News and Current Events 301!

[Mutanatia]

(I believe I had Mark approve this, but I'm going to seek his approval after I post this up just to be sure... I think he approved all three of them >.>)

Welcome, class, to NCE 301! This is THE most intensive of the three courses I have to offer. Once again, we will be looking back at events that happened throughout the course of the year. We will be dealing with 5 sources per week, instead of just one, as we count down to the final weekend of the year.

This class starts at the end of October

Here is the syllabus:

Week 1: 5 ABC This Week sources. We're dealing mainly with interviews on this one. THese will be relatively old because they discontinued the podcast. But next year, this one will be replaced.

Week 2: 5 Anderson Cooper 360 Sources. This will, again, be dealing with specific events, and not the entire broadcast. We're thinking 10-15 minutes about...

Week 3 (DETOUR #1): Best of YouTube. This deals with the 5 best youtube events I've seen this week. This will be a makeup week.

Week 4: Gallup Poll. Polls about how every day Americans react, as well as 3? 4? (I think it's 3) special events having to do with how we compare to the rest of the world, as in, "What do Americans, Nigerians, and Iraqis have in common," or a special on Egypt and on Muslim Americans. THis one will have over 2 hours worth of sources, so I'm going to have this one be definitely allowed to be made up during more than one of the detour weeks.

Week 5: Joel Osteen (Detour #2!): This is a religious man with inspirational advice. We will not really discuss this, but is there as a feel-good and react sort of unit. Not really going to have much discussion here. Makeup work will be accepted.

Week 6: NBC Meet the Press: Again, interviews only; we're not interested in how the panel makes us interpret the news This will be take about 100 minutes to do, depending on length of interview.

Week 7: NBC Nightly News: Again, simply put: We're looking at probably the lead stories only, so it should take less than an hour to do.

Week 8 (DETOUR #3): Onion News Network: Obviously, if it's the Onion, it must be a parody. Makeup work will be accepted.

Week 9: CNN State of the Union: Again, we're looking just at interviews.

Week 10: FAce the Nation: Again, interviews.

THis class starts the last week in October.

Like I said, it's an INTENSE 10 weeks! As such, I am going to say that ALL work, provided that at least some of the unit is done, will be due at the end of NCE 201, which is in March.

[Mutanatia]

One other thing: Depending on how old the material is I'm using, we might have transcripts instead, which will make your life a lot easier

[Mal]

I'd like to sign up but as you said, it looks like an intense 10 weeks. When does it start?

[Mutanatia]

Last week in OCtober

[Mutanatia]

(Okay, so, I put this up a week early. The reason I am doing this is because I want your feedback! Is it too much work? Should I limit the homework questions? Etc.?)



Week #1

Welcome to this first week of this 5-a week class. As I’ve mentioned, this is going to be THE most intense class I have. We will be examining events from various news sources from the United States. Because of the workload of this course, I am making ALL HOMEWORK due at the end of March. I would not recommend you pull an all-nighter for this one. However, all DISCUSSION questions will be due one week from when the unit is put up.

A little grading rubric for you:
Final Exam: 5%
Homework: 40%
Discussion: 55%


Here is the link for what I thought was the #5 This Week for this year. It features a bunch of religious figures debating, well, religion. We are going to deal with a transcript for this one as it is too old to watch as a video. It is a feature on religion in the US.


God and government
Here is the link:
abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-god-government/story?id=13446238

We will not read the panel round, though it is encourage that you read it yourself ^_^

HW Questions:
Compare and contrast Mr. Graham and Mr. Keller's perspectives about their religion and the religion of others. Where do they differ? Where are they the same?

Discussion Questions:
1) After being inspired by the movie Religulous, do you think that any of these figures engage in what you might call “Religious abuse” or "Religious nonsense" (in that the people speaking about their religion really don't understand it) I'm talking about in these interviews. Use your knowledge of the Bible when discussing.

Bonus: What is the general message the panel gives?

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This is my #4 This Week for this year. In keeping with the theme of everyday Americans, this is a big town hall after the Gaby Giffords shooting.
Link:
abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-tragedy/story?id=12626296

The Gaby Giffords shooting was both a devastating tragedy and at the same time a remarkable story of people coming together and bonding. Describe the role that each featured person had in the tragedy.

Discussion Questions:
Why do you think the reason for the shooting immediately became about hyperpartisanship rather than about the fact that a mentally unstable person had shot someone with a gun they shouldn't have obtained to begin with?
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This is my number 3 This Week for this year. This time, we will trek to Japan for the Earthquake that happened in March. For this one we are focused ONLY on the Earthquake.
Link:
abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-disaster-pacific/story?id=13126481

Homework Questions:
Describe the events leading up to the nuclear meltdown, the meltdown itself, and the governments' role in the aftermath.

