Current Events / Election 2008

From Ms. Rossler:

"At least 1 Friday every month class time will be devoted to a current events topic (The Iraq war, global terror, global warming, etc.). On the Monday of that week I will tell you the topic we are going to discuss on Friday and your job is to come to class on Friday prepared with notes that address the following three points of the issue. Until Election Day (November 4th), most of our Current Events Fridays (CEF) will relate to the U.S. presidential race, focusing predominantly on foreign policy issues. In what ways will this presidential race impact people and conflicts worldwide?"

for 9/26/08:

The presidential candidates are supposed to have their first debate tonight on foreign policy (which is currently up in the air). I would like you to research the current international issues, polling data, and other relevant information about the candidates to write 5-7 questions for each candidate you would like them to answer during tonight's debate.

At the end of class we will discuss your questions and why their answers are important. Additionally, if you watch the debate and write a reflection (did the candidate's answer your questions? did they respond to questions in ways you expected or surprised you?) you will earn extra credit.

Suggested Resources:

* The New York Times: www.nytimes.com

* CNN: www.cnn.com

* The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

* Google News Search: http://news.google.com

* Worldpress.org—news and views from media around the world: http://www.worldpress.org/

* BBC news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

* Politico.com: http://www.politico.com/

* Ontheissues.org: http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm

* InfoTrac's database of over 900 newspapers, both national and international. Available through the HS Library's page and at: http://www.hchs.hunter.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/nysl_me_cuny?id=empirelink


* and RealClearPolitics--a good site for polling information: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/

Researching Sustainability in Corporations

http://www.greenerchoices.org
Consumer Reports' "Web-based initiative to inform, engage, and empower consumers about environmentally-friendly products and practices. GreenerChoices.org offers an accessible, reliable, and practical source of information on buying 'greener' products that have minimal environmental impact and meet personal needs."

http://www.greenercars.org/highlights.htm
"This official website for ACEEE's Green Book is a unique consumer resource providing Green Scores rating the environmental friendliness of every vehicle on market." Note that only some ratings are available via the website. The rest are only available through the book.

Six Sins of Greenwashing
http://www.terrachoice.com/Home/Six%20Sins%20of%20Greenwashing/The%20Six%20SinsGreen-wash (green'wash', -wôsh') – verb: the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

Business Week article on Greenwashing
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2007/id20070329_693675.htm

http://www.dallas.k12.or.us/DHS_library/web/energy.htm
"Use this page to find substantive links to conventional energy sources, as well as new and renewable energy." From Dallas High School.

Historical Periodicals

http://www.harpweek.com/
A free Website archiving materials from Harper's Weekly on specific historical topics of the nineteenth century, superbly organized for educational purposes (for research and for teaching primary historical and cultural research to secondary and post-secondary students). Current highlighted collections include Black America; the impeachment of Andrew Johnson; Civil War literature; presidential elections 1860-1884 (including the electoral college issue in the 1876 election); immigrant and ethnic America; the editorial cartoons of Thomas Nast; the American West; and 19th-century advertising. Each topic is introduced with contemporary scholarship.

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moagrp/
Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. For more details about the project, see About MoA. Making of America is made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.


http://moa.cit.cornell.edu/moa/index.html
Materials accessible here are Cornell University Library's contributions to Making of America (MOA), a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. This site provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. The project represents a major collaborative endeavor in preservation and electronic access to historical texts.

http://www.uvm.edu/%7Ehag/godey/index.html
This important journal included fashion plates as well as poems, fiction, editorials, literary notices, fashion and needlework patterns, and advice articles. Both websites listed include illustrations.

The above taken from : http://library.georgetown.edu/guides/19thcentury/#sources