Thursday, April 30, 2009

A Quick Tune-Up

Knowing how to take an AP test may be as important as knowing what is on the test. Both are prerequisites for doing well.

On Monday’s AP American Government and Politics exam there will be two (2) sections.

The first section is Multiple Choice. You will have 45 minutes to complete 60 questions. Read carefully but keep moving. Pay particular attention to the critical vocabulary. An EXCEPT question means it is a True/False question.

The second section is Free Response. You will have 100 minutes to complete 4 questions. There will be no options here. These are NOT fully developed essays with thesis arguments and supporting points. They are short answer questions that need fully developed explanations and examples.

Do’s and Don’ts on the FRQs:

Do

  1. Write as neatly as possible (without wasting time). You’ll get a better score if the reader can understand what you’re writing. If you make a mistake, simply draw a line through it and write the correct information above it. And, don’t use arrows or asterisk because they can be confusing to the readers.

  2. Read the question. And then read it again. Think about what you’re going to write. Outline your answer. Make sure you’re only answering what has been asked. Do this in the answer space provided in the booklet.

  3. Reread your work and make sure you’ve answered each question fully and correctly. Have you appropriately LINKED your answer to the question?

  4. Leave yourself a few minutes at the end to revise or proofread your answers.

  5. There is NO PENALTY for wrong information, therefore, write as much as you can. If a question asks for two examples, brainstorm and write as many as you can think.

  6. At the very least, use the EXACT VOCABULARY from the question in each component of your answer. Most rubrics ask for linkage back to the question. This is the sure fire way to move in that direction.

Don’t

  1. Don’t give personal opinions (like your political affiliation or whether you like the president’s policies). The Exam is testing your knowledge and understanding of the political process. Don’t waste time stating an opinion, unless you’re asked to do so.

  2. Don’t give long, unnecessary introductions. Get to the point.

  3. Don’t give information you weren’t asked for. You won’t get any extra points if you do. So don’t waste your time writing it.

  4. Don’t spend more than 25 minutes on any one free-response question.

  5. Don’t fall asleep. Fight the fatigue. Time generally is not a factor. Wasted time is. Spend the time that is provided. This is a high stakes exam, do not look back and think about how you wasted it because you were tired, bored, or indifferent.

In the end when Duty whispers, “You must.” Experience the satisfaction of answering, “I can.”

Cup and Saucer

(From CBS 2 School)
Cup and saucer is a metaphor used to differentiate the roles played by the House of Representatives and United States Senate.

Thomas Jefferson once expressed his doubts about the usefulness of the Senate. “Why did you pour that coffee into your saucer?” George Washington asked. “To cool it,” Jefferson replied. “Even so,” Washington declared, “we pour legislation into the senatorial saucer to cool it.”

Our bicameral legislature was divided for reasons other than compromising between big states and small states. Each house represents the people, yet they also possess remarkably different responsibilities. The House, modeled on the British House of Commons, represents the passions of the people. The Senate, modeled on the British House of Lords, responds to these passions with reason. James Madison saw the Senate as an “anchor,” a “necessary fence” against the “fickleness and passion” of the people. The Senate is to “cool” House legislation just as a saucer was used to cool hot tea. Today, with the advent of directly elected Senators and the 24/7 televised news cycle, it is more difficult to discern between the passions of the House and the Senate. You could say two overflowing cups now characterize our Congress. Who is going to clean up the mess?

Alexander Hamilton while speaking to a group of foreign visitors observing action on the floor of the House of Representatives said, “Here Sir, the people govern.” For this reason our legislative branch continues to be our democracies most prized possession.

Know how these terms empower the U.S. Congress:

Incumbency
Necessary and Proper
Special orders
Franking
Gerrymandering
Leadership
Logrolling
Constituent Service
Commerce Clause

Three unique review opportunities for students preparing for the AP Government Exam:

1. C-Span will be hosting a live call-in review program for AP Government and Politics students on Saturday morning, May 2nd.

Students are invited to call in during the last hour of the Washington Journal program on that morning with their review questions. Two AP teachers will help answer these questions.

