Nebraska Capitol Forum

Class Statements 2008

 

School: Ashland-Greenwood High School

Teacher: Brian Petermann

Class Statement: The class at Ashland-Greenwood High School has collectively decided that our foreign policy should consist of protecting our homeland. The United States should be a non-interventionist country, because the presence of out troops in other countries creates hostility, resentment, and unintended consequences. For example the United States bombed Iraq for ten years and Al-Qaeda retaliated by attacking our country on 9/11. The United States should fix the problems in our country before they worry about fixing problems in other nations. In 2005, the most devastating hurricane in history struck New Orleans and other regions of the Southeast United States. The Federal Government promised the help of FEMA to aid those who were suffering. However, FEMA was slow to respond and left unsatisfying results. Two and half years later there are still many people who have not been helped by FEMA. This problem could have been avoided if the government’s attention wasn’t in Iraq. The government sent millions of dollars and thousands of troops to Iraq to help them rebuild their country, when the citizens of our country are struggling. Our economy is less than perfect in today’s age. Gas prices are soaring, causing the price of everything else to increase. Families are loosing their houses because they can’t afford to make the payments. Our economy is sinking farther and farther into recession, but our government is still focused on Iraq. We need to gradually pull our troops out of Iraq and other countries, and focus our time and money in our own country.

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School: Bellevue West High School

Class: 21st Century World Studies

Teacher: Kratina, Robin

What specific international issues did your class discuss? We began our semester taking the surveys and doing in-class exercises with the values. Then we spent time learning deliberative discussion behaviors. We discussed daily events, locally, nationally and internationally. Our first Choices unit was the Genocide unit. We then created our own “forum” on the five themes of Capitol forum. The class was divided into five groups; immigration, trade, terrorism, nuclear proliferation and environment. We became “experts”, presented our topics, worked at making sure our values and out statements were not in conflict then we created future fives for all themes. We used the “U.S. Role in a Changing World” as a model for our whole class deliberation of the themes.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? 3) Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? We feel that all of the themes are interrelated. So we answer question #2 and #3 together. We probably didn’t to begin with, but after studying them in our small groups and writing future fives we now feel that any decision on one theme, impacts the others. Nuclear proliferation of course makes us the most uneasy because the world is so unstable. But issues like trade and environment quickly move to the top of the list because we feel if we tackle these issues it could lead to stabilizing economies and countries that become trade partners and have common goals like environmental improvements would then be able to work together on more sensitive issues like nuclear proliferation and terrorism, also by improving trade relations and finding common goals will eventually lead to improvements in immigration issues.

Class Statement: We, the students of Bellevue West High School believe the world is unstable as a result of a lack of cooperation and trust. Historically, the world has been ruled by a few countries that have amassed economic wealth and military might. We have reached a point in the history of the world where there may be some change in economic wealth and military might. This is an unsettling time. We believe that we need to build a more cooperative world keeping a close eye on protecting the U.S. global interests.

Supporting and helping to strengthen and reorganize the United Nations is essential to our class statement. We want to build international trust and cooperation. We want legitimate governments to work together and bring rogue and terrorist governments into an organization of cooperating countries.

Thinking about nuclear proliferation we recognize that nuclear arsenals exist and the presence of these arsenals send a message to rogue states that they too need to build a response to these weapons. We believe that the world’s superpowers need to cooperate in sending the message that the Cold War mentality of “having more than you enemy” was fruitless and not worth pursuing. Learn from our misunderstandings. The United States should lead the way in talks and negotiations on nuclear arms controls and regulations. Having said that we believe that leading in negotiations does not mean completely disarming, rather we would want the U.S. to assess their current stockpiles in a public manner, while developing technology as a check on other nations to keep them as well as rogue terrorist nations from attacking us.

The United Nations is the proper vehicle to attack the issue of terrorism. Terrorism is a crime and should be dealt with the rule of law. The United Nations is also the proper vehicle to use to address the underlying causes of terrorism. Working through the United Nations we hope to diffuse some of the anti-American sentiment throughout the world.

We are a country that believes in the individual’s right to be all they can be through equal opportunity. Holding strong to this value we still think making emigration unnecessary and allowing talented people who want to come to the U.S. able through an organized process is the first step to solving the immigration issues facing the U.S. The United Nations programs, supported by the U.S. should take on the challenge of world wide poverty. For immigrants who do choose to come the U.S. the process needs to be mainstreamed and functional so those who can stay do and those who can’t stay are identified quickly and helped to return home.