Discussion Questions:
Do you think that the Japanese government was deliberately withholding information? Why or why not?

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This is my #2 This Week for this year. This time, we will trek to Egypt (or at least people talking about it!) This show took place after Hosni Mubarak left Egypt for good. Again, we are dealing with ONLY the first two interviews…

Link:
abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-revolution-egypt/story?id=12905449

Homework Questions:
Describe the evolution of the US's diplomatic relations with Egypt, paying special attention to Gingrich's role.

Discussion Questions:
Do you think the Egyptian government official being interviews is lying? Why or why not?

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This is my #1 This Week for this year. This time, we will trek to Libya as we speak about the very beginnings of the Libyan War. Again, we are going to deal with only the interviews and, this time, there are 3 of them (Well 2, but one with two people ). Remember the woman in the hotel as another source will cover her.

Link:
abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-target-libya/story?id=13178623

Homework Questions:
Compare what Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates said was going to go on with Libya vs. what actually did happen.

Discussion Questions:
Why would the United States have gotten involved with something, as Robert Gates says, that was not "in the US's strategic interests?"

[Mutanatia]

*bump* Okay, so... why has no one responded to this week's lesson?



Week 2

Welcome to the second week of this 5-a week class. This is due ONE WEEK from when this is posted (So, November 12th). This time, we are going to use Anderson Cooper 360 for our sources. As you will notice, some events will overlap. This is fine. It will simply help you understand a given event from multiple angles. As always, discussion questions are due THIS week; homework questions will be due as well this week, with ample time at the end to do various makeup work.

This is my #5 AC360 for this year. It deals with Eman Al-Obeidy. For this one, on the link, I want to click just the video whose headline is “’Please Do Not Forget Me,’ Says Al-Obeidy. To give some historical background, Al-Obeidy was the woman that captivated the media’s (and possibly America’s) attention when she burst into a Libya hotel room alleging rape at the hands of Ghaddafi’s soldiers. And yes, this is a Libya unit. In fact, the next two events are going to be Libyan events. WARNING: This goes into graphical detail. If you are sensitive to the subject of rape (or are at work), I would skip passed the first 6 minutes or so of the interview. It is not essential to answering the question and I have made it so. The above is what you need for the “events leading up to the Libyan hotel incident” part of the question.

ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/11/


Question:
Who is Eman Al-Obeidy and what is her story? To answer this question, consider not only the events that happened leading up to the Libyan hotel incident, but also after it; also, pay attention to the Libyan government-run media response and the response of the Libyan government.

Discussion:
Would you have been brave enough to speak “truth to power” and go into the hotel to speak to reports were you in the same situation?


This is my #4 AC360 for this year. It deals with Moammar Ghaddafy’s death in Libya. For this one, the link you are looking for is here: ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/21/ and ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/20/

For these, please click on all links have to do with Ghaddafy, and answer the question and discussion.

Question:
Describe the reaction to Moammar Ghadafi’s capture and killing. Cover both angles, the Libyan citizens’ reaction and the US’s reaction.

Discussion:
Why do you think that Western Countries (in this case, the US and European countries) seem to want to have their hand in the “Arab Spring?”



This the #3 AC360 of this year. It covers an alleged plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador through Mexicans pain off by Iranians. Does this sound complicated/hard to believe? I thought so too. Here is the link:
johnkingusa.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/12/u-s-busts-assassination-terror-plot/?iref=allsearch

For this one, I had to cheat. It’s actually from John King USA. But, the question should still be answered from the source I am looking at. Please answer the discussion question and the homework question.

Question:
Discuss the plot and what Iran has to say about the alleged plot?


Discussion:
Using your knowledge of world affairs, do you personally find this plot hard to believe? Why or why not?
This is the #2 AC360 of this year. This one deals with one of the issues that is near and dear to my heart, Somalia. Here is the link:
ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/09/

(WARNING: The video about the refugee camp MAY be a bit too much at times as you do see starving children. It is advised to watch the video, but it is perfectly acceptable to skip over those images.)

Please watch ALL videos having to do with Somalia and answer the following questions:

Question:
Discuss the ways in which the famine in Somalia is man-made and what is being done to help those affected by it. Pay careful attention to the militant group Al Shabbob and the refugee camp in Somalia.

Discussion:
Since this event, Kenya has invaded Somalia. Do you think this will change much, if anything?

