Students Make Strides in
"Carefully Getting out of Iraq" |
|
The Civitas "Carefully Getting out of Iraq" conference was covered on KSDK-TV, Channel 5. Our thanks to reporter Rebecca Wu for picking up on the story from last week's newsletter and then working with her colleagues to fashion an excellent short depiction of what actually happened. You can view the two minute piece by clicking here.
|
|
It's difficult to conduct foreign policy under any circumstances, particularly when complex and complicated decisions need to be made in three hours. But twenty-one Civitas students did their best last Saturday to try to fashion a strategy for, in President Barack Obama's words, "get out of Iraq as carefully as we were careless in getting in."
|
|
As difficult as the task would be even if nothing unexpected happened, the students had to deal with a series of "curveballs" or unexpected crises. These included thousands of Iraqis who had been loyal to the U.S. storming the U.S. embassy and a temporary take-over of the Baghdad airport by insurgents. Maplewood-Richmond Heights senior Tony Sanchez did an outstanding job of playing the role of President Barack Obama. We will provide you with more information on the simulation on a day when another Barack Obama is not being inaugurated as president of the United States. The participating students in the simulation were: | Name | School | Role | | Ayres, Jeremy | M-RH | Game Theoretician | | Chandler, Evan | U. City | Rep. of Kurds | | Drummond, Caitlin | Rosati-Kain | Rep. of Russia | | Evans, Michelle | Nerinx Hall | Assistant to U.N. Sec.-Gen Ban Ki-moon | | Gaines, Clair | Nerinx Hall | U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon | | Gully, Jeromy | U. City | Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq | | Henderson, Abigail | Fox | Rep. of al Qaeda | | Jamerison, Alex | U.C.H.S. | Assistant to Rep. of Kurds | | Joiner, Katharine | Lindbergh | Rep. of Iraqi Sunnis | | Keefe, Morgan | S.L.U.H. | Jon Stewart | | LaFontaine, Joyce | Rosati-Kain | Attorney-General | | Niedringhaus, Megan | St. Joseph's Academy | U.S. Ambassador to United Nations | | Priddy, Josh | Collinsville | Rep. of Iraqi Shiites | | Rogers, Meg | Rosati-Kain | Journalist / "Embedded Media" | | Roper, Mandi | Rosati-Kain | Secretary of Treasury | | Sanchez, Tony | M-RH | President Barack Obama | | Sengmany, Henry | M-RH | Ranking Repub. on Sen. Foreign Rel. Comm. | | Sexton, Blake | Fox | Secretary of Defense - 2 | | Sigman, Steven | S.L.U.H. | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran | | Spaunhorst, Amanda | St. Joseph's Academy | Secretary of Defense | | Wade, Keila | Metro | Assistant to Rep. of Kurds | Thanks again to all who participated and the entire Civitas staff that contributed to the design of the simulation. Special thanks also to Eric Greitens from the Center for Citizen Leadership who provided invaluable resources to us during the preparation phase.
|
|
Civ. Conference in Feb. on "Green Deal"
|
|
Every February, Civitas has a conference on a timely issue. With so much emphasis on "greening" America and the world, our theme will be the new "Green Deal." We will be providing much more information about the conference in next Tuesday's (Jan. 27) newsletter; we did not want to overload this inauguration day newsletter. We do want to remind you that the focus of the conference will be taking green ideas and overcoming political, corporate, public, and financial obstacles to real change in policy. It will once again be at the Comfort Inn / Spazio's in Maryland Heights. It will begin on Friday, February 20 at 5:00 PM and conclude on Saturday, February 21 at 3:00 PM.
|
|
High School student Open Discussion this Saturday |
|
By this Saturday, President Barack Obama's first term will be over one-third of one percent complete. Okay, it won't be time to write the definitive history. But look at it this way, it will be 5% of the first major landmark: 100 days. By Saturday we'll have some small sense of how he's steering the nation once he's in the driver's seat. How will he be dealing with foreign and domestic interest groups that immediately want his attention? Blues artist B.B. King sang "The Thrill is Gone;" hopefully by Saturday "the thrill will be on" and we'll have a great deal to discuss. At Crossroads (map), 9:00 AM -11:00 AM.
|
|
Essay Contest College students & high-school seniors and juniors; you can enter this contest for an all-expenses paid trip to participate in our annual assembly in Washington, DC. The conference is called "Next Steps to Peace, Sustainability, and Justice" and it is sponsored by the Citizens for Global Solutions. For more information, click here.
|
|
Sorry, we promised you a new survey today, but with the presidential inauguration, we wanted to refrain from making this newsletter too long.
|
|
Upcoming Civitas Events
(Actual events in bold -- always subject to change when change occurs!) Black: High School Blue: Middle School
|
|
| Date | Time | Place | Activity | Sat.,
01/24/2009 | 9:00 AM -
11:00 AM | Crossroads (map) | Discussion Group #10 (also SAT & subject test date) | Thurs.,
01/28/2009 -
Sat.,
01/30/2009 | varies | varies | Pulitzer Global Gateway Project on India: Conflicts Within | Sat.,
02/07/2009 | 9:00 AM -
11:00 AM | Crossroads (map) | "The Green Deal" Conference Prep Session | Sat.,
02/14/2009 | 9:00 AM -
11:00 AM | Crossroads (map) | Discussion Group #11 | | Fri., 02/20 -
Sat., 02/21/2009 | varies | Comfort Inn & Spazio's (map) | Active Citizenship Conference: "The Green Deal" | Mon.,
02/23/2009 | 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Richmond Heights Comm. Center (map) | Middle School Teacher Meeting #3 with Resolution Selection |
|
|
|
What's Civitas? See video below: |
|
|
