Check out this awesome write up on the great work our fellows are doing throughout Long Island in the Merrick Herald!
By: Scott Brinton
The seniors in Kara McManus’s Advanced Placement government class at Kennedy High School in Bellmore were seated in a giant circle, just talking. No arguing, just talking.
The emphasis on talking is important. The students had gathered on Oct. 22, nine hours before President Obama and Governor Romney were set to spar on foreign policy, in order to discuss national security, free trade and climate change. But, unlike the presidential debate, with its emphasis on the divisions between the two candidates, these young people had to work in earnest to reach consensus on the most critical issues affecting the United States today.
And, after more than an hour and a half, the dozen and a half students came to agreement on a number of issues, while on others, they respectfully agreed to disagree.
The forum was one of dozens that Hofstra University is hosting at schools across Long Island in a program that is running in tandem with Hofstra’s town-hall presidential debate, which was held on the Hempstead campus on Oct. 16. The project is called Long Island Deepens Democracy Through Deliberation, and is administered by the university’s Public Policy Institute, of which former Mepham High School social studies teacher Bernie Stein, of Merrick, serves as associate director.
Karen McGuiness, Kennedy’s social studies chairwoman, said Hofstra has held a number of issues forums at the school in recent weeks, and she said, “We’ve been really pleased with the deliberative process.”
Stein said he is working with Hofstra history professor Michael D’Innocenzo, the Harry H. Wachtel distinguished teaching professor for the study of nonviolent change, and Hofstra’s Center for Civic Engagement on the L.I. Deepens Democracy project, which is grant-funded. The Kettering Foundation developed the deliberative format employed during the forums, and the National Issues Forum supplied the nonpartisan research material that students use to help formulate their opinions on the issues.
Etana Jacobi, 22, of Hooksett, N.H., who is the Harry H. Wachtel Leadership Scholar at the Center for Civic Engagement, and Kayla Rivara, 21, of Shoreham in Suffolk County, a Hofstra senior majoring in political science, led the Oct. 22 forum at Kennedy High.
And, while the discussion got heated at times, it never became overheated.
Kennedy senior Marc Tawfik, 17, said government must protect citizens from terrorism, but must do so without impinging on their civil liberties, and that, he noted, is not always possible. “In protecting itself against threats,” he said of the U.S., the country “became more constricted.”
Classmate Cory Azmon, 17, said that the more than $750 billion the U.S. spends annually on the military may be too great a price to pay. Military spending, he said, “is a little excessive when we have allies that will protect us.”
Senior Kaela Feit wondered whether the U.S. has too many weapons. To a number of other nations, she said, “It looks like we’re stockpiling weapons for some action against them.
“We’re not a police force,” Feit later added. “We’re a democracy.”
A number of students said the U.S. should work through the United Nations in a multilateral approach to world peacekeeping. “Diplomacy should always be the first option,” said Sara Bigman, 17.
Feit said she believes “there is never going to be an end to the war on terror.” Containment is the only real possibility. By working together with other nations, she said, keeping the terrorists at bay is made far easier than if the U.S. were to go it alone.
Perhaps the presidential candidates could take a lesson or two from the students in the L.I. Deepens Democracy project.
For more on the project, check out lideepensdemocracy.wordpress.com.
Deepening Democracy Through Deliberation 
NICE GOING, EGJ !!!!
Michael D’Innocenzo
Professor of History and The Harry H. Wachtel Distinguished Teaching Professor for the Study of Nonviolent Social Change
Acting Chairperson, Advisory Council, Hofstra Center for Civic Engagement
300 New Academic Building
Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York 11549
(516) 463-5606
Michael.Dinnocenzo@hofstra.edu
________________________________
Last week on 12/11/12, about 70 students at the Wheatley School had a National Issues Forum on immigration. The topic was very eye opening and interesting. It was something I never gave much thought to in my everyday life. The packet we discussed in the forum really changed my whole perspective on immigration issues.