The C-Span review program will air 9-10 am, Eastern (8-9 am, Central). Students from the Eastern/Central time zones can call 202-737-0001 with their questions; students from the Mountain/Pacific time zones can call 202-737-0002 on May 2nd.

2. WIND AM 560 radio in Chicago will be hosting a live AP Government review call-in show on the evening of Sunday, May 3rd from 9-11 pm (Central.)

Students can listen to the live stream at http://560wind.townhall.com/ by clicking the "Listen Live" link. They can call 312-642-5600 with questions on the evening of May 3rd.

3. Students who are not able to get their calls answered during these programs can visit www.cbs2chicago.com/school.   AP teachers, students and alums will monitor this blog and help answer last minute questions.


VIDEO: A Breakdown Of Congress

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Hype (?) vs. Real Problems


Should the government react to outlier events? President Obama just asked for$1.5 billion to attack the swine flu after just one death in the US. However, in the past year 36,000 people have died in the US from other strains of flu. Above is one of the cool charts you can easily make from google/trends. Of course there is another way to look at this. If we are worried about death, why doesn't Congress outlaw nicotine in cigarettes as David Kessler attempted under Ronald Reagan.

What do you think? Is the government reacting appropriately in light of the swine flu scare. By the way, the nation's pork industry called for a change of name and they had support in a cabinet member. Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Agirculture, demanded Tuesday: 'Change the name of this flu! It's H1N1!' He said close monitoring of the nation's pork industry shows no illness among pigs.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) is clear that the name swine flu is here to stay.

www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1473684.php/Debate_rages_on_name_change_for_swine_flu_virus_WHO_says_no__Extra__

First 100 days



While most of the rest of the posts this week will be review for the AP Exams, there is certainly governmental news this week. Here is a very nice series on the first 100 days of Nixon through Obama (Obama's 100th Day was Wednesday). So far the series, in the Washington Post, is up through Clinton and can all be seen here. Each is only several minutes. Above is Nixon.

Monday, April 13, 2009

And they're off


Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's right-wing populist president, should face a tough reelection battle this year: inflation is running at an annual rate of 26%, while the drop in global crude oil prices threatens to bring unemployment, falling incomes and cuts in subsidies for food and fuel. The reformist camp in Iran, however, has been badly demoralized since the failure of systemic reform efforts during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) and has been further weakened by increased repression under Ahmadinjead.
This June's presidential election, therefore, is shaping up to be close. A recent article in The Economist takes a look at the race as it starts, and explains the importance of the election -- to Iranians and to the rest of the world:

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Obama factor reaches Iran

While U.S.-based bloggers wrote and caricatured President Barack Obama as a friend who would be dupped by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Guardian reports that today, Iran's Nuclear Technology Day, could be Ahmadinejad's swansong:

A year after becoming president in 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that the 20th day in the Persian month of Farvardin would officially be known as National Nuclear Technology day. On this day, which falls on Thursday 9 April this year, the government and people of Iran are to celebrate their country's nuclear achievements.

Ahmadinejad is not in charge of Iran's nuclear programme. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is. Nevertheless, he allows Ahmadinejad to use the occasion to inform the people of Iran about the technical progress made by Iran's nuclear programme during the past year. Last year, Ahmadinejad declared that "Iran was ready to install some 6,000 new centrifuges at the nuclear facility in the central province of Natanz".

This year, National Nuclear Technology day will have added importance for the president. While Ahmadinejad will be making his yearly speech about Iran's nuclear accomplishments, he will be well aware that from that day, only 64 days remain until the presidential elections, scheduled for 12 June.

The past year has been one of the worst for Ahmadinejad since he took office. He has suffered a number of embarrassing domestic defeats. One of them was parliament's unwillingness to pass the subsidies reduction clause in this year's budget, which called for the reduction of energy subsidies and to distribute the money instead to Iran's poor as cash handouts. Parliamentarians are worried this may further increase the level of inflation. Ahmadinejad has invested heavily in this clause. He has been promoting it since last year and parliament's resistance has damaged his credibility.