As a world leader, we see the U.S. using the resources we have to promote a greener world and to promote sustainable development. Our future for the environment is guided by our future of international trade. Returning to our value that all people deserve an equal opportunity, our government policy should be one that promotes new technology and entrepreneurial efforts in all nations and for all people. In the promotion of free trade we should create incentives for green technology and efforts to produce in an environmentally friendly method.

In the long term, sustaining economic growth around the world will lead to more stable countries and more individualized people. Those countries and those people will have built in incentives to want a cooperative world. They will want a world open to the exchange of ideas and people who recognizes that acting in your own self interest doesn’t mean you’re threatening someone else’s way of life.

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School: Benson High School Magnet Center

Class: AP Government and Politics

Teacher: Susan Jensen

What specific international issues did your class discuss?

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? We believe all issues are important because they are intertwined. However, there are certain occasions where some issues would take priority over others. For example, the environment and immigration are less of a priority in light of the current situation in Iraq and our personal and worldwide economic interests. Our focus on the issues will change as our situation changes.

Class Statement: Terrorism and nuclear proliferation have increased in recent years and we believe this should be one of the major focuses of the United States. As one of the leading world powers, we should work with other nations who possess nuclear weapons to keep these weapons out of the hands of terrorists or potentially hostile states.

Illegal immigration is inevitable, thus stopping it is out of the question. We believe that measures should be taken to strengthen our borders and promote legal immigration. This would help to ensure no terrorist or extremist groups gain access to the United States.

Environmental policy and economic policy must be balanced. A happy medium between economic growth and environmental protection is the only way to ensure both issues continue in prosperity. The pursuance of an alternate energy source is one of our top economic and environmental priorities.

The economy is there for the citizens and created from the driving force of consumers, thus citizens should be protected from unsafe imports. The United States has been in a trade deficit for many years and this, we believe, should be better regulated. The overall promotion of the United States economy is only natural. We certainly should improve trade relations with our partners.

Finally, the United States should, of course, promote democracy. However, we should not promote democracy in such a way as to pressure other states into this form of government. In short, we will help introduce democracy in countries that want a democratic form of government.

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School: Bryan High School

Class: AP Government

Teacher: Jim Rowe

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School: Cambridge High School

Class: American Government

Teacher: Mr. Lytle

What specific international issues did your class discuss? Immigration, proliferation of weapons, international trade, global environmental issues, alternative fuel sources, protection of the homeland/border security, America’s reliance on foreign oil.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Immigration and securing our nation’s borders – it is important for our governmental leadership to develop a viable plan of action for dealing with the influx of illegal immigrants to the nation while at the same time promoting equality and upholding the basis for which our nation was founded.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? International trade was less significant – but still an important part of America’s foreign policy development.

Class Statement: We believe that immigration and our nation’s economy should be addressed first and foremost. America needs a revamped economy to help propel us from a recession. America should also be looking closely at global trade and, more importantly, the proliferation of weapons used for terrorism. We need to delve more fully into the world of alternative fuel sources. It is also America’s responsibility to help other countries embrace a cleaner, healthier environment.

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School: Chadron H.S.

Class: U.S. History, World History, Economics

Teacher: Keith Walton

What specific international issues did your class discuss?

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they?

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones?

Class Statement: The students of Chadron High School support policies that serve U.S. interests while promoting international cooperation. We believe in free trade policies that promote fair competition, strengthen U.S. competitiveness and protect U.S. workers. The U.S should embrace agreements such as GATT and NAFTA, but work to ensure that U.S. workers are protected from unfair competition. The U.S. approach to environmental issues must also be international in outlook, with emphasis on promoting “green” economic development that will help all nations, rich or poor. We support international treaties to control the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and believe the U.S. must provide leadership and funds to prevent terrorist states and organizations from obtaining WMDs. Lastly, we favor an immigration policy that allows for temporary guest workers, but believe that the current system needs improvement. In addition, the U.S. should continue to admit individuals with special skills and advanced education to contribute to the nation’s economy.