Last weeks forum was an eye opening experience. Last week, about 70 students participated in a National Issues Forum on immigration. I was in a group of about 25 students, where we discussed the various options provided by our issues guide. Although only a few people were the key speakers in my group, everyone who attended felt in a political mood later in the day. Immigration is complicated issue, and the Issues guide helped provide the needed information in a clear, concise format. Since this issue is quite complex, a solution may not arrive in the short term. However, it is still an important issue to discuss and focus on.
The program was really informative and alarming. It helped me realize that this is an issue thats going to continue to rise. I began to understand a little more how the immigrants felt and how difficult it actually is to get a green card in the United States. This program helped educate me not only in the group, but in the movies and presentations in class.
Last week on 12/11/12, about 70 students at the Wheatley School had a National Issues Forum on Immigration. This issue is very important, especially today, with such great numbers of immigrants pouring in to the US both illegally and legally. We discussed stricter enforcement of immigration laws, tightening up borders, as well as the dilemma of what to do with the present illegal immigrants in the US. Some students wished to completely rid illegal aliens and deport them back to their home countries, while others took a moderate approach and wished to make them all legal and avoid future illegal aliens from entering the country. Although it was hard to reach a commonground, some points were agreed upon while others disagreed upon as this is such a huge topic of discussion. The forum was very well setup, with moderators encouraging every participant to share their opinions. Receiving and reading the booklet beforehand helped guide the discussion and allowed students to be knowledged enough to lead and discuss the issue.
I realized how important this topic is and how it effects both us and the immigrants. I enhanced my knowledge not only in class by my teacher but also by books, movies , articles, and presintations held in the school issueing this topic. I came to realize that people in different countrys that come here to seek a new way of life come here because where they come from it is not only a struggle but also dangerous. Even though most people living here do not like the fact that these immigrants or they so call aliens are here , they have to understand they are working the jobs here that no Americans want to work. For example gardening or painting. Even though these immigrants are here illegally , they are a huge help to the American society.
I felt that the forum was run extremely well. I found that everyone in my group was able to share their thoughts respectfully as well as respect others’ thoughts. My mediators ran the forum well and made sure that everyone’s thoughts were shared in an organized fashion. However, I felt that it might have been better if there was only one mediator participating in the forum. At times I felt that having two mediators was a bit of a distraction as they kept talking about who would share or introduce the next idea etc. But I definitely wouldn’t go as far as to say that this ruined the forum or anything. I still felt it was extremely interesting and successful. Some of the students definitely felt a bit unprepared and unknowledgable as they entered the forum, however, by the time they left I’m sure this changed for everybody in the room. The booklet we had previously been given definitely assisted everyone to stay on track and on task. I like how the booklet was split up into three choices as well. This called for, once again, a nice, organized discussion. In terms of the issue itself, I learned a lot about the idea of amnesty, which I hadn’t known much about beforehand. Essentially, the forum once again emphasized the major issues of immigration that we suffer from right here on Long Island. The forum emphasized the idea that it is very difficult to settle this dispute and come up with one final outcome. All in all, I felt the forum was extremely successful and I definitely gained a great deal of knowledge from it.
I found the forum to be very organized due to the fact that the conflicts were placed in the front and the results were placed on the back which made it easy to understand. The issues that were discussed in the forum now make sense to me because I now understand the rules of immigration to a full extent due to the highly educated instructor I had which explained everything thouroughly. In terms of the issue of immigration, I have learned that it is difficult for everyone to agree with eachother due to there racial differences and opinions
Last week 12.11.12 several students at The Wheatley School participated in a nation issues forum on the topic of immigration. The deliberation was overall unsucsessful because no real agreement was met and no new solutions were found. The issue of immigration is a complex and challenging one to adress, and although no answers were found, everyone who actively got involved in the conversation learned something by the end.
