CONTEMPORARY ISSUES – JOURNAL ENTRIES
Spring2010
Journal Entries (JE) must be a minimum of 3 lines of writing in complete sentences (unless otherwise specified), and are worth up to 3 points for each entry. Since you are given in-class time to work on these each day, they
will only be accepted for up to one week after their due dates.
3rd Quarter
In progress – not yet collected
2/22: What is the purpose of the Olympics? Why do you think countries want to participate in them? Explain.
3/1: Do you think many people felt that Saturday’s tsunami warning was a false alarm? Do you think people will take tsunami warnings less seriously in the future? Explain.
3/2: Results of Pres. Obama’s health physical were in the news yesterday. Why do you think countries and their leaders might be interested in the health of another country’s leader? Explain.
3/3: Do you think there is a need to keep the Postal Service in business, or is this an outdated service? Explain.
3/4: Do you think we are prepared for a major earthquake in this area? Should we be? What, if anything, should we do? Explain.
Collected 2/19/10, will NOT be accepted after 2//26
2/3: Do you think our country should still be spending money on NASA space programs? Why or why not?
2/4: Do you think that today’s professional sports are mainly about big business and making profits? Why or why not?
2/16: There is a brewing controversy about airport body scans, that they are an invasion of privacy. Do you think people should be allowed to choose an alternative to a body scan? Why or why not?
2/18: A 12-year-old schoolgirl scrawled "I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)" on her desk. What followed -- handcuffs and a trip to a police precinct -- is raising concerns about zero tolerance policies. How do you feel about this? Did the school overreact? How would you have handled this?
2/19: Do you think 4 years of high school is necessary or to your benefit in preparing you for college, or do you feel students should be able to begin attending college after 2 or 3 years of high school if they have earned all of their credits? Explain.
Collected 1/28/10, will NOT be accepted after 2/5/10
1/25: Do you think people can learn from the mistakes of others, or do people need to make their own mistakes in order to learn?
1/26: Do you think that illegal immigration is a problem in the U.S. today? Why or why not?
1/27: Should businesses be allowed to force employees to speak English? Why or why not?
1/28: Political spinning is the term used for heavily biased portrayal in favor of a person, event, or situation. Why do you think that many people are often unaware of political spinning when it occurs?
Collected 1/22/10, will NOT be accepted after 1/29/10
1/19: For the last week, aftermath of the Haiti earthquake has dominated the news. Do you feel that people have become so saturated with these stories that interest is waning? Why or why not?
1/20: Do you think that Americans are still interested in capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden; or are we too focused on the economy and health care? Explain.
1/21: Do you think that single-sex classrooms would foster increased student achievement and higher overall grades? Why or why not?
1/22: Do you think there should be a limit to the total amount of money which can be spent on a candidate’s campaign? Explain.
Collected 1/15/10, will NOT be accepted after 1/22/10
1/5: Do you think that the media focuses too much on scandals concerning famous people? Explain.
1/6: Do you think that our society focuses more on protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens or the rights of criminals? Explain your answer.
1/11: Do you think our government “goes too far” in the interest of “national security”? Explain.
1/13: Mark McGwire admitted that he used steroids when he broke baseball’s homerun record in 1998. Should his record stand? Do you think sports or athletes are “tarnished” by such admissions? Why or why not?
1/14: When faced with pending natural disasters (such as hurricanes or wildfires), should residents be forced to evacuate? Why or why not?
1/15: Do you think that people whose homes are destroyed by natural disasters (flood, tornado, wild fire, earthquake, etc.) twice within 5 years should still be eligible to purchase insurance? Why or why not?