3.  Perspective  Socio-economic Status  Life Experiences  NGO  Issue  Polls  Media  Mainstream media source  Alternative media source  Opinions  Values  Subjective  Bias  Libel  Copenhagen Consensus  How does my perspective influence my opinion on a particular issue?  What methods can I use to recognize sources of inaccurate or biased information?  How can I distinguish fact from opinion?  How can I address some of the global issues we face?

4.  Different things affect perspective.  Socio-economic status, life experiences, and other things influence people’s perspective.  Many issues we are going to look at in this class are made worse because of a lack of perspective about certain things.

5.  Peoples’ opinions can be categorized into two broad categories: - “Left wing,” and “Right wing”  There are more categories though.

6.  Someone in this category believes the economy works best if the government does not interfere with business or trade, but exerts a significant amount of social control.

7.  Someone in this category believes the economy works best if the government exerts considerable control over business and trade, while also exerting social control.

8.  Someone in this category feels the government has an important role to play in the economy, but feels government should allow people to make their own social decisions.

9.  Someone in this category wants to minimize the role of government in all aspects of life.

10.  Someone in this category believes social and economic controls should be applied if they are for the public good and taken away if they do not benefit society.

11.  Here are some non-world issues that may elicit some very strong opinions:   1. The most popular artists or type of music   2. The latest episodes of your favourite TV show:   3. The Euro or World Cup fight   4. Success of your school teams   5. School or neighbourhood safety

12.  1. The continuing slaughter of innocent people in Darfur and Chechnya  2. The political instability in the Middle East and the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.  3. The War on Terror and the Politics of Life after 9-11.  4. Poverty and hunger in the poorest nations in the world.  5. World health issues: Aids, Malaria, SARS and the Avian Flu

13.  The fact you may have more knowledge of the non- world issues is understandable. The media of TV and the internet are very powerful tools and we can hardly escape the sensationalism.  With the internet you have control of an excellent research tool and the issues can be explored as you gain interest. What you need to FOCUS on is the ability to distinguish what is of greater importance especially in the long run.

14.  Two arguments are given by students as to why world issues are not of great concern:   1. I am really unaware of the problem and how does it really affect me? There is too much mixed information being presented on the TV and internet. Besides I have enough to worry about closer to home in my life, like passing this course.   2. What can I do? I am just one person and the issues are too great. I can not change the world.

15.  The "I'm only one person, I can not make a difference" or the "Let the rich pay for these problems since they created them and they have all the money,” argument is too easy to fall back on. Here is another example you may not be aware of but the Blue Box programs and the World Earth Day have come about because of "Grass Root" level initiatives. They are now part of our everyday routine. It is now trendy for companies to sell "Environmentally Friendly" products.

16.  Some companies use this as a selling feature and so we can have an impact on big business with your buying choices such as Green Coffee or Green products that pay local workers a fair wage. When you purchase products as an informed world issues student you can have a huge impact on the business practices of major world companies.

17.  Throughout the course you will be presented with key world issues. The goal of this course is to make you aware of certain key world issues, some recent, some that have been around for a long time. The goal is to FOCUS on these issues. Follow this approach to analyze and understand the issue.   FOCUS   F= Find the FACTS  O= Have an OPINON  C= Consider the CHOICES available to deal with the issue  U= What is the URGENCY of the issue and how quickly it needs to be addressed?  S= Stands for SYNTHESIS and possible SOLUTIONS. How do we as Canadians deal with the issues and how does one issue relate to the other issues we study?