Advancing Democracy

Your group will come up with a comprehensive plan to increase democratic participation in the United States.  Areas you must address are:

Low voter turnout in minority groups
Low voter registration by eligible voters
Increased attempts to suppress the minorty vote
Lack of political education in the electorate
Increased influence of a wealthy elite at the expense of the majority

You can present your plan on Monday in any format you wish.  This will be the final project grade of the semester.

The following are helpful links:

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/p20/2008/tables.html

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/con_voting.cfm

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/whynotvote.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression

Final Exam Study Sites

Use the following sites as study guides for the final exam:

http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/unintro/unintro.asp

http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/mdgs/index.asp

Options Sign Up

Using the comments section below, give your group members and their roles for your option.

Global Warming

Your assignment is to find two articles on the internet that deal with the issue of global warming. When you are reading articles pay special attention to the source of the article as well as the information being presented. Where does it come from? Is it reliable? Do not just pick the first two articles you come across, but dig to find what could be considered reliable. After you have selected your articles provide the following information about them and post it as a comment to this blog:

Paste a link to the article

What is the source of this article? Who and where is it coming from?

What is the article arguing?

What information is the article providing?

What is one notable quote?

Finally, which side of the debate do you see as more convincing? Why?

Clean Water and Environment Sustainability

Your group is now responsible to research some real solutions to the problem discussed in class yesterday. Each group should create a prezi presentation that highlights a possible solution for the African village without clean water. Keep in mind that most solutions may have both pros and cons. Don't be afraid to acknowldge these issues in your presentation.

These presentation are due in class on Tuesday April 10.

Below is a copy of the situation your are trying to fix:

You and your group are part of the World Health Organization and are tasked with helping a small African village accomplish millennium development goal 6: combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases as well as goal 7: ensuring environmental sustainability. Read through the situation that the village finds itself in and brainstorm four possible solutions to their problems.

There is a small village in Africa who is struggling to get clean drinking water. Near their village there is a small body of water that is easily accessible, but the water is not safe. There is a coal mine near the water and waste from the mining operation has contaminated the water. There has been an outbreak of cholera among the villagers because they have been drinking from this water source. Efforts to dig new wells has been unsuccessful because the groundwater is also contaminated. The villagers rely on this mine for a large majority of their employment and income. There is a clean water source five miles away, but that water is controlled by the neighboring village. There have been issues with villagers traveling and taking from this water source.

Kiva Info

Loans that change lives







Hi Aaron Blais,



We'd like to give you a repayment update on the loans you've made through Kiva.



A total of $6.08 has been repaid over the past month! As of March 28, 2012, you now have $8.08 in Kiva Credit in your account. You can re-lend to another borrower, withdraw to your PayPal account or donate these funds to help cover Kiva's operating expenses. (The minimum lending amount is $25, but you can easily add new funds to existing Kiva Credit to complete a loan purchase.)



Below is the repayment update on your Kiva Portfolio



Norce Group (#383760)



Country: Philippines

Activity: General Store



You Loaned: $25.00

Newly Repaid: $4.00

Total Repaid So Far: $6.00 (24.00% of your loan)

Repayment Status: Paying back on time





Aloys (#392773)



Country: Rwanda

Activity: Home Products Sales



You Loaned: $25.00

Newly Repaid: $2.08

Total Repaid So Far: $2.08 (8.32% of your loan)

Repayment Status: Paying back on time







More about your loans: Portfolio
Estimated Repayments
Updates on your loans



Best Wishes,

Kiva Staff

AIDS in America Project

How do we communicate to our community about the danger of AIDS? Is one pathway better than the others? We will create different prototypes (mock ups) that will relay a message about AIDS. As you are creating your prototype, ask yourself these questions:




Who is my target audience?

• The young?

• People already infected?

• Those in high risk groups?

• Those that do high risk behavior?

• Those that have friends/ Family with AIDS?

• Others?



What is my focus?

• AIDS prevention?

• Living with AIDS?

• How to relate to others with AIDS?

• High risk behaviors?

• The science of AIDS?



You will choose one of the following conduits to get your message across. Your group will create a working prototype that answers the above questions. There should be no more than 5 people per group. More than one group can pick the same conduit.

• A television PSA

• A workbook for the classroom

• A graphic novel

• A poster campaign for public spaces

• A musical/ skit presentation to bring to schools



We will have time in the computer lab to work on the prototype on Wednesday.

Due Thursday, April 5th.