Election 2008

The home stretch

As we head into the final days before Election Day, there are a lot of people talking about politics. This is a history making year in terms of candidates and early voter turnout. What are your thoughts about the election? What are your thoughts about the television and radio ads? Have you checked out the accuracy of the candidates' statements on PolitiFact? Check out the "Voting 2008" category on the NBZ and share your thoughts with other students and teachers across the Tampa Bay area.

And, don't forget to cast your vote through Kids Voting polling locations. If you are a Hillsborough County student, you will have the opportunity to vote in school. All other students can cast their votes at a Kids Voting polling location in their respective counties. If you have participated in early voting, please share your thoughts about the process.

The boys of summer head home

A bitter end to a sweet season

The Rays have had a fabulous season. Even though they did not win the World Series, the team has a lot to be proud of. Check out John Romano's article, "Rays miracle season over, but its effects will last," in the October 30 edition of the Times. If you did not read the article on October 30, you can read the article in the archives of the electronic edition or on tampabay.com. Share your thoughts about Romano's perspective and the Rays here.

Know your amendments

Be in the know.

Election Day is a week away. There is a lot of talk about the candidates in the news: national and local. Florida’s 10.5 million registered voters will vote “for” or “against” six proposed constitutional amendments. You will have the opportunity to vote through Kids Voting on November 4.

You can read about the proposed amendments at VoteSmartFlorida.org. You can search for St. Petersburg Times articles on the amendments by using the archives on tampabay.com.  Choose a proposed amendment and discuss the pros and cons of that amendment here. Do you think the amendment is necessary to be added to the Florida Constitution: why or why not?

AMAZING RAYS!

9=2!

Now, according to John Maddon's new math, 9=2! It was the bottom of the ninth, and everything was riding on pitcher David Price, who entered the game in the eighth. When Akinori Iwamura fielded Jed Lowrie's hard grounder and tagged second base at 11:40 p.m., history was made. Share your thoughts about the amazing American League Champion Series here.

School safety

Be safe

There are many examples of violence on the pages of the St. Petersburg Times. Look through today’s newspaper for examples of different kinds of violence. What are your thoughts about the articles you have found? Have you seen any violence firsthand? Do you see violence taking place on your school campus or on a friend's campus? Do you think your school is safe?  Is your school fair with its consequences?  Are there procedures the school’s staff does to make you feel safe at school? Share your thoughts about school safety on the NIE Blogging Zone.

Class schedules

Is change good?

Next year all high schools are going to a seven class schedule. Do you think you will be affected by this?  Will it help or hurt you?  Do you like your classes now?  Do you think this will eliminate some of you electives and why? Look in the St. Petersburg Times for articles about other changes that are taking place in your school and community that may affect you. Share your thoughts with other students.

Rules!

Rules and consequences

There are rules everywhere: at home, in public, at school. Every day students are required to follow school rules. Zachary Sharples was suspended for breaking one of the rules at his school. Look for other school news and issues in the St. Petersburg Times. Do these rules effect you? Do you think they are fair to the student population as a whole? Is your school district and school fair with the rules that are in place? Is your school fair with its consequences?  Share your thoughts on the NIE Blogging Zone.

Dealing with bullies

Bullies come in all shapes and sizes

One kind of conflict that can affect adults at work and kids at school or in their neighborhood is a conflict with bullies. Look in the St. Petersburg Times for an article about bullying. Can you relate to the people or circumstances in the article? Is the bullying obvious, or is it subtle? Are their bullies in your class or neighborhood? Do you find boys or girls are doing more of the bullying?  Have you ever bullied anyone or been bullied yourself? How does your school handle bullies? How safe is your campus? Share your thoughts with other students.

Hair today, gone tomorrow?

Seventh-grader Zachary Sharples loves the Tampa Bay Rays. So much so that he got a mohawk that has become the rallying hairdo for the surging baseball team. That style might be hot at the Trop. But it didn't go over so well at Lincoln Middle School in Manatee County. Zachary received an in school suspension for violating dress code. What are your thoughts about this issue and school dress codes in general? Do you think dress codes are necessary? Do you think Zachary should have been suspended for his hairdo? Share your thoughts here.

Who's afraid?

The Night Before Middle School

Characters in the novel The Night Before Middle School  by Tom Tufts express their fears about going to middle school, and even about noises in the night. Then they learn of something that really is cause for fear, an approaching hurricane. In the novel, set in Homestead, Florida, before, during and after Hurricane Andrew marched across the state, the children have to do many things to protect themselves.

Education is a way of protecting yourself. Look in today's St. Petersburg Times for stories about issues you might need to educate yourself about, to be protected, or for other stories about things you might be afraid of. How do you overcome those fears? Write your thoughts on this blog. Mr. Tufts may blog back!

Go Rays!

9 = 4

With their ALDS victory, the Rays became the sixth expansion team to win a postseason debut. After a season's worth of battling the Red Sox, the Rays are entering into the ultimate battle. The winner will have a ticket to the World Series. The losers will have a ticket home. The Rays are now headed back to Tampa to take on the Boston Red Sox in what should be an exciting series. Have you been watching the games? Who are your favorite players? If you had the opportunity to chat with any of the Rays players, what would you say? Share your thoughts about the Rays here.

