By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - America's first female Supreme Court justice unveiled a videogame project on Wednesday to teach children how courts work, saying she wanted to counter partisan criticism that judges are "godless" activists.
Sandra Day O'Connor, 78, who served as U.S. Supreme Court justice from 1981 until her retirement in 2006, said she never imagined she would be asked to address a conference about digital gaming.
She said she got involved with developing the project called "Our Courts" out of concern over public ignorance about the judiciary and partisan attacks on what should be an independent institution.
"In recent years I've become increasingly concerned about vitriolic attacks by some members of Congress, some members of state legislatures and various private interest groups ... on judges," O'Connor told the Games For Change conference on using gaming technology for social improvement and education. |
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FairVote’s voting curriculum, Learning Democracy, is designed to supplement traditional high school civics programs by teaching students the mechanics of participating in democracy. Through an innovative multimedia presentation, Learning Democracy gives students concrete examples of how and why they should increase their level of civic engagement. The curriculum has three components: the history of voting rights, the mechanics of voting and ideas for action. Through images, music and peer-to-peer interaction, Learning Democracy will inform and entertain high school students.
Learning Democracy is a peer-to-peer curriculum, where college or graduate students will facilitate the program in high schools. This educational model encourages students to interact with their classmates and promotes a nontraditional classroom atmosphere. Peer-to-peer programming has the potential to inspire lively discussion and engage students in a different way than conventional civics classes. FairVote is looking for college students, graduate students, and young adults to facilitate this peer-to-peer curriculum in high schools. Training and curriculum materials are provided. For more information, visit go here. |
Application period open for Millennials to attend Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur “Money in Politics” Grant Summit to be hosted in July 2008
Mobilize.org, the all-partisan youth civic engagement organization, has announced the application launch for its Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Grant Summit, Money in Politics, to be held July 18-21, 2008, in Denver, Colorado. In partnership with The Sunlight Foundation and Common Cause, Mobilize.org is seeking innovative projects focused towards clean election practices at the local, state, and national level.
Mobilize.org is focusing efforts on empowering members of the Millennial Generation to develop innovative clean elections practices, emphasizing the creation of public finance reforms at the local and state level. Mobilize.org’s Money in Politics Grant Summit presents members of the Millennial Generation with the opportunity to identify a need for clean elections practices, and through the use of interactive key pad voting technology and peer to peer dialogue, develop an idea or solution that would address that need, and present a proposal for funding at the Summit.
Grant summit winners will each receive a grant, between $3,000 and $5,000, and more importantly, will receive the support of Mobilize.org and our extensive partner network to champion their proposal and create systemic and long lasting change in the way elections are run.
For more information on the Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Money in Politics Grant Summit, see our Democracy 2.0 Issues Brief “Money in Politics” at http://www.mobilize.org/catalogFiles/12DCfil46.pdf .
Grant Summit Rules and Application form can be found at: http://www.mobilize.org/catalogFiles/11dccfil11699.pdf.
The application deadline is June 15, 2008.
If you are interested in applying, or have any questions, please contact Mobilize.org via email at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or via phone at 202.736.5703. General grant summit information is located at: http://www.mobilize.org/index.php?tray=content&cid=11DC92&tid=11DCtop8.
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The General Election is here. We've got presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees -- Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama.
It's time for us make sure that the candidates address the issues most critical to young voters, and we need to act quickly. I'm sending a letter to McCain and Obama with Rock the Vote's 2008 Young Voter Platform. Can you join us in speaking out for the 44 million young voters of America and co-sign the letter?
