Dear Arthur H.,
To Be Part of a National Dialogue
We're all familiar with the story; a politician says something essentially meaningless; the media presents with sound bites; the pundits or ("knowledgeable observers) present pithy remarks, and the people may or may not pay attention.
In the last two weeks, we've had a different kind of story, the YouTube videos of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the thoughtful response of Senator Barack Obama. We hope that you, our readers, will play a key role in answering Senator Obama's challenge that we elevate our national discussion on race. No one need agree with what Senator Obama said, the process is more important. Can we rise above slogans and stereotypes and engage in thoughtful dialogue?
We have links to four resources that can either provide you with information or direct you to venues where you can engage in the discourse.
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Obama Tests America's
Cult of Ignorance--
Kevin Horrigan,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Barack Obama's Speech
on Race in America --
March 18, 2008 | You discuss Obama
Speech on Civitas Forum
| St. Louis Discussion
at MO History Museum
-- Thurs., March 27
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
| | Click here | Click here | Click here | Click here |
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Sen. Jeff Smith to Meet with Students this Sat.
On Saturday, Feb. 9, Missouri State Senator Jeff Smith challenged Civitas students to present him with ideas for legislation that they would like to see introduced in the Missouri General Assembly. Students began work in the Active Citizenship Conference on Feb. 15-16 and have continued in subsequent sessions as well as in the Civitas on-line forum. This Saturday, Senator Smith will be at Crossroads (map) to meet with students and discuss their recommendations. You need not have been part of the on-going process to attend and share your ideas. We have some excellent ideas; they can always be refined and new ones added.
Ongoing dialogue on these issues and others continues at the Civitas forum: www.civitas-stl.com/forum. -
Continuing with Jeff Smith Challenge -
Present Student Bill of Rights to A.C.L.U. -
Working on Electoral Reform Group to Meet with Robin Carnahan
We will be meeting with public officials and others to present student recommendations.
On Saturday, March 29, Senator Jeff Smith is coming to meet with Civitas students at Crossroads (map) at 9:00 AM. He will respond to the recommendations from all three committees and possibly introduce some of the ideas as legislation in the Missouri General Assembly. This is a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with a major policy-maker. [Incidentally, you can read Jeff's just released newsletter by clicking here. It provides the kind of insight rarely found among elected officials.]
On Saturday, April 12, representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri will be coming to Civitas to respond to the recommendations of students who worked on the Student Bill of Rights proposal. Among the presenters will be Nikki Doughty, board member of the ACLU, who participated in our workshop on Feb. 9 with active adults and students. Regarding proposals for electoral reform, Civitas is in contact with the office of Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan to set up a meeting. On the state level, the office of Secretary of State is entirely different from the U.S. Secretary of State. In Missouri, one of the primary responsibilities of the Secretary of State is regulation and oversight of elections. In the meantime, you can comment on or propose improvements to recommendations that were agreed upon at the conference. Again, information on how to use the forum is provided below.
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The first step should always be finding the forum. Ours is located at http://www.civitas-stl.com/forum/ . (There will be a link to it on the home page of the website but feel free to bookmark it as well. -
Once you've found the forum (congrats!) you'll need to join it if you want to post things. Right under the Civitas logo on the upper left hand side of the page is a nifty little button called "Register". Hit it. Agree to the rules, fill out the next page (don't worry, it's short), and you're good to go. -
Almost good to go. Now you need to sign in. (You've signed in to something before, right?) Just toss in your username and password and you should be logged in. From here it's pretty self explanatory. Read the boards. Post something. You can even start your own thread. Just keep in mind a few things. Civitas has the right to delete any posts deemed 'offensive". We'd also like to keep the flame wars and the trolling to a minimum. To enter the discussion on the Jeff Smith Challenge, Election reform, or the Students Bill of Rights, click on the Active Citizenship board (listed on the left) and then the desired thread. if you have any questions, email us at info@civitas-stl.com or call (314) 367-6480.
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Urban Studies Conference in New York
Civitas Urban Go-Team staff member Ryun Miller has informed us of an urban studies program for youth called the Young Planners Network. They are sponsoring an upcoming conference called "Celebrating Youth Leadership in Planning." It will be in New York (most in the borough of Brooklyn) from Thursday, April 3 through Sunday, April 6. We wanted to notify students of the conference, but we cannot yet assure any interested student that a Civitas staff member would be available to accompany them to the conference. If you are interested, please call Arthur at (314) 495-1720. The conference fee is $50; accommodations are available at less than $50 per night; and currently round-trip air fare from STL to LaGuardia (NYC) is $275. You can get more information on the conference by visiting http://www.youngplannersnetwork.org/conferenceinformation. There will be a number of field trips and on-site visits in New York.
We want to remind you that the Civitas Urban Go-Team program will be in St. Louis from June 9 - 13 (with other special dates later in the summer).
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Upcoming Civitas Events
(Actual events in bold -- always subject to change when change occurs!) Black: High School Blue: Middle School | Date | Time | Place | Activities | Sat.,
03/29 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM | Crossroads | Jeff Smith challenge and High School Discussion #14 | Sat.,
04/05 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM | T.B.A. | Global Gateway (Pulitzer Center) workshop for interested teachers | Sat.,
04/12 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM | Crossroads | Meeting with representatives of American Civil Liberties Union on proposed Student Bill of Rights | Thurs.,
04/24 | 9:00 AM -
12:00 PM | Creve Coeur Gov't Center | Middle School Model U.N. Session #1 | Thurs.,
04/24 | Day & Evening | Various | Global Gateway Program on HIV/AIDS in Caribbean | Fri.,
04/25 | Morning & Afternoon | Various | Global Gateway Program on HIV/AIDS in Caribbean | Wed.,
04/30 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Creve Coeur Gov't Center | Middle School Model U.N. Session #2 |
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Arthur H. Lieber 314-367-6480 |
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Civitas Associates 10845 Olive Blvd.
Suite #155
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-7760 Phone: (314) 367-6480
Fax: (314) 367-7742 Tuesday, March 25, 2008
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