Gee, so glad the teachers get to benefit from Obama's victory. Their corrupt union helped put him in the White House.
One night's history became another day's classroom civic lesson.
Holding up the Wednesday edition of The Augusta Chronicle , Jackie Edgerton asked her Augusta State University students if Tuesday's election results amount to a mandate for Barack Obama.
The students in her introductory American government class seemed divided. On one hand, he had twice as many electoral votes as challenger John McCain. On the other, he won the popular vote by a much smaller margin.
Ms. Edgerton said she has used the presidential election as a lesson for her students.
"As a teacher of American government, you certainly don't want to pass on the moment," she said.
Wednesday, the day after the election, was no different.
Her students weighed the meaning of a landslide win in electoral votes against a narrower victory in actual votes.
"It's sad to say that the general Joe might not even know the Electoral College even exists," Ms. Edgerton said.
The students must now read local and national newspapers and political commentary about Mr. Obama's win, his plans for the presidency and the issues of having Congress and the White House run by the same political party, she said.
It's not just a lesson in college, but one in high school.
Brian Killips, a world history and U.S. government teacher at Evans High School, also used Tuesday's election as a teaching tool.
Like Ms. Edgerton, he sought to explain the reasons behind Mr. Obama's landslide victory.
"States like Ohio, Florida and Illinois, which Obama won, come with a lot of electoral votes that put him so far ahead," Mr. Killips said.
He also explained such key factors in the election as race and age.
"A lot of people thought race would play a big part of this election, but, according to the exit polls, age was a big issue with many young voters," Mr. Killips told his class.
"A lot of people think Obama's message appealed to a younger generation, like yourselves," he said.
Mr. Killips even informed his students that the reason many third-party candidates can't compete with Republicans and Democrats is that they can't generate the millions in campaign financing that the major parties can.
"I can't believe they spend all that money on TV to win an election when it could be used to help a lot of people," one student said.
"That would make you a voter who would probably support a third-party candidate," Mr. Killips answered.
Reach Donnie Fetter at (706) 868-1222, ext. 115, or Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851.
Comments
Gee, so glad the teachers get to benefit from Obama's victory. Their corrupt union helped put him in the White House.
give me a break. what an idiot you are! crawl back into your hole.
Why is someone classified as an idiot just for voicing their views ispeaka? I mean really do you believe using such immature wording lifts you to a higher level in life?
Obama's win shows that money can buy you anything in America, including the White House! Obama outspent McCain 3-1! God help us these next 4 years! I'll be saying an extra prayer for my country every day. Any why is Obama considered black? He's half-white! When Clarence Thomas was appointed Supreme Court Justice a lot of "black" people claimed he wasn't "black" because he was married to a white woman and didn't "act black". Why is it that people only consider someone of mixed race to be "black" when it suits their agenda?
No surprise that college professors are goo-goo about Obama. Maybe they will be less so when they look at their take-home pay.
Gee, addison and triscuit, you're so riled! This is an article on engaging students in our very American form of government. I think it is great that young people are getting involved more in how their country operates. They are the ones that will be dealing with issues in the near future. Couldn't you save your sour grapes for the proper forum? I would think this article would elicit responses from the students involved. It's nice to know they can rely on grown-ups for such mature postings. I guess the students could ascertain how certain grown-ups react to life as it hits them from reading your post, however. What do you think students? Time to seriously talk in civil manner? Time to keep on task about the subject? Why don't you future leaders let these people know what you think about positive discourse and moving ahead.
Great post LOBOSOLO.
Lobosolo I think I know who you are. What an awesome post. It is about young people, actually all people, being ENGAGED in the process. Feeling this time it makes a difference. We have evidence of that in a beautiful 16 year old we both know who listened and made her own decision.
triscuit...not all of us belong to the teachers' union....most of us around here belong to a professional association but very different from the "union" that you might be thinking of...lobosolo your message is what i took back to my students yesterday morning:)
lobo, it's okay for adults to chime in here. those two you called out need to be educated and people like you and me could help them if they let us. they probably wont though because their minds are already made up. still we can try. take for instance that addison asked why obama is considered black. to put it as simply as i can, he is black because he is not white. it's his skin color that makes him black. historically, it's the same skin color that put an entire race of people at a disadvantage. during the times of jim crow, no one of any shade of black was asked to fill out a questionaire before being subjected to the laws. during the kkk's heyday, no one of color was aked if he had any white in him before he was lynched. no one had to ask. the skin said it all. if there was any black in you, you were inferior and therefore black. as for the clarence thomas comment, addison is really confused. nobody ever said clarence thomas wasn't black. how silly would that be considering he's as black as chimney smoke. what they said was he was an uncle tom because he supported doing away with affirmative action.
Osama spent 750,000,000 dollars to get a job that pays 400,000 dollars. Can you imagine all the poor Augusta inner city folk that could have helped. If Osama was a white man he would have never been elected.