http://rockthevote.com/act-out/letter2008/
We've attached it below (click "Read More") -- I need your signature to make sure that the candidates hear us. |
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The journal APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE has published a special issue on immigrant youth and civic engagement. Two articles are by CIRCLE staff and three other articles are the products of CIRCLE grants. Below are just a few of the articles included in the special edition:
- “Immigrant Civic Engagement: New Translations” by Lene Arnett Jensen and Constance A. Flanagan
- “South Florida’s Immigrant Youth and Civic Engagement: Major Engagement: Minor Differences” by Alex Stepick, Carol Dutton Stepick, and Yves Labissiere [research funded by CIRCLE]
- “The Civic Engagement of Immigrant Youth: New Evidence From the 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey” by Mark Hugo Lopez and Karlo Barrios Marcelo [CIRCLE staff]
For abstracts and a link to the journal, please visit http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=298 |
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My2CentsforChange.org is looking for teens to blog about issues surrounding the 2008 Presidential Election. Show the world that even though you’re not old enough to vote, your voice still matters and you care about the state of affairs in our country. SEEKING BLOGGERS WHO: - Are between the ages of 13-17
- Are available to contribute at least 3 posts per month (minimum length 250 words, no max length) from July to November.
- Can compose well written, thought provoking posts in their own voice to inspire other teens to get involved in the 2008 election
POSSIBLE TOPICS INCLUDE: - What teens can do to participate in the election
- The Issues: where you stand, questions you have, etc.
- The Candidates and the Issues: where they stand
- The Candidates on the Trail: profiles of the candidates and analysis of the strategies used by the campaigns to gain support
- What Teens are Saying: Thoughts and feedback from your friends and classmates on issues related to the election
- Reaction to election-related news pieces, article, etc.
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The latest volume of Rock the Vote's Polling Young Voters is now available!
Download Polling Young Voters Volume IX.
The latest volume of Polling Young Voters takes a look at young voters' top issues and issue stances, presidential vote choice, and communications habits. The report contains young voter poll results from recent Cook Political Report/R.T. Strategies, The Economist, Harvard Institute of Politics, Democracy Corps, and MTV-CBS News polls.
Young voters are playing a major role in the 2008 elections. As we approach general election season, candidates for all offices should be thinking about how to mobilize young voters to the polls in November. In addition to this report, Rock the Vote has a wealth of resources for campaigns planning to reach out to young voters in 2008. See our website for toolkits, tipsheets, polling and more. |
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Applications are now being accepted for the 2008 Campus Progress National Conference Young people have voted in record numbers in 2004, 2006, and 2008. Young advocates are creating new vehicles for change every day. Our generation is using its power and voice to move America in a more positive, progressive direction. The fourth annual Campus Progress National Conference is set for July 8, 2008. Come to Washington, D.C., and join young people from all across the nation to collaborate on the issues that drive us.
We're proud to announce that Senator John Edwards will deliver a keynote speech at the 2008 Campus Progress National Conference! Other speakers confirmed for the conference are actor Ryan Gosling, who will discuss Africa, genocide, and child soldiers with activist John Prendergast; U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez of California; hip-hop artist M-1; spoken word poet Paul Flores; and musician Ted Leo, who will perform. A panel on youth organizing will include Biko Baker of the League of Young Voters and Maria Teresa Peterson of Voto Latino.
Campus Progress will announce additional participants in the coming weeks. The conference is a unique opportunity to meet and network with other politically engaged young people. The conference is free for all attendees, and a limited number of travel and housing scholarships will be available. You must apply for admission, and each year the conference fills to capacity - so apply now!
Apply now for the 2008 Campus Progress National Conference.
Wednesday July 8, 2008, 9:00am-7:30pm
Omni Shoreham Hotel
Washington, D.C. |
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If you had any doubt that young voters are making a major splash on this year's primary elections, check out Rock the Vote's latest tally of 18-29 year olds' primary turnout.
More than six million voters under 30 have cast ballots in the 2008 primaries and caucuses so far. A very conservative estimate is that this more than 2.2 million more than voted in the most recent comparable primaries!
Check it out - our updated 2008 primary turnout factsheet (PDF) lays it all out.
Young voters are leading what's become a major charge to the polls this year. More than 3.5 million new people registered to vote in the early months of 2008, or one in 65 American adults, and youth turnout has doubled and tripled in nearly every primary so far this year.
Here at Rock the Vote, since July 2007 more than 860,010 people have used our online system to register to vote, including 592,016 under-30 voters! If you want get young voters involved in your campaign or organization, check out Rock the Vote's "Winning Young Voters" handbook (PDF) or find out how to put voter registration on your website here . |
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