The other setback was the embarrassing dismissal of Ali Kordan, his interior minister, by parliament. Kordan was found to have had a forged doctorate degree from Oxford university. This created a large number of email and text message jokes about the former minister's credentials by offering degrees from "Aksford" and "Oxphord" university. The fact that Ahmadinejad backed Kordan until the last moment caused further blows to his standing.

Even football and its extraordinary popularity in Iran do not seem to have helped the president. During the last world cup qualifying match between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Tehran, Ahmadinejad made a surprise appearance in the stadium, 30 minutes after the start of the game. However, the fact that Iran lost 2-1 on home soil after initially leading their Saudi rivals 1-0 led to the popular belief that Ahmadinejad had 'ghadame shoor', a Persian expression that describes someone who brings bad luck.

This wasn't the first time Ahmadinejad made a surprise appearance at a major sporting event. The previous occasion was in early March when Iran made it to the finals of the World Wrestling Championship against Azerbaijan. Iran lost that match too.

In all likelihood, Ahmadinejad is going to make the most of this year's nuclear technology day ceremony to boost his falling popularity at home. Unlike the economy, the nuclear programme is one area which Ahmadinejad has not ruined. Many people believe that the only reason is because he is not in charge of it. Nevertheless, thanks to Ayatollah Khamenei, Ahmadinejad will gladly use the opportunity as a means to boost his position.

This will be the case even if Iran's nuclear programme has not made any spectacular gains in the past year. Ahmadinejad could quite possibly paint a picture that is rosier than the reality. He will have no other choice — this is his last chance before the elections. The Iranian electorate is unforgiving and he has to take every opportunity to reach out to them.

The international community, especially Israel and the US, may have a different perception on Ahmadinejad's nuclear technology day declarations. Any major announcement could be taken as a sign of antagonism, or threat. This would be logical. However, the international community should understand that promoting one's capability and leveraging power is a tried and tested negotiation method. In other words, there is also the possibility that forthcoming statements could be mere bolstering to improve Iran's position before the start of negotiations with the US.

This is one area which Ahmadinejad has no control over. In fact, negotiations with the US may make or break his presidency.

Until now, the supreme leader has offered unprecedented support to Ahmadinejad. However, new events on the ground may mean that for the next elections, matters may not be entirely in Khamenei's hands. The election of Barack Obama and his offer of unconditional talks with Iran have created new challenges for the supreme leader. With such a popular president at the helm in Washington, shunning America could be a costly mistake.

Khamenei realises that during the expected negotiations, Obama would prefer a reformist resident of the presidential office in Louis Pasteur Street in Tehran. This is why he is waiting to negotiate with Iran after the Iranian presidential elections. He does not want to improve Ahmadinejad's chances.

Although the supreme leader is under no obligation to compromise with Obama, shunning the US president would be damaging, both diplomatically and economically. Realising that the re-election of Ahmadinejad may be interpreted as a rebuff in Washington, it is very possible that Khamenei may decide that Ahmadinejad's removal may serve his interests far more than keeping him as president.

On nuclear technology day, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could try to take all the glory for Iran's nuclear programme. Despite that, the day after Iran's presidential elections, he may find himself the most prominent victim of the "Obama factor".


Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Christiane Amanpour’s E-Ran


http://courseweb.hopkins.k12.mn.us/mod/resource/view.php?id=13385

Last year, CNN.com ran a hilarious TV marketing campaign, placing CNN's on-air talent in Spinal-Tappish situations. It's nice to see CNN let down their hair a little.

Here’s hoping we all let our hair down a little as well, before we get down preparing for the AP Test (s), 31 days away as of last Friday.

We will start Amanpour’s birthplace – E-Ran ­­on Thursday. Attached here are links to great review sites for both the Comparative and American Government tests. During the last two weeks of class, we will use the review format from the Hopkins High School (MN) site.

Go to: http://courseweb.hopkins.k12.mn.us/course/view.php?id=434
and focus on the FRQ Writing Guide under General Course Documents, as well as the Practice MCQs & FRQs and the Election Systems Review Chart

Follow the blog regularly for other links and posts to review for both tests on May 4.