Indiana Capitol Forum

Class Statements 2010

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School: Covenant Christian H.S.

Teacher: Yvonne Thompson

Class Statement: America is struggling economically, and cannot afford to police the world on her own. We need a clear exit plan for Afghanistan, and help secure stability in Pakistan; however, these must be accomplished multi-laterally. Our nation’s budget cannot sustain long-term military spending in Afghanistan, so we must work with our allies and through the UN to decrease the terrorist threat there and elsewhere. We need to de-escalate our global military presence, which has created anti-American sentiments in nations such as Iran. We must also police ourselves in reducing nuclear weapons before mandating to North Korea and Iran to ban the development of these weapons in their nations. We need to be less reliant on foreign oil, and should invest in green technology. Federal money must also be spent on educating and equipping our young people. This will help us compete for jobs in global markets, spur innovation, and close our multi-billion dollar trade gap with other nations. Once our own economy is stabilized, we can work internationally to help combat AIDs and human trafficking in developing nations.

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School: Frankton Jr/Sr High School

Teacher: Kevin Cline

Class:

Class Statement: We, as a team, believe that the United States must realize that its place in the world is part of a global collaborative team. We believe that this would lead to a new paradigm of American involvement in the world, visualizing ourselves as part of a group effort to improve the global community. In fact we elaborate to suggest that global cooperation is imperative to the continuation of the advancement of global society.

The issue of global cooperation is, however, an umbrella term, sheltering four crucial subtopics: promotion of civil liberties and rights in all countries; recognition of environment challenges and the need for a global effort to meet them; the encouragement of fair economic policies in all countries; and the recognition of the ongoing threat of nuclear proliferation.

We believe that every human being, regardless of their human characteristics (race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.), deserves access to basic human rights, including freedom, a say in their government, and an acceptable standard of living. Additionally we believe that, without an immediate global effort to answer the challenges of the environment, the world is on a course for disaster. Efforts should be focused on conservation and the eradication of practices which introduce pollutants into the atmosphere. We also believe that American policy must recognize the important role that money, for better or worse, plays a role in the world, and therefore must implement, and promote globally, fair economic policies to help avoid potential global conflicts. Finally, our fears of nuclear proliferation are of the obstacles that it provides to global cooperation, and how those obstacles could present threats to our future.

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