The other day a group of scholars came into my High School, The Wheatley School. These scholars from Hofstra University were all very informative and had a great knowledge of the topic of conversation. Illegal immigration was the topic of discussion and it has greatly altered my views on the topic and made me realize this is a very big problem in the U.S. and needs to be addressed. Although it is important that we attempt to work towards a resolution, it is very difficult to do so because of the many different views of people and all of the controversy that comes along with each decision that is made.
Hello last week you came to my school, The Wheatley School, to have a issues forum. I really learned from the forum on the issue of immigration. I learned that the issue is a very difficult issue to deal with. I also liked the way the forum was run. A good sized group and just talk about practical way to fix this issue. The booklet had a great effect on the forum. I can’t speak for all of the students but I learned a lot from the booklet and learned new things that helped me be more aware of the issue. My position on the topic is still the same. I feel that everybody has the right to a happy and successful life. Most of these people coming over here are look for just that. So if the government can put a law in place to help the immigrants here see a pathway to a green card. Again that is easier said than done. Overall thanks for coming and teaching us new ways to look at the issue.
Last week on 12/11/12, around 70 students gathered in the Wheatley school to disucss the heated topic of immigration in America. During this deliberation, we ewre divided into different groups with our moderators, where we spoke collectivly on our thoughts and feelings twords different topics involving immigration. The discussion of topics ranged from anchor babies, to hiring halls, to the safety of our country and the border itself. Everyone was given a chance to individually speak their opinion about what they were concerned with. At the end of the deliberation, we were all brought back to the main room where we were originaly gathered, and were sat down to generalize what we had spoken about. After each group had sent up two people to speak spesificly about what they had discussed in their group, everyone was seated, thanked, and asked to fill out a quick survay regarding the experience. Overall, it was a pleasure to participate in, and in my opinion, was very eye opening to see how directly the immigration crisis can pertain to so many people in so many different ways.
Last week on Tuesday I participated in the current issues forum at The Wheatley School. I thought this was a great forum that helped people understand other viewpoints on the immigration issue in the U.S. I heard other opinions that I never heard before and saw the problem through many different opinions. The National Issues booklet was a great addition to the forum because it provided tons of helpful information that helped expand my knowledge on immigration. The mediator was very insightful and open to everyone’s opinions. She was great at getting everyone involved and keeping the conversation moving in a positive direction. Overall I had a great experience participating in the forum and I learned a lot of new ideas.
On Tuesday, December 11th, we had moderators and professors from Hofstra discuss in groups on the issue of Immigration with students here at The Wheatley School. The moderators were helpful in stimulating discussions. All students were active participants in their opinions based on the issues brought up. Some students opinions’ were swayed from the topics brought up in the forum, and others remained the same. Personally, I think that the forum made me feel even stronger about my opinion; it didn’t change how I felt, but it made me strengthen my arguments over the issue. The forum was very productive; everyone was attentive, respectful, and cooperative to who was speaking. I thought that the moderators did an excellent job starting off the discussion with everyone stating their views on the issue. The issue guide was a great resource to refer back to on all three options that were presented. Throughout the discussion, we referred back to the issue guide to back up the arguments that were presented with evidence.
Last week at the Wheatley School the school’s Regional Studies class discussed the issue of immigration and illegal immigrants. The class had a forum based on a national issue guide that they were assigned to review and get their information from. The issue guide first talks about the general issue itself and the background story so that the readers have a general knowledge of the issue. After that it explain three options of coping and solving the promblems with this issue. By the end of reading the issue guide the reader should have new knowledge, a new perspective, and a stand point of which option they would prefer. According to me, my opinion changed as I read this guide and I had a better understanding of the issue and the viewpoints of others and where they were coming from with their viewpoints. When I thought about this issue for the first time before reading I kept thinking about the immigrants in my family and comparing these new ones to them. My grandparents came to America and as soon as they got here they were so excited to learn English, get jobs, and learn all these other new things that they wouldn’t get in their country. The new present-day immigrants are very different from the immigrants in the 1950’s. After learning more about the new immigrants I’ve come to understand why they aren’t Americanizing and I understand what the people in the towns where immigration is a big problem and this guide and this class helped me do that.
