Sunday, October 11, 2009

Assignment #4 The Power Elite & your research project due the following Thursday

Special Assignment #4


Use the 4 Step Summary process (again) to complete this assignment.



Summarize these two articles and hand-in on Thursday


Google: Characteristics of the Power Elite or
use the URL:http://www.udel.edu/favicon.ico
and:

Google: Who Rules America: The Class Domination Theory of Power or

use the URL: http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/class_domination.html





Special Assignment #5 (THIS IS WORTH A TEST GRADE)


This research paper is due next week on Thursday


Address the following in a paper not less than two typed pages. Be sure to cite the source of your information throughout your paper.

A. Explain in your own words the concept of the Power Elite.
Cite the work of CW Mills , Domhoof or Nye in your explanation

B. Fully explain the Characteristics of the Power Elite




C. Investigate two Cabinet Members of President George W. Bush
and, discuss how/why these two members of his cabinet fulfill these characteristics of
the Power Elite.

Specifically:



1. What cabinet position did the member have and what is the role of that particular position?
2. Where did the member attend school or university ?
a. What degrees did they earn and when?

3. Discuss any private sector connenctions (Board memberships or previous employment)
of that member.
a. What is the name and industry of the corporation? Where does it rank on the Fortune
500 list?
4. Identify any non-profit agencies or foundations the Cabinet member is related
with or sits on the board of., or was once affiliated with..

D. Considering the Characteristics of the Power Elite , explain if President Obama
is a member of the Power Elite.
E. Conclusion:
Is the Power Elite Theory a reasonable explanation on how our democracy really works?
Explain your answer..

Here are some visuals for those of you who like logos...




For your paper....

Here are some useful cites:


Wikipedia


Sourcewatch.org



Fortune 500










FYI


Web Searching
To clearly identify what you are searching for ... using George W. Bush as the example ... search by typing "George W. Bush" in the search line, making sure to bracket the full name in quotation marks. This keeps the George - W. - Bush together. Otherwise, the search will be for each part of his name and you will get some returns for George W. Bush as a name, but quickly find that the George and Bush are scattered throughout the results.
To expand on your search for George W. Bush, let's assume you want to find his military service record or simply about his military service, then you would type in "George W. Bush", "military service", which narrows your results. Using quotation marks (" ") to bracket or focus the search is key.
This technique can be expanded by searching for "George Bush", "military service" as the search, "George Bush", "military records", etc. The quotation marks hold the phrase or name together and variations on this type of search will bring more and more records. The search may bring results for "George H.W. Bush". To eliminate that possibility, you can try to search by typing in "George Bush", "military records" -"George H.W. Bush", which may eliminate the problem.
Whole quotes can be found using this technique, as well, which is very useful to locate quotes found out of context or to identify the quoter or source of a quote. Always be sure to encase the quote with quotation marks.
"Clustering" can also be helpful in this regard, such as that provided by
Clusty. This allows you to more easily navigate broad, general queries by breaking results down into automatic categories. For example, a query on "George Bush" may yield a cluster labeled "military records."
See this informit.com article on
"Ten Tips for Smarter Google Searches" for more search tips.



Monday, September 28, 2009

Readings for Advanced Placement

Special Assignment
#1 Identify five components of the Healthcare Plan outlined by President Obama
(use http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/health_care/) see the concise edition
Read two articles from different news sources, you can find some on this blog
Make a list of pros and cons of the proposed public policy and cite where this information
came from.
Offer your opinion on healthcare reform and back it up with factual information\

#2 Here are the two articles on public opinion polls, the questions were handed-out.
http://home.att.net/~betsynewmark/BaroneonPolls.pdf
Google: Jacobs & Shapiro, Politicians Don't Pander, excerpt

# 3 Google: Philosophical Dimensions of Public Policy, Authors Gerigh and Galston
Here is a link :Philosophical Dimensions of Public ... - Google Books (it may not work)
Read the article: Mandated Service and Moral Learning

Complete the four step summary

Steps for writing a summary

A summary is a brief account giving the main points of something.
Use this four step process to write a summary of a piece of literature, news article, etc

Step 1
Mention the authors’ name,
The title of the piece
The purpose of the article
Identify three key themes or ideas and write them in your own words

Use active verbs. For example:
In the article, How the Elite Rule, John Smith states…
(do not start with I read this....or this article is about..)


Step 2
Describe the three key points and select quotes from the article.
Explain why these quotes are significant


Step 3:
Offer your personal opinion.
Explain why you agree or disagree with the themes or subject.


Step 4
Create an open ended question regarding the article and answer it or,
discuss the article by relating it to something relevant in your life.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Friday Homework


Step 1.
Select a current topic in the National news and locate three articles about the topic from three different media sources.
Summarize the article, or rewrite the lead (who, what when where and how?) Just provide the facts.

Step 2
Identify the sources and explain if articles are slanted to the right or left or are unbiased. Provide two quotes from the articles that show the slant or bias. Also consider the fact; What is similar about all of the articles? What is different? Specifically, how do print and non-print reports vary? How can you explain the differences?


Step 3
Explain what the issue has to do with government and/or policy.
Write your opinion of the news entry and explain why you think the way you do.
Be prepared to share with your class on Friday’s

OBjectivity?


A major goal of news media is to report events objectively. In order to judge the objectivity of different sources, it is useful to look at multiple sources and compare their findings. To complete these assignments, you will need to locate and read many different news items including newspapers. Most are online. Many require that you register (no cost). When you register, record the news source, your user name and password. Have access to these for further use
.
Find multiple sources for your topic. Print out a copy of your report on these resources
1. Print: Newspapers: Local: , National or International:
Magazines: Local, State, National, International
Internet: Reputable agency or organization, Blog
Television: News reports (such as FOX, CBS, CNN, Univision), Specials
Radio: National Public Radio (NPR 89.3), Talk radio

Below is a list of some media sources. If the link does not work, then google in the name and then go to the site
Sources of News
Right Oriented (R)
Left oriented (L)
Moderate or Center (M)

(L) Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
(M) The Christian Science Monitor csmonitor.com
(R) Breaking News Latest News Current News - FOXNews.com

(L) Democracy Now! Radio and TV News
(M) Newsfront
(R)drudgereport.com/favicon.ico
(L) Truthdig Reports
(M)BBC NEWS News Front Page
(R)World Net Daily:
(L)The Nation Unconventional Wisdom Since 1865
(M)CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News
(R)Reason Magazine
(L)Salon.com - Breaking news, opinion, politics, entertainment, sports and culture.
(M) Associated Press The essential global news network
(R) Right Wing News
(L)Home AlterNet
(M) NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR
(R)Daily Kos: State of the Nation
(L) Views - September 2009 CommonDreams.org
(R) NewsBusters.org Exposing Liberal Media Bias