Do you believe that your community may down-play disaster risks?

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Question 1

Module 1 Discussion

      

There are various ways to construct outlines (see Background information on outlines).

  1. Describe your favorite style.
  2. Explain why you prefer that style.
  3. What are the benefits?

Question 2

During a forum titled Cities and Megacities at Risk (sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Stanford University’s John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, and the World Seismic Safety Initiative, on Capitol Hill on January 21, 1998) Kendra Briechle, International City/County Management Association, reported the results of a recent study on Needs, Barriers, and Opportunities to Mitigation in Local Government.

The survey indicated many governments are confused about mitigation, and most perceive a lower risk for their area than actually exists. In addition, smaller governments generally have fewer tools for mitigation, including a lack of capacity and enforceable building codes.

  1. In your opinion why do many local governments perceive a lower risk of a disaster for their communities than actually exists?
  2. Do you believe that your community may down-play disaster risks?

Week 6 Discussion American Government

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he Newsroom

In your discussion this week you have to write a short newscast. Select three (and only three) current news stories. Select the three stories that you think are the most important to our nation and society.

  • Write an original headline for each story.
  • Write no more than three sentences summarizing each story.
  • Include the full html web address for each story.

It is very important to only write on three stories and keep your summaries under three sentences as this simulates how challenging it is to explain very complicated new stories in very restricted time and keeping the attention of viewers.

Your initial post will look something like this:

Catchy Headline #1

Summary sentence 1. This is the second sentence. And finally a third sentence.

Catchy Headline #2

Summary sentence 1. This is the second sentence. And finally a third sentence.

Catchy Headline #3

Summary sentence 1. This is the second sentence. And finally a third sentence.

For your follow up posts, question your peer’s newscasts. Why did they select the stories they did? Were there other current events that they seemed to miss? Was there any bias in how the stories were presented? Was there any bias in how those stories were summarized? Why did they include certain news stories? Why did they ignore others? You may also respond to your peer’s questions for a follow post.

Interest Group Consultant Simulation

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nterest Group Consultant Simulation

In this activity you will be pretending to be a consultant for an interest group. You will be charged with helping that interest group better achieve its goals. Have fun and be creative in this activity!

Your paper should be at least 500 words long.

1. First, select an interest group from the following list that you will be consulting for (*you may only complete this assignment on one the listed interest groups):

a. Service Employees International Union

b. National Association of Realtors

c. US Chamber of Commerce

d. National Rifle Association

e. National Education Association

f. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees

g. AARP

h. National Association of Broadcasters

2. In the first sentence of your paper please state very clearly what interest group you have selected.

3. Next, describe in your own words, what your selected interest group mission is. Do not copy and paste or quote the organization’s mission in your paper. Use your own words.

4. Next, take that mission statement and rewrite it in a new short one sentence “elevator pitch” that you think would be more effective. Feel free to get creative.

5. Look up your selected interest groups website. What is the web address? What do you like about their website? What do you think could be improved about their website?

6. Look up your selected interest group on social media. What is good about their social media presence? What could be improved about their social media presence?

7. Look up your selected interest group on Open Secrets or the Federal Elections Commission website and discuss your findings. How much money does your interest group have? What is that money being spent on? In your opinion, are they using their money effectively? How could they spend their money to better accomplish their goals?

8. Come up with at least one completely original idea that could be used to improve your selected interest groups efforts. Describe this idea in detail. What specific goal would this idea seek to accomplish? What types of resources would this idea need? How would this idea improve the organization’s efforts to achieve its mission?

9. Finally, be sure to provide a reference list.

Please note: APA formatting and citations rules apply to this and all essays in this course

Based on course topics, why is this topic relevant to the study of government?

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Your submission must be at least 400 words.

This graded discussion is based on guided writing.  In order to be successful on this discussion, you need to CLEARLY demonstrate an understanding of the information and the questions presented.  OPINIONS need to be based on EVIDENCE.  This means you need to provide documentation for statements.  Following directions is important.

You will be given article(s) to read, then you will provide your opinions on the topic and provide evidence for your position.

LISTEN to the podcast and READ the  article about the topic: (This is the topic of the discussion.)

Swaby, Aliyya and Alexa Ura. “Longview ISD in Texas Battles School Segregation.”  Texas Tribune. September 16, 2019.

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/16/longview-isd-texas-school-segregation-1A-podcast/ (Links to an external site.)

Now follow these directions to complete the Graded Discussion:

Click on the above link(s) and read the article(s).  Then respond to ALL of the questions below.  In order to receive full credit for the discussion, you have to follow the guidelines provided. Remember to incorporate the articles/podcast in your response.  This means that you must briefly summarize and then make connections to them in your response.

Guidelines for submission:  Submissions must have at least 400 words, not including documentation/citations or quotes.  Students must also use proper grammar and punctuation, with no contractions. NO PLAGIARISM is allowed!  If you copy any portion of your submission from external sources, you will receive a 0!  Do not use phrases/quotes from the assigned link or external links to write your response. You MUST document/cite your submission or you will receive a 0!  Answer ALL the numbered questions below.

Topic: Education/Texas Legislature  

1.  Provide a brief summary of the article.  What is the most important issue that is raised in the article for the topic, in your opinion? Overall, do you believe that the information in the article is valid? Do you believe that the method used to currently handle this education issue is appropriate (elaborate)?  List at least one aspect of the article that you find questionable.  Why?  What solution do you believe would resolve this issue? Who or what entity do you believe is most able to deal with this issue?

2.  Based on course topics, why is this topic relevant to the study of government? (This means that you need to make a connection between the articles’ topic and at least one topic in the course and provide evidence.)  Why is this topic relevant to society as a whole?

Remember:  Your grade is based on following the directions carefully, your understanding of the topic presented, and your clear responses to the questions presented.