The last high school Civitas event of the year is April 30th. (Our previous post on this event can be found here. The important news is we will no longer have a guest speaker.) It will still be from 9-11 am at the Civitas office, however we have added additional things to discuss in the morning. Here is a look at some of the topics:
- Ferguson, almost 2 years later: We will review what happened in Ferguson, Missouri starting on August 9th, 2014. The conversation will involve what students remember, but also what has changed since then. The main threads of discussion will focus on how the media covers shootings, the perception of cops, what laws have come from Ferguson, and what areas still need to improve.
- Campaign 2016
1. Ted Cruz, trying to unseat Donald Trump as the likely Republican 2016 presidential nominee, announced that Carly Fiorina would be his vice-presidential running mate. If a male candidate recommends a female running mate, does that mean that he supports women’s rights?
2. In 1968, Republican nominee Richard Nixon said that he had a “secret plan” to end the war in Vietnam. There was no such plan and the war dragged on for seven more years. Donald Trump now says that he has a “secret” way to defeat ISIS. Is it acceptable for a candidate for president to say that he/she has a secret plan of any sort?
3.Over the past month or so, tension between Democratic nominees Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton has warmed up. It probably hurt Sanders in the New York primary and now he is trying to tone it down. Do you think that personal attacks by candidates tend to come back and hurt the one who cast the aspersions? - Climate Change
1.This past week, journalist Justin Catanoso from Wake Forest University was in St. Louis as part of the Pulitzer Global Gateway program. What are your thoughts on several of his main contentions:
The United States is the only country in the world that has climate change skeptics. Why do you think that is the case?
We read and hear a lot about climate change on Earth’s polar caps. However, what happens on and around the Equator may be more important. Why is that so?
2. There is no place for a “Plan ‘B’” in counteracting climate change because there is no “Planet ‘B.’”
3. The Earth has a fever and it needs to be treated for the illness.
4.The plane ‘Solar Impulse 2’ just completed a solar-powered flight across the Pacific Ocean. Do you think that we are close to having solar roadways that can power electric cars? - St. Louis:
1.Plans have been announced for major improvements at the St. Louis Zoo. Do you think that admission to the zoo should remain free (paid for by tax dollars), or should there be an admissions fee to partially fund the improvements?
2.The Cardinals are off to a good start and are currently second out of thirty teams in home runs. Virtually no one saw this coming. Is it fair to say that “life imitates baseball;” it’s virtually impossible to predict anything?
3.By this time next year, the trolley will be running from the U. City Loop to the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. The cost of this project will hit $50 million. Do you think that the money could have been better spent expanding MetroLink?