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School: Dodge Public Schools

Class: American Government

Teacher: Mitch Hoffer

What specific international issues did your class discuss? Immigration, Terrorism, Environmental Issues

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? We believe that all the topics we talked about were important. We simply feel that Immigration and Environmental Issues affect us the most as citizens of Nebraska.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? We do not feel that any one of these issues is not as important as the next, we simply believe that we should take a more active role in issues that affect the U.S. more directly.

Class Statement: We feel that the United States is the most influential nation in the World. And with such an influence we should take a more active role in creating a better World for everyone. The U.S has the ability, wealth, power and is able to gain useful knowledge in order to make this a possibility for everyone. If our government could use its relations with other countries for the prosperity of the World we believe the possibilities are endless to what we can achieve with these topics as well as many others.

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School: Hampton High School

Class:

Teacher: Patrick Alexander

Class Statement: Cooperation is the key of our personal statement. We feel that each country needs to cooperate with each other to create stability and make our world a better place. By cooperating with other countries, this generates a network of ideas and hopefully stopping the production of nuclear weapons and unnecessary wars. This will make our world a more peaceful and productive place to live in.

We would like to work with other nations to reconstruct the United Nations’ set-up so that every country has equal say. We want all countries, especially small, undeveloped countries, to have equal say in the world’s problems. That way we can develop solutions to these problems.

Considering the Bush Doctrine is responsible for the United States being in Iraq which results in the spreading of terror threatening groups and acts all over the world. With this in mind, the Bush Doctrine should be eliminated or revised. The United States will give more power to the United Nations in order to improve relations with other countries in order to stop the spread of terrorism. We will appeal to the United Nations for help in reconstructing Iraq.

We will propose treaties to the United Nations to lessen the amount of nuclear weapons. We want to join the Comprehensive Ban Treaty and the Biological Weapons Treaty and strengthen them. Nuclear weapons will not only hurt us but will hurt the environment. The United States will join the Kyoto environmental treaty to help spread awareness of global warming and help establish solutions to this problem. We would like to establish a market for green technology to launch a competition for companies all around the world and develop new solutions.

The United States should propose to the United Nations to create a living wage in every country based on the income per capita in each country. This will help immigration because the standard of living will continue to rise in that particular country, so the citizens will not want to move to the United States. This will give more employment opportunities to the citizens already in the United States.

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School: Hastings Senior High School

Class: A. P. European History

Teacher: Robert Kerr

What specific international issues did your class discuss? U.S. trade, immigration, the environment, and nuclear weapons.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Immigration, trade, and the environment ere key issues which the U. S. needs to confront if we are to maintain our current standard of living.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? Nuclear weapons, while of concern, do not present challenges on the same level as the other three issues.

Class Statement: We believe that the United States needs to work with the world in a more cooperative manner when it comes to solving environmental challenges. This could be done by agreements between nations to share technology which allows industrial production to occur with less impact on the environment. With regard to trade, the United States should continue to promote free trade as much as possible, but hold other nations responsible for truly fair trade practices. Since immigration has ignited such heat­ed debate in our nation recently, we believe that the United States should continue to allow legal immigration, but should take strong steps to secure our borders against illegal immigration.

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School: Hemingford High School

Class:

Teacher: Dave Chatelain

Class Statement: After much debate and classroom discussion the senior class at Hemingford High School has reached the following position; the United States' immigration process needs to be more restrictive, and the illegal immigrants who are in the country need to be documented and begin work to become American citizens. Our belief is, that in order for our nation's economy to thrive we must stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our nation. To ensure that immigration is more tightly monitored, we believe it would be beneficial to institute a broad based screening process that will lead most of these applicants to the naturalization process.

While many in this country are opposed to the idea that illegal immigrants should be able to stay in our country, we realize that these people make up much of a certain segment of the workforce in the U.S. We think it would be better to turn this issue into an opportunity for all. By having all illegal immigrants register as citizens, we could help to decrease the amount of U.S. currency that leaves the country and increase the amount of taxes that would be paid by this section of the American labor force. This would be a "win, win" for our economy.

On the issue of an immigrant screening process, we believe that while our nation has always had a policy of welcoming those from around the world who want to come, it is time for us to make sure that those coming through the door will be those who will truly benefit our country and it's citizens. Our class views international business and the global economy that we must compete in as a very intense arena. As with any competition, it should be assumed that anyone chosen to participate as a prospective U.S. citizen should be able fill a need that our society has. Those American people that wish to close the borders entirely do not seem to remember that through immigration the U.S. has attained a strong work force in the past and produced some of the greatest minds in our history. By establishing a new more selective process, we would be guaranteeing that our nation could enhance its competitive edge in the competitive arena that is the twenty-­first century.