I am a student at the Wheatley School and we have recently hosted a forum.
I thought the issue book was a good aid and it gave students a decent amount of information for a deliberation. It also gave everyone a level playing field to argue valid points and come to a compromise because of the way the issue book put the opposing view of ideas right after the idea itself.
The people running the whole thing did a good job. We were able to get a sense of why the issue was important and the purpose of their visit to our school. The moderator kept the conversation going when the class didn’t have an answer to an issue or didn’t know what to discuss next. Overall the forum made the learning process easier and more personalized, rather than the tradition classroom setting where you would take notes and quickly discuss the issue.
My views haven’t really changed on the subject, but I feel that it is because immigration hasn’t affected my life too much. I’m sure in the future I will have to encounter this problem and when I do I will use the information from the forum to form an educated view on the matter.
I am a student at the Wheatley School and we recently hosted an immigration forum with Hofstra University. I thought it was a very beneficial and informative discussion and I would enjoy hosting another forum discussing other important events and topics. The information booklet was concise and unbiased, which helped everyone form their own opinion. Since we only based our discussion on the booklet, everyone was able to participate in the discussion and we could refer to the information in booklet at any time. The graphs and diagrams throughout the packet were helpful visuals to connect ideas and further prove points and opinions. We were able to discuss the various positive and negative factors involved with immigration today, and I think we were able to learn more about the topic than if we had just read and discussed it in class. The moderators helped keep us on topic and guide the discussion. They asked intelligent and insightful questions, which helped us continue the discussion. Overall, I thought the forum to be a positive learning experience and look forward to participate in another one in the future.
I am a student at The Wheatley School in East Williston and we recently held a forum on Immigration. I thought that the booklet was very useful as the base of our conversation. It made it easier to only concentrate on ideas and not argue about facts because they were given directly to us. It was interesting to listen to my classmate’s ideas about this controversial topic. Not everyone agreed, but we all remained civil. We also didn’t use the terms “liberal”, “conservative”, “Republican”, or “Democrat” which I thought was strange at first because there were clear differences between the options in the booklet that made them liberal or conservative. I didn’t understand why we would leave out political terms to describe the options listed in the booklet. As time went on, it helped the topic of the forum remain about immigration and not be a screaming match about politics. Personally, I agreed the most with Option Two, which was the one about protecting our borders. I agreed about being stricter and trying to limit illegal immigration but I did not agree about trying to limit legal immigration in general. I think that immigration, legally, benefits our economy and brings diverse cultures into the United States. I think that illegal immigration is devastating to the economy and does not benefit the United States. Learning about the length it takes to obtain a green card makes me think that the system should be altered, but I do think that immigration should happen legally. I somewhat agreed with Option three and I completely disagreed with Option one. I found that option to be beneficial to the people who are not obeying the laws of our society and coming into the United States illegally. It would only increase illegal immigration, in my opinion. Overall, I found this forum to be very interesting and informative. It gave me different perspectives about the issue that I previously did not consider. I listened to all of the viewpoints of my classmates with an open mind but have generally kept the same opinion about the issue.
I am a student at The Wheatley School in East Williston and we recently held a forum on immigration. I thought we had a great discussion and throughout this experience I gained so much. Not only did I learn things that I wasn’t aware of but I was able to hold a strong opinion after the discussion. I did have my own views going into this but I realized things that I never thought of before. I thought that the booklet was a huge advantage to our discussion. It helped us keep on track of what we were talking about and it was a perfect guideline of what topics we really needed to bring up. The booklet was just enough information and I did not think it was too long or too short. The points made were clear and one thing that really helped was that after they stated a way we could help the situation they stated the negative part as well. Immigration is not easy to deal with and most people have many different views on it. Immigration is not something that we could just leave alone. In the future, I think that it will be brought up more and more and soon enough we are going to have to do something about it. I have realized that this is an ongoing problem in Long Island and soon enough will affect me in so many ways.
