Citizen Donovan

Tracking the Millennium Declaration’s Progress

January 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment

For this assignment, work in your group to investigate what progress has been made in the world toward reaching this  goal.  On Friday, your group will have 5 minutes to  explain to the UN (the class) what progress has been made in working toward this goal and in what ways we may fall short of reaching this goal.  At the end of your presentation, you should give 3 “awards” (gold, silver, and bronze) to different countries, groups, or individuals that deserve a medal for their work.   

The notes for this assignment will be a one-page entry in your notebook.  Handwrite it in your own words. 

Use this source in order to research it: UN REPORT

  1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
    • Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day.
    • Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people.
    • Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
  2. Achieve universal primary education
    • Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
  3. Promote gender equality and empower women
    • Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.
  4. Reduce child mortality
    • Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.
  5. Improve maternal health
  6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
    • Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
    • Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it.
    • Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
  7. Ensure environmental sustainability
    • Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources.
    • Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss.
    • Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation (for more information see the entry on water supply).
    • By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers.
  8. Develop a global partnership for development
    • Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory. Includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction—nationally and internationally.
    • Address the special needs of the least developed countries. This includes tariff and quota free access for their exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries; and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction.
    • Address the special needs of landlocked and small island developing States.
    • Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term.
    • In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.
    • In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.

 80s-day

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The Issues: Candidates Statements, Plans, and Voting Records

October 10, 2008 · 5 Comments

For your ISSUE, your TEAM must do the following.

Research BOTH candidates’ stance on the issue. As a team, make sure that you cover as much of the issue as possible.  Your group will all receive the same GRADE on your BLOG and PRESENTATION.   

 

CHOOSE A BLOG:  You will be posting this on only ONE PERSON’S blog:  TITLE the post the name of your ISSUE and, put each person’s first name in the first line beneath the title.

SECTION ONE:  Write a paragraph in your own words for each candidate that summarizes your group’s analysis of where each candidate stands on this issue.  Discuss what you believe this candidate would do (if anything) to address this issue if he became President.  Do not PLAGIARIZE here.  Together, you should write this sections. You CAN and SHOULD raise questions in this paragraph, like “…but it is unclear if he would need to raise taxes in order to do this,”  or  “…but his voting record doesn’t seem to support these public statements.” 

SECTION TWO:  What PROMISES or STATEMENTS have they made that outline their PLANS in this area?  Have any of their statements against the other candidate highlighted their intentions? 

SECTION THREE:  What are the two candidates’ VOTING RECORDS on these issues.  How do their votes indicate their position on these issues in the past?

SOURCES: list  2 sources that you drew from in order to accomplish this task.

POST a COMMENT on this BLOG when you are FINISHED.  This should be completed by the end of the period, but if not, you can complete it by Tuesday, Oct 10th at 8:00 a.m.

  1.  
    1. Organize your PRESENTATION of this issue (without any plagiarism) to the class.  Everyone must present a part of your findings on the candidates to the class.

                                                               i.      present their public statements and plans

                                                              ii.      present their voting record

                                                            iii.      present QUESTIONS that still remain (in your mind) about this issue after doing it.

Below is a LINK that is a great place to START.  See ELECTION GUIDE and CHECKPOINT NAVIGATOR to find sources.

                                                       

 

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/us/politics/series/check_point/index.html

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My Rights: An Online Activity

September 25, 2008 · 22 Comments

Review the Bill of Rights and decide what 2 rights (in the Bill of Rights) are most important to YOU.  For each right, complete the following:

 

  • Write an introductory paragraph explaining why you are concerned that this right is protected by the government of the United States
  • Research at least ONE Supreme Court cases that dealt with this issue.
  • Write a paragraph that summarizes the action that brought someone or something to trial (not the verdict) in your own words and ends with a question.  The question could be as simple as “Was Mr. Hamdi’s imprisonment without trial a violation of his 6th amendment rights?”  It can also be more complex.
  • Write a paragraph on the verdict that Supreme Court delivered.  You must quote at least one Supreme Court Justice’s opinion in your answer.
  • If you agree/disagree with the ruling, write a short paragraph explaining why.  Make reference to the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the guiding principles of the Constitution, or examples from history in your answer.  If you disagree, I recommend reading “dissenting opinions” by Supreme Court Judges who also disagreed with the ruling in order to help you with this paragraph.

Overall requirements:

  • Include at least 2 pictures/images for each “right” that you address (so, 4 total). These pictures can be journalistic (pertaining directly to the event and court case), or simply creative (referring to issues of the case/right in an artistic way).  Be sure that you would be comfortable with your principal, your teacher, and your parent(s) viewing these images and that they are appropriate to use in the classroom
  • Cite all your sources. We’ll discuss how to do this in class.  You must use at least one major news source for each “right.”
  • Plagiarism (stealing someone’s words without citing them) is a 6 point offense with loss of credit.  If you borrow words because you “just can’t say it any better,” you must quote your source and give them credit.

IDEAS for SUPREME COURT CASES

Though there are often many court cases that helped further define these amendments, these are a few court cases that I happen to know a little bit about.  You are free to find others that look more interesting to you

I. 1st Amendment Rights

A. Freedom of Religion: The Establishment Clause

  • Engel vs. Vitale (1962)
  • Lemon vs. Kurtzman (1971)

B. Freedom of Religion: The Free Exercise Clause

  • Reynolds vs. United States (1879)
  • Minersville School district vs. Gobitis (1940)

C. Freedom of Speech

  • Schenck vs. United States
  • Abrams vs. United States
  • Gitlow vs. New York
  • Brandenburg vs. Ohio (1969)
  • Texas vs. Johnson (1989)
  • Reno vs. American Civil Liberties Union (1996)

D. Freedom of the Press

  • Near vs. Minnesota (1931)
  • New York Times vs. United States (1971)

E. Freedom of Assembly and the Right ot Petition

  • Hague vs. CIO (1937)
  • NAACP vs. Button (1963)

II. 2nd and 3rd Amendments — Protections Against Abuses of Government Power  

2nd Amendment — Right to Bear Arms

  • United States vs. Miller (1939)

3rd and 4th Amendment — Protecting your Home and Person

  • Katz vs. United States (1967)
  • Terry vs. Ohio (1968)

III. Amendments 5,6,7,8 — Your Rights and the Legal System

A. The Fifth Amendment — Your Rights When Accused of a Crime

  • Miranda vs. Arizona (1966)

B. The Sixth and Seventh Amendments — Your Right to a Fair Trial

  • Gideon vs. Wainright (1963)
  • Sheppard vs. Maxwell (1966)

C. The Eighth Amendment: Your Protection from Excessive Bail and Punishments

  • In re Kemmler (1890)
  • Furman vs. Georgia (1972)
  • Gregg vs. Georgia (1976)

IV. Rights and Powers of the States and the People

A. Ninth Amendment — Your rights beyond those listed in the Constitution

  • Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965)

B. Tenth Amendment — Powers Reserved for the States and the People

  • United States vs. Morrison (2000)

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