It is evident to us that ordering a mass exile of illegal immigrants would endanger our country as much as opening the floodgates to more illegal immigration would. However, by giving current illegal immigrants an opportunity to become citizens, and by creating a new system that will allow only productive immigrants to enter our country, we can once again create an immigration policy conducive to a prosperous future for our country.

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School: Holdrege High School

Class: American Government

Teacher: Chad Bailey

What specific international issues did your class discuss? Immigration, Terrorism, Nuclear Weapons, Environment and International Trade

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Immigration - the debate and reform. Lexington and Grand Island have been affected by immigration issues.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? Every issue is very important, the fact that we in Nebraska are concerned by Immigration and International Trade. Some students feel that the Environment is becoming a major issue.

Class Statement: We feel that immigration is the most important issue in Nebraska and our nation right now. The influence that our nation and government has on other nations and people is very important to the future of those countries and ours.  We are world leaders and we need to take appropriate stands on issues and work with other nations.

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School: Howells Public School

Class: Sociology

Teacher: Scott Polacek

What specific international issues did your class discuss? We discussed the amount of terrorism in our country and the world as a whole. We talked about nuclear warfare and world peace.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Immigration and the war on terrorism.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? Cooperation with the global community and the environment.

Class Statement: We believe that the US is the most powerful nation in the world and is a nation of power, wealth, and progress. Legal immigration into the US is acceptable, as long as it is for the benefit of the United States economy and her people as a nation. Terrorism is a threat to America as a country and the entire world as a whole and should be stopped by any means necessary. We do have many concerns about the environment and believe that it should be preserved and protected, yet we must put the American people first.

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School: Mercy High School

Teacher: Kim Meyer

Class Statement: The United States should focus on the sources and funding of terrorist groups in cooperation with other nations, concentrating on the struggle at home and by preventing rogue groups from gaining control of weapons that might endanger Americans. Along these lines, recognizing the danger that nuclear weapons pose, the U.S. needs to enter into stronger alliances that will curtail nuclear proliferation and prevent devices from being used against the U.S. and her allies. At home, the U.S. should pursue an open-door policy with Mexico. Documentation, assimilation, and a simplified path to citizenship should guide our nation’s immigration policy, as we continue to benefit from N.A.F.T.A. and other interdependent trade agreements. Environmentally, the U.S. should lead the way towards regulating pollution while encouraging other nations to do the same by offering favorable trade policies and access to green technological advances.

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School: North Platte High School

Class: American Government

Teacher: N. Dennis Fornander

What specific international issues did your class discuss?

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they?

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones?

Class Statement: In almost every country ranking list in every specific area, the United States is dropping. From the economy, to health, even to the infant mortality rate, the United States is constantly faring worse and worse due to many economic situations, both nationally and globally. With the national debt coming in at almost $9.4 trillion and the number rising by about $1.6 billion per day, the United States doesn’t have enough money to correct many of the issues causing this fall from grace. Changes need to be made to the national spending as well as the situations that the United States is strongly involved in so that the falling numbers can be reversed, and we can get the United States moving in the right direction.

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School: North Star

Class: Government and Politics

Teacher: Gillotti

What specific international issues did your class discuss? We primarily discussed immigration, terrorism, the environment, trade and nuclear proliferation.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? The kids seemed to view immigration and terrorism as the top issues of the times.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? The seemed less interested trade policy and didn’t seem to make the connection between trade and the other issues that we discussed.

Class Statement: We believe the primary role of the United States is to promote democratic values internationally in order to improve the safety and ability for all people to pursue happiness. This is only possible if the United States takes an active and effective role in areas key to human prosperity.

To preserve our nation’s cultural diversity it is paramount that America revises its stance on immigration to strike a balance between security and opportunity. By clearing a pathway for citizenship for illegal immigrants already here and making a more effective process of naturalization, we will be better able to maintain our nation’s reputation as the “land of opportunity”.

As one of the world’s largest consumers, America has the means to seek a progressive balance between its desires for industrial production and the need to preserve the environment, using its

Though undeniably wealthy, the US must move to ensure that wealth be justly distributed to the marginalized and the poor so that it may in turn ensure the greatest happiness for all people.

