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Upcoming Events

DATE	TIME	PLACE	ACTIVITIES
Sat., 03/31/07	9:00 AM - 11:30 AM	Crossroads	Urban Go-Team Activity #01-A
Sat., 04/14/07	9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	Crossroads	Discussion Group #10
Wed., 04/25/07	9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	C.C.G.C.	Middle School Model U.N. Session #3
Thurs., 04/26/07	9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	C.C.G.C.	Middle School Model U.N. Session #4
Fri., 04/27/07	9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	C.C.G.C.	Middle School Model U.N. Session #5
Sat., 04/28/07	9:00 AM - 11:30 AM	Crossroads	Urban Go-Team Activity #2
Wed., 05/02/07	9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	C.C.G.C.	Middle School Model U.N. Session #6
Thurs., 05/03/07	9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	C.C.G.C.	Middle School Model U.N. Session #7
Fri., 05/04/07	9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	C.C.G.C.	Middle School Model U.N. Session #8
Thurs., 05/10/07	9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	C.C.G.C.	Middle School Model U.N. Session #9
Sat., 05/12/07	9:00 AM - 11:30 AM 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM	Crossroads   Junior High Park in Maplewood	Urban Go-Team Activity #3   Picnic & Softball
Mon., 05/21/07	4:00 PM - 5:00 PM	Chevy's in Crestwood	Middle School Teacher Meeting #4

Rev., March 19, 2007

 

One of the key components to model U.N. sessions is voting.  U.N. voting is different from many elections in the United States.  In order for a resolution to pass in the U.N., it requires a majority of the votes; not a plurality.  What's the difference?  When we asked the students at the March 14 middle school MUN session, it wasn't until the fifth volunteer that we found a student who knew the answer.  And indeed, as William Cobb from Hoech Middle School (Ritenour District) explained to the assembled delegates that day, a majority is one more than half.  This is different than more than anyone else.  For instance, in a three person election one candidate can win with less than 50% of the vote.  This frequently happens.  In U.N. voting, countries have three choices in voting: (a) Yes, (b) No, and (c) Abstain.  A resolution passes only if the Yes votes have a majority; i.e. those voting yes constitute more than half of everyone voting.  Our deepest thanks to William for explaining this to us.  Special thanks are also in order to his wonderful teacher, Ms. Darlene Kellum for helping us obtain parental permission to place this news item and William's photo in this newsletter.

We provide you once again with the disposition of the resolutions from March 14 & 15.  You can click on the hotlinks and read each of them.

March 14	Country Sponsor	Issue/Status
01	France	HIV/AIDs -- Amended & Passed
02	Thailand	Air Pollution -- Amended & Passed
03	Algeria	Trafficking in Children -- Amended & Passed
04	Australia	Global Warming -- Amended & Passed
05	Haiti	Education -- Amended & Passed
06	India	Child Abuse -- Not Debated

March 15	Country Sponsor	Issue/Status
01	Brazil	Deforestation in Brazil -- Amended & Passed
02	Bangladesh	Fresh Drinking Water -- Amended & Passed
03	Bosnia	Unemployment - Amended & Defeated
04	Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya	Poaching -- Amended & Passed
05	Dem. Republic of Congo	Radical Groups -- Amended & Passed
06	Uruguay	Drug Trafficking in S. America -- Not Debated

There are seven more sessions.   The next one is on Wednesday, April 25.  Teachers for this session and other upcoming ones who have not yet submitted resolutions for those sessions should e-mail them to Lisa at [email protected].   If you have any questions, call Lisa at (314) 865-4704.

All sessions are held at the Creve Coeur Government Center (map;) and run from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (it's always advisable to arrive early!). 

See more photos here.

"Urban Go-Team" to have "Lo-Tech" Experience this Saturday, March 31

As many of you know, Civitas has rarely missed an opportunity to go hi-tech, whether it is need or not (some might call this an addiction).  In any event, our Urban Go-Team activity this week is Lo-Tech extraordinaire.  Our mode of transportation will be a pied (walking); our note taking will be pencil (or pen) on paper; or measurements will be with rulers and trundle wheels (the odd yellow object in the photo above) and our calculations will be manual (somebody said something about being able to calculate any side of a triangle of you know an adjacent angle, side, and angle).  We'll be among the first this millennium to test the theorem.

All this is an obtuse way of saying that we will divide into three groups and take our once postponed walking observation tours of the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood around Crossroads School.  We'll assemble at Crossroads (map) at 9:00 AM, explain the program, and hit the streets by 9:30 AM.  We'll return by 10:30 AM and then analyze and discuss our findings until 11:30 AM.  Our goal is for students and staff alike to be amazed at how many interesting components of urban life can exist within just a few square blocks.

So that you know where we are going next, in our next session on Saturday, April 28, we will go to a nine square block area in Richmond Heights called Hadley Townships.  It's a buy-out area and most of it will be demolished within the next year.  We want the demolition and the evolution of the area to be an on-going project of the Civitas Urban Go-Team.

We are firmly committed to the notion that communities can best be designed to meet citizen needs if the citizenry is intelligent and informed.  We hope that our activity this Saturday and others beyond will help sharpen your "urban intelligence" and provide you with more vital information.

As stated previously, Civitas will once again have a program this summer in which students can intensely learn and act upon urban issues in our metropolitan area.  We'll do some studying, we'll have lots of field trips, we'll have interesting speakers, and we'll even try out some tasty restaurants.  This year, we call the program the Urban Go-Team: "Show Me the Money in St. Louis!"

If you are interested in being a member of the Urban Go-Team, it is not too late.  Just show up on Saturday or e-mail us at [email protected].

LOS