Compairing news coverage

Media coverage

Follow an issue that is being reported about in the St. Petersburg Times, on television and online. Compare and contrast the coverage of these news sources. Which provides the most in-depth, accurate information? Do the media report on the same issues or events differently? Do they focus on different slices of an issue or event? Share your thoughts with other students here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

The art of persuasion

Swaying the voter

Look for articles in the St. Petersburg Times, in print or online, that focus on the elections. Identify at least two of these campaign techniques candidates or the media are using. How does understanding the techniques help people become better voters? Discuss how this information can help you and others make better voting decisions. Some of these techniques also are used in ads to make them more persuasive. Look through ads in the Times and identify ads where these techniques were used. Share your thoughts here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

Recommendations and endorsements

Endorsing amendments

Organizations and the media often recommend a candidate to voters who reflects the view of the editorial board or ownership of the organization, which implies more connection or support than a recommendation. Amendments also can be endorsed by the media or organizations. Look for recommendations in the Times, on tampabay.com and in other media. Here at the NIE Blogging Zone, discuss the impact these recommendations may have on voters’ opinions. Do the recommendations illustrate one of the vocabulary terms listed in the NIE Voting Times '08 publication?

Changing the Constitution

Amendments can be tricky

Amendments can be tricky to understand. Look for articles about the amendments in the St. Petersburg Times and on tampabay.com. Think about and discuss some of the following ideas in your journal. Do you think these amendments are necessary? Do you agree or disagree with the amendments? Should the Florida Constitution be amended on an ongoing basis? Share your insights with other students across the Tampa Bay area here at  the NIE Blogging Zone.

What issues concern YOU?

Share your thoughts

What are your thoughts about the issues below:

• War issues in Iraq
• The economy
• Health care/health insurance
• Homeland security/military defense
• Education
• Illegal immigration
• Energy and global warming
• Federal budget deficit

Do these issues concern you? Which of the presidential candidates is addressing these issues to your satisfaction? Share your thoughts here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Every picture tells a story

Look for pictures of the candidates in the St. Petersburg Times. Do you think the pictures show the candidate positively or negatively? Why might a particular picture of a candidate be chosen to accompany a particular story? What does the picture tell you? Share your thoughts here at the NIE Blogging Zone.

The candidates

Assessing the candidates

Look for articles about the candidates in the St. Petersburg Times. In your journal, analyze and evaluate the candidates’ positions on issues that are important to you. Which candidate stands out to you? Why? Share your thoughts with other students here at the NIE Blogging Zone.

The issues

The issues matter

Do you think that just because you aren’t old enough to vote this election won’t affect you? You couldn’t be more wrong! Decisions made by our elected officials today can have a tremendous impact on your future. Do you worry about how you are going to pay for college, or wonder if there will be a job for you when you graduate from high school? Do you feel safe at school, at home or while traveling? Are you concerned about the environment, individual rights or gun control? If you plan on voting, you need to be aware of how the two presidential candidates feel about these issues. If you are too young to vote in this election, you still can influence your family and friends of voting age by sharing the facts about each candidate’s views, and by letting your voice be heard on topics that concern you. NIE wants to know what you think. Share your views about the candidates and the issues here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

The funny pages

Finding a leader

Barack Obama and John McCain want to be the leader of the country. A leader is someone who inspires or guides others. Look at the comics in the St. Petersburg Times. Which cartoon character do you think would be a good leader? Share your thoughts here a the NIE Blogging Zone.

Words

Speeches, TV ads, interviews.... Oh My!

Every day, the presidential candidates unleash a torrent of words: speeches, TV ads, press releases, We pages, letters to contributors, interviews, YouTube videos. Together it forms a huge river of persuasion that can be overwhelming. Who can you believe? Do you think the media does a good job of helping citizens sort out the rhetoric? Do you think political ads are confusing? Share your insights with other students across the Tampa Bay area here at the NIE Blogging Zone.

Political campaigns

Create a slogan

Look through the St. Petersburg Times for pictures and stories about issues in your neighborhood and across the country. Create a slogan that encourages voting and changing things for the better. Share your slogan here at the NIE Blogging Zone.

Young people and voting

Increasing voter turnout

Using the St. Petersburg Times archives on tampabay.com, research the elections of 2000 and 2004. List Discuss your thoughts about the issues during these elections. Why do you think more young Americans voted in 2004? What are your predictions or the 2008 election? What can be done to increase voter turnout in 2008? Share your insights with other students across the Tampa Bay area here at the NIE Blogging Zone.

History of voting

What did you learn?

Now that you have researched the history of voting in the United States, share the information you learned with other students by blogging here at the NIE Blogging Zone.

Attention Mr. President

The hardest job in world

Have you ever thought what it would be like to be president of the United States? It’s one of the hardest jobs in the world, but it does give you the opportunity and power to change things for the better. The president is able to issue executive orders that can change some (not all) of the governing rules without the approval of Congress. Imagine that you have just been elected president. Based on the issues you read about in the St. Petersburg Times, what are the first three presidential executive orders you would give? What challenges do you foresee in the implementation of these orders? Share your ideas here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

In the nation

National news

Look through today’s St. Petersburg Times and find three articles about national issues that worry you. (Examples: the war in Iraq, global warming, education funding). Write the main idea of the article and list the reasons that people your age should be concerned about this issue. Discuss how you could enact change through the political process. Share your thoughts here.

History in the making

History in the news

There has been a lot of information in the media about the historical significance of this election. Follow this issue in the St. Petersburg Times, on television and online. What are your thoughts about the coverage? What are your thoughts about the historical significance of this election? Share your
insights with other students across the Tampa Bay area by blogging here.

What do YOU think?

Excuses! Excuses!

We want to know your thoughts about voting and the excuses young people use for not voting or even registering. Click on the comment link to begin sharing your thoughts.