As a wealthy world leader, the United States must work to develop policies that deter support for terrorism while maintaining a military that is modernized to address the evolving threat that terrorism offers at home and abroad.

With all things considered in the international arena, the most pressing matter concerns the very existence of humanity. The mere existence of nuclear weapons increases the likelihood that they will be detonated either accidentally in mechanical failure or intentionally through terrorist theft or rogue states. Thus, it is vital that the US use its military forces to discourage the possibility of nuclear war.

As a prominent figure in the global market, and the international political sphere, the US is bound to its mission to preserve each person’s pursuit of happiness by seeking to improve the environment, immigration policy, trade policies and the deterrence of nuclear proliferation and terrorism at home and abroad.

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School: Pius X High School

Class: AP American Government

Teacher: Tom Seib

What specific international issues did your class discuss? We spent a lot of time discussing terrorism in our class. We also discussed international trade and the role of the developing nations in Asia on the world economy.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Terrorism and world trade. Our class also felt that the two were related.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? Immigration. The class felt that it was more of an American issue and less of a global issue.

Class Statement: As the youth of America and the world, we have a particular responsibility to the nation as well as the whole world. We, being the future generation, must take the issues of terrorism, immigration, global environmental problems, international trade and nuclear weapons head on. We are a world power and we must use our position to our advantage by not only doing things where our nation will prosper, but also where the whole world will prosper from them.

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School: Platteview High School

Class: AP American Government

Teacher: Jon Comine

What specific international issues did your class discuss? Illegal immigration, the environment, nuclear weapons, and terrorism.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Preventing terrorist attacks, unauthorized spread of nuclear weapons, rapid depletion of fossil fuels, and illegal immigration and its strain on local and state governments.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? We determined that deforestation and habitat destruction, unemployment concerns, and foreign nations' possession of nuclear weapons, while important, are less pressing than the issues listed above.

Class Statement: Moving forward in the 21st century, the United States must address several key issues regarding our future as a world power. The United States must lead the world on issues concerning the environment, such as working to prevent a global increase in temperature, destruction of habitats, and decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels. The United States must work to prevent terrorist acts while preserving individual freedoms whenever possible. In the coming years, the United States will find it necessary to regulate the flow of illegal immigration as well as placing limitations on the number of legal immigrants, in order to reduce the strain on local and state governments. Finally, the United States should strive to set an example for the world by beginning to disarm our nuclear weapons, while monitoring the unauthorized spread of dangerous weapons.

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School: S-E-M

Class: 10th-11th Grade

Teacher: Mrs. Thompson

What specific international issues did your class discuss? We discussed current U.S. policies regarding Trade, Nuclear Weapon Proliferation, Terrorism, Immigration, and Global Environment. Our class “jig-sawed” using the materials provided by Brown University’s Watson Institute, as well as research materials found by individual students. We used terms provided in materials and created our own matching activity sending students to the board and matching terms and definitions relative to each issue. Next we discussed the Options and values associated with each option.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? The predominance of our occupation in Iraq seemed to override other issues, just as it has in the media, unfortunately. We all agreed that we wish the conflict in Iraq had been handled differently in the beginning and that George W. Bush’s bulldog approach has actually created more conflict, anger and death, than a series of well-timed conferences, trade agreements, and treaties regarding reciprocal benefits.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? No. All issues are equally pressing.

Class Statement Students at S-E-M agree that we need more resources and attention focused on our own civil defense based on the premise that we need to be prepared for another attack. We agreed that it’s not a question of “if” but rather a question of “when” and “where.” We believe that it was not cost-effective nor “peace-keeping” to have sent troops to Iraq and has depleted valuable resources such as weaponry and 4000 lives that could be here to defend our homeland.

We also agreed that we should slow proliferation of nuclear weapons, while maintaining our ability for “Star Wars” and just streamline funds toward that. Organizing more diplomacy among nations is paramount at this time.

In today’s world, trade policy is one of the most effective methods for controlling global concerns such as human rights violations, environmental dissolution, and exploitation of people and resources. Our U.S. Trade policy must put the needs of American workers above the heartless laws of Free Trade and promote interdependence.

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School: Southeast Nebraska Consolidated High School

Class: American Government

Teacher: Peggy Williams

What specific international issues did your class discuss?

