GOVERNMENT+1

Government 

//**In __Brave New World__:**// Our government today...: //**
 * The World State depicted the role of government. It conditioned every caste system to obey the rules of their caste in order to ensure happiness for everyone.
 * The caste system was the World State's way of controlling what jobs people were allowed to have and what clothing they were allowed to wear (in order to tell them apart).
 * The World State censored all of the old books and information from the past (before Ford) to make sure that no one followed the individualistic way, which in turn went against what the World State was enforcing.
 * //
 * attempts to censor out the media to "protect" its citizens
 * tries to create unbiased discussions over the radio, tv, etc., by trying to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine
 * in this effort, they are trying to make sure that one political party is not promoted more than another

Based off what the government is trying to instill, our smaller authorities are attempting to do the same. Concerning social networks(Facebook, Myspace, etc.), employers are making decisions upon what their employees are posting online. With our own school government, we are analyzing what we, as students, have as rights and what the student council does to provide us with a safe environment.

// "I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time." // - H.L. Mencken //(US Editor)// 

Articles

 [|An Excerpt of Fairness Doctrine] by Salniker, David and Bunce, Dick. The Black Scholar//.// 2001. The Fairness Doctrine was a policy developed in 1949. It bought about the idea of censoring the media world. It required broadcasters to provide airtime to discuss controversial matters and to do so in an unbiased matter. Meaning they would have to take two opposing sides together and have them discuss matters in their own terms. In other words, the government was trying to boundaries for media and broadcasting by eliminating any possibilities of a one-sided argument. In the outcome, it controls what the media puts out on air. Does that not go against freedom of press and speech? Is the government really protecting us or are they just trying to control what we take into opinion?

[|An Unfair Doctrine] by York, Byron. National Review. July 30, 2007. A history of federal restrictions on radio broadcasting and how Democrats are trying to bring back the Fairness Doctrine.

[|Online Persona Undermines a Résumé] by Finder, Alan. The New York Times. June 11, 2006. What you put on your Facebook, Mysace, or Friendster may affect whether or not you get a job. [|Worries follow rise of Facebook] by Flavelle, Dana. Toronto Star (Canada). May 4, 2007. Facebook enables people to express their thoughts on certain subjects. In this particular article, it goes over how users create groups that criticize their jobs and their employers end up reading whatever is posted on the site.

[|Athletes' Web Postings Raise Alarms] by Brady, Erik and Libit, Daniel. USA Today. March 8, 2006. Facebook posts result in some students being kicked off of sports teams.

[|School Censorship] by Martinson, David L.. The Clearing House. May/June 2008. This article evaluates how a school is censored by different aspects such as peer pressure, the administrative hand, and unconscious self censorship. Even though the administration may be controlling how students act, do we (as students) realize that we can censor ourselves and/or our peers? [|Student Rights] by Mount, Steve. July 19, 2007. A history of students rights and court cases when these rights are broken.

[|ACLU: protecting students] This article shows how the American Civil Liberties Union protects students all over and must provide them with a safe environment.

[|Student's freedom of speech.] by Levin Becker, Arielle. The Hartford Courant. 02/01/2009. What rights do kids have as students? This article covers the topic of whether schools should be able to discipline students for what they say out of school

RSS Feeds

1. [|Artists Against Censorship] This article gives light to an organization that is dedicated to defending an artist's freedom of expression.

2. [|Chinese TV Censors Part of Address by Obama] by Wong, Edward and Ansfield, Jonathan. The New York Times. January 21, 2009. Chinese Communist Party censors out parts of Obama's Inaugural Address concerning communism. An example of censorship outside of the U.S. that deals with broadcasting censorship.

3. [|American Media Censorship and Israel: Please Get the Word Out] by Schneider, Mark. Palestine Chronicle. March 19, 2002. Examples of a reporter's experiences concerning media censorship and how U.S media fails to report what goes on in Iraq accurately.

4. [|Tamer ‘Rent’ Is Too Wild for Some Schools] by Healy, Patrick. The New York Times. February 19, 2009. California high school puts on production of __Rent__. High school officials and parents felt that it was too wild for a high school to preform on stage. Administrators in other schools that planned to put on same performance canceled shows in order to censor it from public eye.

5. [|The Role of Censorship In School] by Petress, Ken. Journal of Instructional Psychology. Sept, 2005. This article covers several examples of administration decisions based on school censorship. <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">

Videos

//Student Council Interview//

media type="file" key="Movie 169.mov"

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Links <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

1) [|Congress Wants To Monitor All E-Mails, IMs, Etc.] The government wants to bring the Safety Act back into play. It was denied in 2006 because it would be a violation against privacy and freedom of speech. A post about the Safety Act and how Congress is thinking whether they should accept or deny the act. 2) [|National Coalition Against Censorship Official Website] The NCAC fights against any censorship that goes against the First Amendment. They report any events of censorship and provide support for people that are fighting it.
 * Miscellaneous:**

3) [|Ask Sybil Liberty About Your Right to Free Expression] Frequently Asked Questions concerning the right to freedom of expression.

4) [|Ask Sybil Liberty About Your Right to Privacy] Frequently Asked Questions concerning the right of privacy.

5) [|Does What Happens in Facebook Stay in Facebook?] A video about Facebook's history and what they do with posted information.

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Questions <span style="font-size: 140%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;"> to Think About

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1) How would society be different if Congress had the power to read our emails and online conversations?

2) The media is already being censored by the government and other beings of authority. How would broadcasting and other types of media be different if certain information was not cut out?

3) What would it be like if people were punished for negative comments people choose to say outside of school or the workplace? <span style="font-size: 140%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">