I'm here in Phoenix teaching the Vote 18 program this month and came across a series of interesting articles in the local paper, the Arizona Republic, that
breaks down Arizona's current crisis and some suggested
solutions to help address it.
Good reading f…
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Added by Marco on October 15, 2009 at 1:29pm —
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One of the programs we discuss with students is "stop loss", a program which then-President Bush implemented to keep active and reserve soldiers serving longer in order to prevent the need for higher enlistment or a draft. It has been a program with profound consequences on our troops, their families and their communities both active and reserve. It is great news that it is finally ending, though with new conflicts, our already overburdened military may one day have to revert to mandatory servic…
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Added by Marco on March 27, 2009 at 2:39pm —
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March 23, 1775 is a date you very likely haven't heard of yet it is instrumental in our democracy's birth. On this day in 1775 that Patrick Henry stood up in the second Virginia Convention with the daring proposition that the colony of Virgina take up arms against the king and fight for independence. As any student of Vote 18 knows, this was an act of high treason. People convicted of treason could be sent back to England and hanged. Because of this the idea of independence was seldom spoke of i…
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Added by Marco on March 23, 2009 at 9:30am —
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"In the 21st century, it's going to be important for every citizen to be an active, informed voter, but also to do some kind of citizen service."
- President Bill Clinton Feb 15th, 2009
Our new era of responsibility must include informed, active voters, but also citizens who remain engaged and active within their community. Those are the values that our Vote 18 program instills both in concept and practice. First by teaching students the value, power and relevance of their vote, but then by int…
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Added by Marco on February 16, 2009 at 9:52pm —
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The US is the only country in history built on an idea. That being the case it helps to have an 'owners manual."
That task just got a little easier for iPhone users, and MacWorld helps navigate the various civics apps hitting the market:
http://www.macworld.com/article/137523/2008/12/civicsapps_iphone.html Continue
Added by Marco on December 15, 2008 at 10:24pm —
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Here's a
great piece in the NY Times on the underlying psychology of voting.
An interesting snippet:
“There’s a longstanding literature looking at why any rational person would vote, when the chances of actually influencing an election are about the same as getting hit by lightning,” said John Londregan, a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton. “In most theoretical models, it’s hard to get a predi…
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Added by Marco on November 9, 2008 at 6:30am —
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After nine amazing weeks, twenty-two cities in fourteen states, last week we completed the last three sessions of our final tour stop in Minneapolis. This week we will be following up with those students we registered to make sure they get to the polls.
We ended with three sessions at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis as strong as we began last August in Los Angeles. Students were engaged and inspired and really "got it" as we ran through the Vote 18 program. Our sessions were attended b…
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Added by Marco on October 28, 2008 at 12:29pm —
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Added by Marco on October 22, 2008 at 5:46pm —
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Here's a fascinating piece in a recent
New Yorker magazine about the history of voting in the U.S.
Check out this excerpt:
"On the morning of November 2, 1859—Election Day—George Kyle, a merchant with the Baltimore firm of Dinsmore & Kyle, left his house with a bundle of ballots tucked under his arm. Kyle was a Democrat. As he neared the polls in the city’s Fifteenth Ward, which was heavily dominated by the American Party, a ruffian tried to snatch his ballots. Kyle dodged and wheel…
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Added by Marco on October 19, 2008 at 10:20pm —
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I'm extremely pleased to report that Vote 18 has launched two more chapters since our last update: Washington D.C. and New Orleans.
In D.C., we met up with our chapter leaders Alex Lawson and Andrew Simon of High 5 Consulting. In addition to running the DC chapter, Alex and Andrew also coordinate our grant writing team. As if that weren't enough, they've enlisted Justin Berrier to coordinate our media outreach for the tour. From the many media hits we continue to score (…
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Added by Marco on October 12, 2008 at 10:18pm —
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As I write this latest update, I am seated in a small gazebo, which itself is perched about seven feet above a round patch of water just off of highway 441 in Mount Dora, Florida. In the water below me I can see throngs of fish patiently waiting for me to throw over a few crumbs of whatever I might have to each, and off in the distance a pair of young turtles poke their heads above the surface from time to time as they meander about from left to right and back again in what seems to me an enjoya…
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Added by Marco on September 30, 2008 at 8:47am —
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I'll try to keep this update "brief" in spite of the many great things happening in cities all over the country. Please enjoy the latest news of our success in turning ever-more young people into active citizens and life-long voters...
Vote 18's Road Trip USA hit new heights this week with youth voter events in eight cities. (See details and media links below).
This coming week we launch our PACE partnership in New York City and then we're back on the road to Ohio, where we've teamed up with t…
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Added by Marco on September 20, 2008 at 6:24pm —
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Hi everyone -
I'm writing from the hurricane recovery zone in Austin but wanted to post a brief update of our tour this last week.
Since our update on the 7th we've staged successful events in Albuquerque and El Paso. I want to thank our amazing coordinators Stacy Moses in Albuquerque and the team in El Paso: Chris Kazanjian, our chapter leader and Laura Strezlin, Franklin HIgh School's dept chair who was so hospitable and helpful on the day of the event in El Paso.
A special shout out to to S…
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Added by Marco on September 13, 2008 at 4:03pm —
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It's early in the morning as I write these words and Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Coming Down" are playing over and over in my mind. Later today the tour revs back up when I fly to Albuquerque for our events there tomorrow at the Sandia Preparatory School!
Before the Labor Day holiday we took the tour out of the 110 degree Phoenix heat and headed up to Flagstaff, Arizona. With special thanks to Liz Archuleta for all of her enthusiastic support and heavy lifting to make our tour stop suc…
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Added by Marco on September 7, 2008 at 11:31am —
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More news from the Vote 18 Road Trip. Things continue to pop here in the Southwest. Last Friday we formally announced our partnership with Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer at Marcos De Niza High School in Tempe. Guests of honor included Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, Zita Johnson (School Board Member), Onnie Shekerjian (City Council Member, Chair of the Education and Economic Development Committee), and Robin Arredondo-Savage (School Board Member).
The event began with our presentation to Maure…
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Added by Marco on August 27, 2008 at 10:00am —
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The tour kicked off with an excellent start in Los Angeles on Monday. With help from the ever-amazing League of Women Voters LA chapter, we presented our interactive voting game to a group of truly exceptional seniors from Marcia Slaten's class at John Marshall High School. The students in each session were both well-informed and passionate about many of the issues that directly impact their lives. I am continually awed to see so many students engaged and excited about the importance of their ci…
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Added by Marco on August 20, 2008 at 8:40pm —
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