Current Event Week of 1/25

Answer the following questions in your post.

1. A speech can be read, heard or watched. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods of delivery for a news audience?

2. What is the State of the Union address?

3. According to the program: What topic was a main focus of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address last night? How did Republicans respond to President Obama's speech?

4. If you had to write a State of the Union address, what topics, other than the economy, would you focus on, and why? What significance, if any, do you think that this speech might have on Barack Obama's presidency? Explain.

5. Did you watch the president's speech last night? If so, what was your impression of it?

6. According to the report: How has the city of Wilmington, Ohio been affected by the U.S. economic recession? What impact, if any, have federal stimulus funds had on the city recently? What does Wilmington's mayor say about how state and federal government has responded to his city's situation?

7. In your opinion, what role, if any, should federal, state and local governments play in helping areas that have fallen on hard economic times?

8. What was the Holocaust? What documents from the Holocaust are now on display in Israel?

9. In your opinion: What might be the significance of putting these documents on display? Why might some people not want these documents to be displayed?

10. What other ways can you think of in which artifacts from the past can be used as lessons for current and future generations?

Current Event week of 1/18

As relief efforts continue after Haiti's devastating earthquake last week, cell phone and text message donations have emerged as the next big thing in charitable giving.

In only six days, the American Red Cross has raised more than $21 million for the Haiti Relief effort through text message donations. Even first lady Michelle Obama is promoting it.

In this video, Tom Bearden reports on how cell phone technology is changing the way that people give.




Answer the following questions in your post:

1. Where is Haiti? What is happening there?

2. Do you have a cell phone? How do you use it? What do you use it for?

3. Why do you think people like sending donations via text message?

4. Would you prefer to donate to Haiti this way? Why or why not?

5. What are the problems that arise with text message donations as discussed in the video?

6. What are some of the other kinds of 21st century technologies or social media networks that might help with the efforts in Haiti. How have sites like Facebook, YouTube or Twitter played a role in the disaster?

7. Have you, your classmates or your family members made contributions to the Haiti relief effort? What are some things that you can do to help?

8. Donating money is only the first step. What are some of the difficulties that can arise in terms of getting people in Haiti access to food, water, shelter and medical care?

Current Event Week of 1/11

Richard Proudfit's humanitarian organization, Kids Against Hunger will deliver 40 million meals to children in countries all over the world this year and next year they plan to double production to 80 million meals.

The group was started in the mid 1980s after Richard Proudfit volunteered in Honduras during Hurricane Fifi and saw the destruction it caused. Within a few years he had sold his profitable plastic business and was shipping food around the world to children.

In this the first of several reports on social entrepreneurship, NewsHour correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro shows the entire food distribution process, from small-scale funding with volunteers around the United States, (mostly in churches and community groups), to using United States Coast Guard for shipping.



Answer the following questions in your post:

1. Where are some of the areas of the world where people are hungry?

2. What is an entrepreneur?

3. What do you eat every day? How is it different from what these children eat? Who makes your food?

4.. Why did Richard Proudfit start this meal program? Does he get anything out of running this program? Do you think you would want to start a similar program?

5. Why is such widespread hunger absent in the United States but present in many other countries countries? What are some of the differences between the United States and Haiti?

6. How do you think the hunger problem in Haiti could be solved permanently?

Current Event Week of 1/14 - 1/8

Answer the following questions in your post:

1. Name some new technologies that you use now that did not exist ten years ago.

2. Imagine some new tech for the next 10 years. Identify and describe 2.

3. What do you think about Jaron Lanier saying that the internet should not be so free? Do you agree? Why or why not?

4. How has technology affected your life in the last 10 years?

5. Do you still think there is a digital divide? Use examples to explain your answer.

6. What will robots be doing 10 years from now?

7. What is the relationship between technology and ethics? Which technologies are good and which are bad? What forces drive the direction of new gadgets and inventions?

Due Friday 1/8 @ midnight