1. Government / Economics Current Events
Tips for a good CE
Lehr - Fall 2012

2. Choosing an article
Think creatively about the Topic of the Week - what articles are related to it, and how will you make the connection between the weekly topic and the article?
Spectacular/tragic events (car crashes, fires) provide no real issues for you to respond to, and make for bad CE articles. Articles that review sporting events, entertainment, entertainers or movies get you zero credit.
Make sure the article is 12 column inches (2” wide by 12” long in a newspaper). You want lots of article to respond to.
Long commentary/editorial/opinion pieces are OK for current events.

3. Writing your Current Events
Title it:
“Government (or Honors Government) Current Event # ___”
ALL Current Events will be done on Turnitin.com
Use Full-Block Business Letter format, which means that all lines are up against the left margin.
After your Name/Class/Period, use the first few lines (about 1/4 of the sheet) to list out the bibliographic information on your article.
Article title (ex: “GHS Gov’t Student wins Nobel Prize”)
Source title and date (ex: The Oregonian, October 15, 2009). Include page number if available
Summary should be SHORT! Two or three sentences MAXIMUM.

4. What does “Response” mean?
It does not mean “re-summarize the article again” :)
It does not mean “How does the article make me feel emotionally?”
It does not mean “Rate the actions of the people in the article.” (“I think arresting the murderer was a good idea”)

5. What does “Response” mean?
“Response” means that I want you to tell me what we as a society should do in response to the issue/event from the article.
Should we invoke an existing rule (law) in response to this event?
Should we have a new rule (law), and what do you think it should be?
What should our leaders do that they are not currently doing? Or, what should individuals do that they are not doing?
Or, should things continue exactly as they are?
For each of the above, tell me WHY. This is the most important part of your Current Event, and is worth the most points.

6. Note the format: • Name/period in upper LEFT hand corner (because you’re typing it) • “Current Event # ___” at the top • FULL source citation (Title, Author, Source, Date) Be sure and choose articles that have all four source elements • Summary is a 1 or 2 sentence quick summary of the article. • The Response is your reflection on the content of the article - your opinion about the repercussions of what you learned. Please do NOT just continue to summarize the article!! • The Response is a thoughtful opinion. Show you’re thinking about what you read, and you’ll do fine.

7. Author: Posted by Zellie Imani
Title: NC Teen Charged As Adult For Taking & Having Naked Pics of a Minor – Himself
Author: Posted by Zellie Imani
Source: AtlantaBlackStar.com
Date of Article: September 7, 2015
(This is a simplified bibliographical citation. Later in the class we will use MLA citations.)

8. Summary: A 16-year old is charged as an adult for having sexually explicit pictures of himself and his girlfriend. In North Carolina you can be charged as an adult when you are 16, but you are still a minor and cannot possess these kind of materials until you are 18.

9. BAD Responses: “This sucks. North Carolina is a stupid state
BAD Responses: “This sucks. North Carolina is a stupid state.” “He shouldn’t have been taking pictures of himself naked.” “It was wrong of him to break the law.” “North Carolina should arrest him and give him prison time. Basically, they should do everything they are doing.”

10. BETTER Responses:
“North Carolina (NC) is right to hold him accountable. He is creating porn by the legal definition, and stopping porn is the goal of the law.”
“Is he a juvenile or an adult? NC can’t have it both ways. They can’t call his pictures ‘child porn’ when he is an adult in the courts. But, what if he sold the pictures to someone over the age of 18? Would that be a crime?”
“If it is between two people on their own accounts, no one should get in trouble. But what if a 14 year old girl sent a naked picture to a 25 year old man – would that break the law? Probably, so I’m not sure where to draw the line.”