Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tuesday October 7 – 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM

Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain in their second of three scheduled debates – this one is a town hall format.

We’ll have it up on the BIG SCREEN in room #112. Mr. Wood’s room.  Come and watch it with your friends. Bring your pop. Side door opens at 8:00. See you there.

• Check here for more info on the Barack Obama campaign.
• Check here for more info on the John McCain campaign.
• Check here for more info on the Holly Hughes campaign.
• Check here for more ino on the Mary Valentine campaign.

If you are going to volunteer for Mary Valentine or Holly Hughes please contact offices first!

Upcoming Events for the week of Oct 6:

• LET’S WATCH THEM DEBATE – Barack Obama vs John McCain Presidential Debate Tuesday @ 9:00 PM – we’ll watch it in room 112 – doors open at 8:00 / bring your own pop.
• 
  

Wednesday 10/8- Holly Hughes vs Mary Valentine Debate – 7:30 PM Stevenson Center – Muskegon Community College – come see Holly Hughes and Mary Valentine debate the issues in their election for 91st District in the Michigan House of Representatives. Public is invited to attend. Free of charge.

Wednesday 10/8 – Obama – Be a Staffer for a Day – The Obama HQ staffers have a big meeting out of town. They really need people to man the posts while they’re away. They need bodies to tap the phones, pound on the computers, and hit the sidewalks. See Crystal ASAP for details.

Thursday 10/9 – Obama – OBAMARAMA – Ed and Pat Schroeder – 1456 E McMillan Rd – Muskegon – 7:00 to 8:00 PM – Invite YOU – young and old. High School students and Retirees. Tall and short. Smart and not so smart. Rich and poor. Skinny and fat.  Democrat and Republican. Spartan fans and well more Spartan fans. The Schroeders will have an Obama rally with speakers (you can be one) and a video to celebrate democracy in the USA. Schroeders live up by the North Muskegon Meijers- just past Chase Hammond Golf Course. Check out mapquest for directions. If you’re still confused – see Mrs. Schroeder. ALL Oakridge students are invited.  Refreshments provided.  IF YOU CAN – BRING A CAN – of food goods for the homeless as a donation.

Monday (next( 10/13) – Cinema Carousel /Film Production Studio / Town Hall Meeting – Hollywood producer Watermark Production Film studios will be holding a town meeting with Representative Mary Valentine at the Cinema Carousel @ 7:00 PM on Monday. They will discuss the film studio’s plan to relocate in Muskegon. Public is invited to attend. Free of charge.

Please use this site to post weekly questions or comments on the candidates or volunteering options. You may use this site to communicate with other students on when and where and how you plan on getting involved. Don’t forget – any questions call Mr. Wood at (616) 402-8668 or email him bobwoodmsu@charter.net.

Click here for extra volunteer notebook pages.

Map and count is current as of 10/6/08. Presentation by Nick, Joe, and Becca.

• Obama / Biden – 264
• McCain / Palin – 163
• Toss Up – 111

Each week between September 15 and November 4 (the election) Senior Current Issues will provide you an update on the progress of the 2008 Presidential Election. Each week at this site you will find a photo (USA Electoral Map in room #112) of the updated polling comparisons between Barack Obama and John McCain. Each week a different group of seniors will offer you a three to five minute podcast of where this election currently stands and the trends they see on the horizon. Student groups will provide a news article that they think will help you to better understand the dynamics of this election. All students are encouraged to listen to the podcast and read the article.

SCI students will offer a “what do you think” question that goes with the news article. All Senior Current Issues students must do the ensuing 20 point blog. All other students may choose to answer the question as an extra credit blog assignment (5 pts max.)

All electoral votes come from estimates located on Real Clear Politics.com Remember polls are only estimates of how people may vote. Until Nov 4 nobody really knows the outcome of this election.

Podcast – click podcast. Go to Real Clear Politics while you listen. Podcast coincides with photo of map in room 112, located at the top of this post.

News Article – Time Magazine – “Can McCain Map Out a Comeback Strategy”

Question – Read the article. Obama has become juggernaut in the race and the only thing that seems like it could defeat him is himself. Do you think that McCain has a chance? What do you think McCain has to do in order to comeback?

Postings for the question must be made by 7:00 PM Friday of the week in question.

Check the category “08 ELECTION – The News” for more news about the candidates and the Election.

EVALUATION: NICK / JOE / BECCA

Podcast:  (90% A-) Great job.  Informative – interesting.  You didn’t just list states that changed you actually told us why they are changing.  I thought you all were pretty much involved, which gave it more credibility.  And the voices were clear and loud enough.  The only miss, and it was substantial, was the absence of mention of Pennsylvania in the discussion.  Big change / big state.

Article / Question: (93% A)  A good question. I thought you got some interesting answers as well.  The Time article fit well with the question and was pretty thorough. Again, I thought you guys did a nice job.

Presentation: (88% B+)  Nick all we needed to round it out was provide you a top hat and cane…you put on a great performance.  However, the presentation should involve all participants.  That probably could’ve been handled with a sharing of responsibilities.  But you know – again here pretty nicely done.

Overall Grade:  (91% A-) You guys did a really nice job. I thought the podcast came out really well – and the article / question combo worked fine too.  The only two minuses I see in the entire presentation were the PA miss in the podcast and lack of groupwork in the presentation.  But when all is said and done – the plusses are so much more.  Well done.

Real World Economics (redux) provides you an opportunity to add points to your RWE presentations on a weekly basis. Every week we do a (S-Option) Student Option choice in RWE I’ll choose one article from all student assignments. I will link that article to the blog and I will post a question or series of questions that you must answer. You may earn up to five points extra credit on the previous week’s RWE assignment. This work will count individually – you do not have to work with your partner. I will post the due date and time, however expect that it will be at 11:00 PM on Wednesday of the week assigned. Students from Government and Senior Current Issues may choose to answer RWE ‘redux’ for extra credit. All written blog assignments must adhere to posted Blogging Guidelines.

Article selection for 9/29/08 – from Courtney Berghuis

Wall Street crisis culmination of 28 years of deregulation – McClatchy News

This article does a really nice job of looking back over the past three decades in an effort to explain how we got to this crisis. I think you’ll find it illuminating. Now for the assignment. Identify four separate thoughts the author has provided – that helped bring on this crisis. Then explain each in paragraph form IN YOUR OWN WORDS. (Hint – there’s more than four in the article)

Assignment must be posted by 11:00 PM Wednesday.

Did you see it?

What do you think?

Who won the Thursday night debate? What are your thoughts?  What impact will this debate have on the election?