machines, or pays the grocery store in either cash or food-stamps. Thirty percent of the touch-screen machines that will be used next Tuesday do not leave a "paper trail" for verification. Optical scanners are similar to the machines that grade standardized tests such as SATs or ACTs. They are not as "visually exciting" as the touch-machines, but they have a high rate of accuracy and the voting sheets serve as their own paper trail.

Add to all of this Florida in 2000, Ohio in 2004, and numerous other jurisdictions with serious errors in voting tabulation that received less publicity.

Our question is, "Do you think that the 2006 elections will be more honest and valid than recent elections or do you think that we still have miles to go to have a system that really works?"

LINK TO CIVITAS BLOG:

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

And the date has finally been set....it will be on Sunday afternoon, November 5, at 2:00 PM (location to be announced).

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.

Danielle Silber

International Events Coordinator

International & Area Studies Department

(314) 935 - 8602

[email protected]

For more information, click here:

We hope that interested Civitas students and teachers are willing and able to come to the "China: Price of Power" program. If you are interested, please e-mail us at

[email protected] and indicate which of the dates listed above work best for you!

M.S. COUNTRY ASSIGNMENTS STILL 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)

Well, we did not have enough students sign up for the simulation, so we'll explore the possibility again in the spring!

Deadline Tonight:

10^th Annual St. Louis Coalition for HUMAN RIGHTS
Essay Contest

Open to all Middle & High School Students in the Metro St. Louis Area

HS: 1^st Prize $200 � 2^nd Prize $100 �3^rd Prize $50

MS: 1^st Prize $100 � 2^nd Prize $50 � 3^rd 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.

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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

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Middle School Country Rosters for 2006-2007