People....when black people are screaming prejudice prejudice then white people are screaming "get over it" we should be unified. Get a grip....you are all showing division when we should be at a place of togetherness right now. This is a milestone time for our country. The only reason people are tripping is because OBAMA is black. YES Black....white people are the ones that said one drop of black blood makes you black. In essence he is multicultural. Isn't AmeriKKKa the great melting pot???? Atleast I thought it was. Freedom of speech is good and welcomed; but honestly, now is a time to pull together and work and collectively employ some cooperative economics. Can we show the rest of the world that AmeriKKKa can work together without so much hatred, drama and discord? Wishful thinking I suppose.
The teachers are doing exactly what needs to be done. Hopefully, their students will understand the election process a lot better than some adults. Elections are always taught in school. This lesson would have been in a good teacher's lesson plan long before Tuesday night, and would have been taught even if Barack Obama never ran for president. The lesson would have still been about the process, who won, and how they did it. The important thing is that the students gain a better understanding of government. The election merely brings into focus what probably seemed like theories to the students. They can now really see and understand what they are being taught because it is relevant to them.
manifest, take the first step toward working together by dropping your own prejudices. spell the name of your, excuse me, OUR country right!
I can see why details of an election would be a good tool, but what does the fact that Obama won have to do with our electoral process.
I find it rather amusing now that Obama has been elected, the left expects those of us who didn't vote for him to sing Kubaya after 8 years of trashing GW Bush.
come on dani. you must know its much easier to learn a subject that interests you than one that does not. i commend the teachers for seizing the opportunity to teach about the electoral process while they have student's attention. sour grapes?.....jack, i agree partially with you. unfortunately GW has taken the brunt because he occupied the chair...certainly, any informed person knows you cant blame every ill of the last eight years on him, though many have...obama will take his share of blame starting jan 21. some of it will be deserved and some won't...those on the right who want to have their turn at bashing will have ample opportunity...i think you understand the fruitlesness of doing so having witnessed it as you've said, for the last 8 yrs....singing kumbaya (figuratively of course) will be much more productive than picking up your sticks and stones...don't you agree?
garcia..No sour grapes. Just wondering why it is with this election and not prior elections that it is being taught. The election process should be a required subject, not taught only on a whim. I found it a little disturbing to realize that our children are missing out on so much.
Because this election is the first to give power to the uncooruptable, the one that is without error or fault, the one that will light our lives with goodness and Hope, thats why this one is important.
christian134 - it's my view that the person is an idiot. what's the difference exactly?
D1216... you are a GD maniac. Do you actually mean to tell me that you believe Obama Osama is Christ!!! Let's just see how long it takes Osama Obama to get mired down in scandal.
Also... since this half and half has never actually acomplished anything what exactly is there to teach? He will be the most polarizing president in history and the country will be lucky to survive it. When you elect a thug... you get a thug.
WS I think D12 was being sarcastic. No one could be that stupid.
ispeakadatruth if you have to ask then the point I was making doesn't matter...:-)
The election process is always taught in the schools. It is just emphasized more during election years. It just so happens that this particular election had many twists to it that were so different from the others in the past. This was a historical election and one that will be recorded in history books for years to come. It would have been historical no matter which candidate won. Unfortunately, what some children have learned is to repeat horrible things about the candidates that could only have come directly from the mouths of their parents or acquaintances. Young children do not just come up with negative or racist comments about presidential candidates on their own. They repeat what they hear. Parents, please be careful what you say around them....it may be heard again.
And the Professor asked, Mr. President Elect Obama, "What is your experience in foreign affairs?" Mr. President elect Obama answered "Well, when I was in college I dated a French girl."
It's pretty hard to polarize the country any more than the Democratic and Republican parties have done. Saying you will do something and then doing it are two different things, and Obama is going to find that out. I think he will wind up being moderate in the end, and he won't "ruin" the country but neither will he "save" it.
This is confusing: I know a white woman that said white women that date black men are low class trash and yet claims not to be a bigot. She voted for Obama despite that prejudiced comment and had the nerve to say that white people were bigots if they didn't vote for him. Seems to me that's the pot calling the kettle black. Something tells me her vote had very little to do with Obama himself. There's racism and prejudice in some surprising places. Racism and prejudice shouldn't have a place in either party.
I know several people who voted for obama because he is Democrat. They would rather vote for _____than to vote Republican. That's a fact. Some of us vote Republican regardless of the candidate. >
Many voted for race- many more voted for the party.
I saw the covetors lining up at the chronicle for their prize...Oprah Wynfree and Spielbergs Presidential production's election day paper. With their droopy pants they came in with smiles, waiting for that day in a couple of months when Obama put them on easy street. Instead of using the punk word "word" as they used to....they high fived each other in a salute with one simple word "CHANGE". I almost lost it with laughter when i saw this....Obama the Bonobo....what do they think he was really going to do for them? Anyway, as I left the Morris corridor, I wondered how many of them were there to collect their hand out from the empty stocking fund as they bought their paper.....Gosh, I didn't get one.
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