Hi, my name is Jessica and I attend the Wheatley School. We, as a class, had a forum with students from Hofstra and we discusseed issues about immigration in the United States today. It is a very controversial topic we discussed, and many people had their own opinions and thoughts that we were able to share. The main issue we talked about is what to do with illegal immigrants/ who gets to come into our country. There were many issues regarding illegal immigrants such as crossing the boarders, standing on street corners of local streets, living in homes without paying taxes, and much more. All these conflicts we disucssed were real issues many faced, and we soon discovered the best ways to deal with them. To our conclusion, we said that the best way to deal with immigration was to let people into the states, but in moderation and seasonly. This is beneifical to the immigrants as well as the citizens of the United States; they are able to come when we need them to work/ do the work that many people would not want to do and not stay in the States all year round. Instead of protecting our boarders more or letting more people populate the states, this was the best solution we have come upon. The forum was a great way to listen to different opinions and learn about many conflicts we have in the United States today with immigrations.
Hi, My name is Rebecca and I am currently a senior attending The Wheatley School in Old Westbury, New York. On Tuesday December 11th, I attended a National Issues Forum where we discussed the issue of immigration. We were given a packet to read before the forum and we then were split into groups to discuss our thoughts and opinions towards this controversial topic. It was a very beneficial experience. It was also very interesting to hear the opinions of the other students in your class on this issue. Going into this dicussion, I was neutral. I was not against immigration, nor was I for it. I also did not have a lot of knowledge about this issue until I read the booklet that we were given. After about an hour and a half of discussing and hearing the opinions of other students, we came to the conclussion that although immigrants are taking jobs from native born Americans and although they are adding to the population, this country would not be able to survive without them. And even though people are frusterated towards the fact that immigrants are “taking jobs from Americans” I think that we all have to take a step back and realize that the jobs they are taking are jobs such as bus boys, or landscapers and if American’s wanted these jobs they a) wouldn’t work as hard and b) demand a higher pay. I also don’t think many Americans would chose to work as a landscaper. They would rather collect unemployment. So overall, after attending this forum I am now pro-immigration and I think this country needs it in order to survive. I think that immigration is very good for the country, in moderation.
I am a student at the Wheatley School in East Williston and we recently held a forum on Immigration. I thought that we had great discussions on whether immigration should be left alone or whether it is something that needs to be addressed. I don’t think that Immigration is something that is affecting my life in any way and I don’t see it as a huge problem or threat. What I noticed when listening to people speak during the discussions is that there was no arguing, everyone remained calm in an organized conversation. I feel after listening to what people had to say I was able to learn much more about immigration and the reasons why these people really come to the United States. The booklet consisted of three options, Option one was talking about how immigration is okay, option two was talking about how we should limit immigration and protect our borders, and option three was about how immigration may benefit the economy. I strongly agree with option one and some of option three because I do not think that immigration is a major threat to us. I feel that everyone is equal and just because these people are of a Hispanic race, they shouldn’t be looked at differently and discriminated against. If these immigrants want to seek opportunities for themselves and try to make a better living for them and their families then why not? What is so wrong with letting people who are in need of a better life into our country for opportunity? I also think that immigration does benefit our economy because these people are taking the jobs that many white civilians wouldn’t want and therefore are contributing more to the community and strengthening our economy. I feel we should let immigrants come in without so much conflict because all these people want is to come here to work, make money, and to make a better life for themselves.
I am a student at the wheatley scool that attended the forum on Dec. 11, 2012. This was a good exsperence for me and it really helped me look at immagration from all diffrent angles. The booklet that we had to read before the forum was great. It was a good way to keep us all on the same page. All of the moderaters that were in my group were very helpful and kept the coversation going and sparking with new ideas. The only thing that I thought was unnessary was how at the end we had two people from each group talked about what they learned. Over all i thought this was a great exsperence and I would like to do it again with ether the same topic or a new one.
I am a student at the Wheatley school and we have recently hosted a forum.