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Two issues that received the most feedback were rising oil prices and environmental issues. This is because the students live in a rural area and require vehicles to get to school and surrounding towns. The high price of oil makes living costs even higher. Environmental issues are also important since the area is looking for alternate forms of energy, and corn is particularly important in the production of ethanol.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? All issues are important to the country and terrorism is directly related to oil prices and the environment. Immigration is an important issue for the country, but it is not as much of a problem in this area of the state. Nuclear weapons are a concern, but was only mentioned by one student.

Class Statement: The Class of 2008 at Southeast Consolidated believes that the United States needs first to address problems within their borders that directly affect the lives of its citizens. Energy and environmental concerns which affect our economy need to be addressed. Once a plan for working with these problems has been formulated, the United States will be more able to work with other countries to deal with global Issues.

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School: Sterling High School

Class: American Government

Teacher: Arlo Wusk

What specific international issues did your class discuss? Responding to Terrorism, Nuclear Weapons Restrictions, Global Environmental Issues, U.S. Immigration Policy

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? Yes, Immigration - keeping track of immigrants for security purposes. Nuclear Weapons Restrictions- Must be kept in check. Global Environmental Problems- The amount we pollute our earth needs to be restricted. Responding to Terrorism- We need to find the cause of it and stop it at its roots.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? No, all are of the same importance. Each one has to do with our safety. When it comes to our safety, nothing can be less important.

Class Statement: Education is the key to keeping the world at balance. Today’s youth and the entire world can reduce or prevent certain world issues and troubles through education. The destructive powers and capabilities of nuclear weapons; the arms race; and world wide violence can be reduce and managed simply by teaching our generation. By educating the world we live in, today’s world economies can be improved. With an unbiased education citizens can be fully aware of the conflicts associated with illegal immigration.

Responses to terrorism will be made on a well based educational foundation. We, as a nation, need to educate our citizens on the rationale for our actions taken against terroristic threats and activities. Our goal should be to make the world a safer, cleaner, healthier place for all to prosper. Today’s ecologists have varying opinions on our environmental conditions. By continuing to educate ourselves we can make informed decisions to protect mother earth. This can be done by keeping ourselves informed and up-to-date on current world issues. Education is the one right that every American citizen should take full advantage of, by doing so we will become an even stronger nation.

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School: Twin River High School

Class: Government

Teacher: Ryan Sidwell

What specific international issues did your class discuss? Terrorism, Nuclear Weapons, Globalization, Environment, War in Iraq, Immigration, Illegal Immigration, and International Trade

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? We believe that Terrorism and Nuclear Weapons are more important, because they seem more threatening right now.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? We don’t feel trade is very important. Don’t get us wrong, trade is essential to our economy, but there just seems to be more pressing concerns to America right now

Class Statement: “We have all the right pieces, now just the process of putting them together.”

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School: Wilcox-Hildreth

Class: American History

Teacher: Ken Meyers

What specific international issues did your class discuss? We have discussed immigration policies, (U.S. borders, immigrant workers in Nebraska especially in the meat packing industry and the economic impact it has on Nebraska), terrorism, (role it has played on lives of Americans, impact on students own personal lives, fighting in Iraq. Also discuss the nuclear issue while discussing terrorism, dirty bombs, etc.) We also discussed trade and with the high grain prices in the U.S. the impact this is having of other countries since U.S. food is no longer as cheap as it once was.

Are there issues that you agreed are important? If so, what are they? The issue of illegals and the impact both positive and negative they have on Nebraska and the United States. Students were concern about the cost to prevent illegal immigrants from getting into the United States and what the economic impact it would have if it was possible to deport all the illegals from the United States because of the number of jobs they currently hold.

Did you agree that some issues are less important? If so, which ones? The class felt all issues are important. However, even though StratCom is located in the state, the fear of nuclear weapons would rank as less important.

Class Statement: As leader of the free world, we have a responsibility, as the most powerful nation, to work together to solve these major issues. Immigration is a growing problem that will only be solved through tighter border security and enforcing stricter laws. By securing our borders we will help stop terrorism in our homeland. We realize that we cannot “bully” other nations because of the effect it would have on our economy and trade. We are still an interdependent nation. We feel that rogue nations like North Korea, Iran, cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons. By stopping the nuclear threat, we will also stop the impact which nuclear weapons have on the environment.