| Be
sure you also consider the following regarding the non-scientific
and non-technological aspects of your issue as you prepare your presentation.
Recognize
that none of these aspects of the issue can be considered in isolation.
It is your responsibility to prepare a presentation that shows the diversity
of opinion surrounding the issues selected, how it has developed, and
what an engaged community should be doing to address the issue.
Politics:
Webster's definition
of politics is the art and science of the government of a state or the
opinions principles or policies by which a person orders his participation
in such affairs and finally scheming and maneuvering within a group.
For your topic consider
the political ramifications of the issue.
What state, local,
or federal laws deal with the issue selected?
Is there a clearly
Democratic, Republican, or Independent view on the issue?
If so, what is
it?
Economics:
the study of the
way in which natural resources are used and how the wealth they produce
is divided and of the application of the underlying principles to the
needs and prosperity of society
What are the economics
of your issue?
How
much money has been invested in the development of the technology regarding
the issue?
Who invested this
money?
What Federal agencies?
What corporations?
What individuals?
What return is expected?
Here are some specific examples of the types of information that will help
put your issue in context.
- How many dollars
have been spent on the issue in comparison to this year's national defense
budget?
- How many dollars
have been spent in comparison to monies invested for education this
year at the state, federal and local level?
- How much has been
spent in comparison to the FGCU total annual annual budget?
In order to show the
complexity of economics and the variety of resources we use to finance our
projects, I've looked up some comparative budget items to get the
conversation started:
| Item |
Cost |
Source |
United
States Total budget Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 projected
U.S. Dept of Defense FY 2007 (base projection)
U.S. Dept of Education FY 2007 (projected)
U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services FY 2007 (projected)
U.S. Consumer spending on Pets in 2005
|
$2,582
billion ($2,582,000,000)
$47 billion
$54 million
$70.6 million
$36.3 Billion (according to a News-Press Jan 6, 2007 story)
|
GPO
Summary tables
Dept.
of Defense budget page
Dept.
of Education budget page
Dept.
of Health & Human Services budget page
American
Pet Products Manufacturers Association
|
| |
|
|
State of
Florida (proposed FY 2007)
Education
Health
|
$70.8 billion
$23.8 billion
$2.36 billion
|
Bush/Jennings
Policy and Budget Recommendations
Bush
Jennings Recommendations table
|
| |
|
|
| Lee County Budget* (FY 2005-2006)
Education (School board is separate from Lee County)
Health and Human services (of Lee County Budget)
* budgets for the cities of Sanibel, Cape Coral, Fort
Myers, Fort Myers Beach, or Bonita Springs are also separate entities
. |
$585.6 million (operating budget- does not include >$400
million in capital improvements)
$1.57 billion total (includes General, capital, Debt, Food and
Internal services.
$710 million General Fund)
($410 million from local- rest Federal and State)
Lee County Public schools cost about $2.9 million per day to
run.
$20.6 million
|
Lee
County Budget FY 2005-1006
Lee
County School Final Budget 2006-2007
News-Press story Dec 27, 2006
Lee
County Budget FY 2005-1006
|
| |
|
|
FGCU operating budget (2005-2006)
Salary and benefits
athletics
|
$97,047,313
$48,459,396
$2,872,000
|
FGCU
Trustees Agenda item #6 Sept 2006 |
| |
|
|
| Video game software sales in the
U.S. in 2005 |
$7 billion |
Entertainment
Software Association |
| |
|
|
Religious:
man's expression of
his acknowledgment of the divine a system of the beliefs and practices
relating to the sacred and uniting its appearance in the community.
Are there particular
religious groups that are opposed to or in support of the issues in
your group?
Which?
Why?
What grounds do
these groups use for their claims?
What is the evidence
in support of their position?
Cultural:
relating to culture
the training and development of the mind, the refinement of taste in matters
acquired by such training. The social and religious structures and intellectual
and artistic manifestations that characterizes society.
What is our society's
opinion of these issues?
Are there different
cultures within our society that have a different opinions of the issue?
Consider another society outside of the United States; do they have a
different opinion about this issue?
What is it?
Why might their opinion
be different?
What
do YOU use to help you decide what to do, believe and support or oppose?
When you compose
your presentation consider specifically how you might appeal to our emotional
mind to take the same and opposing stance as you do on the issue.
|