This is the #1 AC360 of this year. This one deals with the death of Osama Bin Laden.

Here is the link:
ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/5/3/

Question: Describe the events leading up to the killing and the operation itself. Pay special attention to Bin Laden’s courier and the intelligence they received.

Discussion: What your personal reaction when you heard that Osama Bin Laden was killed? Do you agree with the people chanting “USA! USA!” or not?

[Mutanatia]

Week 3

This unit is a freebie. There will be no work assigned to this. HOWEVER! You will be receiving make-up work for those of you who haven’t done it.

This unit is on BestofYouTube. These are comprised of various entertaining, informative, and interesting things I have found through a podcast called BestofYouTube.

#5 tells us the story of what happens to the world economy if and when the US defaults on its debt.
LINK:
NOTE: This one seems to be biased, but I’m not sure in which direction. Anyone want to give me a hand as to how/where it is biased? >.>

#4 is one of the more interesting proposals I have seen on YouTube.
LINK:


#3 covers a space topic, the Aurora Borealis.
LINK:


#2 covers the story of an abandoned town in the middle of the desert in “A strange place in the desert.”
LINK:

Finally, #1 tells us the story of how you can play soccer even when your village is floating!
LINK: www.wimp.com/soccervillage/
(I couldn’t find the YouTube link for this one.[/b]

Those of you who have makeup work to do will be PMed by me.

[Mutanatia]

Week 4

This unit is all about various polls released by Gallup that I found intriguing for one reason or another. Please answer both the discussion question and the homework question for EACH of the polls.

This is my #5 Gallup Poll. It discusses what Nigerians, Iraqis, and Americans have in common.
LINK: www.gallup.com/video/147116/Americans-Nigerians-Iraqis-Common-Economic-Argument-Socially-Inclusive-Shared-So.aspx


Homework Question:
Describe what the mentioned countries have in common, and how it would fit together in a “shared society”.

Discussion Question:
What is your reaction to the concept of a “shared society?” Are they possible in your view?

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This is my #4 Gallup Poll. It discusses Higher Education. For this one, we are NOT concerned with the question and answer session. (sends at the 36:00 mark >.>)
LINK: www.gallup.com/video/149663/gallup-event-americans-views-higher-education-part.aspx

Homework Question:
Summarize the findings and answer this: What is the paradoxical relationship between employers and college degrees, and why people say they need to get college degrees?

Discussion Question:
Do you agree with those polled? Why or why not?

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This is my #3 Gallup Poll. It discusses how Obama’s ratings were effected after the Debt Debate was over.
LINK: www.gallup.com/video/148781/election-matters-fallout-debt-debate-obama.aspx

Homework Question:
What finding is discovered regarding Obama’s loss of support?

Discussion Question:
Do you think the Tea Party is a helper in Congress or an Obstructer?

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This is my #2 Gallup Poll. It discusses the role of Muslims in American Society.
LINK: www.gallup.com/video/148826/muslim-americans-faith-freedom-future-part.aspx

Homework Question: Describe the relationship between Jewish Americans and Muslim Americans.

Discussion Question: What is your reaction to the recommendations at the end? Do you agree with them? Why or why not?

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This is my #1 Gallup poll. IT takes about Egypt’s transition.
LINK: www.gallup.com/video/147965/egypt-event.aspx

Homework Question: What are the attitudes currently in Egypt?

Discussion Question: Do you think the attitudes actually reflect the conditions there?

[Mutanatia]

Week 5

This unit is another freebie. IT features Joel Osteen, one of the very few preachers I’ve seen on TV that I like. Watching this is completely optional. IF you’re an atheist, or Jewish, or what-have-you, you don’t have to watch ☺

This is my #5 Joel Osteen. It talks about how you should be careful about what is out there that reinforces your overall mental well being.

www.joelosteen.com/pages/podcastitem.aspx?pid=16&audio=true


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This is my #4 Joel Osteen. It’s about how when you praise God, you will succeed in life.

www.joelosteen.com/pages/podcastitem.aspx?pid=18&video=true

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This is my #3 Joel Osteen. It’s about how people we think are insignificant may turn out to be the keys to our success.
www.joelosteen.com/pages/podcastitem.aspx?pid=15

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This is my #2 Joel Osteen. It talks about how your weaknesses can actually wind up being your strength.
www.podfeed.net/episode/508+-+God+Will+Use+You+With+Your+Limitations/3095113

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This is my #1 Joel Osteen. It talks about how you have everything you need to succeed.



For those of you who have makeup work to do, you will be getting a PM.