The Book:
The issue book was a very helpful guide that truly opened up our minds. It helped us to think deeply on the issues of immigration by trying to discuss different solutions to various problems. If not for the book, I think we would have been narrow-minded in our opinions. Most of us would probably have only thought of the first two options; 1) open our arms to immigration, and 2) protecting our borders; however, I don’t believe many of us would have thought of the third option: Allow certain people in depending on their assets and skills. With the book, I will be able to understand my point of view and help my decisions for later causes pertaining to immigration.
The Forum:
The forum was another helpful and important part of this event. With the forum, we were able to discuss not only what we thought were the only problems or immigration, but also what we didn’t think possible of an issue. With the forum, we thought deeply on every aspect of what went on with immigration. If not for the moderators, we would not have been able to open up our thoughts and have a discussion; in fact, I think none of us would have said anything at all if not for them. Because of them, we were able to have our own thoughts and feelings to immigration. They also helped us realize that not only were different parts of the world affected by immigration, but also our families, because some of our parents were immigrants, and some are still immigrants. Though I have not been a part of my group discussion as much as I had hoped to be in, the forum was an an educational and interesting forum.
I am a student at the Wheatley School and we recently hosted a forum. I liked the forum book because the information they provided us with was just enough to get to the point but, to keep it interesting without being bored. I think the book was helpful to have with us because than we were able to talk about the different sections they had in the forum book and if we forgot any information we were able to look it up to help us remember. I liked the forum, but I dont think it was necessary because we talked about immigration a lot in class and how we all felt and I felt that everyone kept repeating the same things they said in class during the forum. It was kinda like sitting in class talking about the same thing over again in my opinion. It was nice to hear what other kids that are not in my class had to say but other than that I felt it was not necessary. In my opnion people that like talking out loud and discussing problems like this than this would be something they might enjoy. I personally think that this is a problem and it will not get fixed anytime soon and that stinks. In the end when illegal immigrants come over they do jobs that we cant do or dont like doing. And they get the job done pretty fast because they work hard. Im still not sure what to think about this problem.
Hi I’m currently a senior at The Wheatley Schoool. Our class recently had a deliberation pertaining to the controversial topic of immigration. We discussed the pros and cons of the issue, as well as potential solutions for the future. In my group we mainly talked about amnesty, which ultimately put my opinion on immigration in perspective. The book was very benefical to myself and the group becuase it guided and organized our thoughts and ideas. As a group we agreed that this issue is extremely complex and figuring out an exact answer will be difficult, but not impossible. Personally, I believe that anyone, disregarding race and or religion, has the right to become an American citizen. Although it is essential for that person to positively contribute to our country. Once he or she becomes a legal citizen more likely than not, they will be discriminated against. As a result, both immigration and discrimination need to be both controlled and eliminated.To this end, as an American citizen, I want to see the current issue regarding immigration lessen and resolve.
I am a student at The Wheatley School in East Williston and we recently had a forum on immagration. I felt that the forum was an effective way of learning information that I had previously never experienced. By discussing a topic in this fashion, I was able to covor many sub-topics of immagration. Also, through hearing other opinions I was able to formulate my own opinion based on the complexity of the topic. The forum was not only informative, but also enjoyable. Complex topics should often be discussed in a forum.
Dirt Nasty
Hi. I’m a Wheatley student and our school has recently hosted a forum discussing immigration. Immigration is highly complicated issue and each student came to the deliberation with a varying background and knowledge on the topic. The booklet was important in the talks because it limited our information from unknown outside sources that could have prevented us from reaching common ground about the booklet options and straying from the topic. How the discussions were carried out between students was done we respect for each other and the very crucial topic. Our moderator was a key to the flow of our discussion because when our group hit a block the moderator would pose questions to re-simulate the conversations. Overall it was FUN. -SF
Hello humans, I am a member of the Wheatley school. I felt that the forum was rather enigmatic. The dogmatic views of my colleuges were fervent. the forum was great. I had mad fun. haha.. I hope to one day become a philanthropist. good day sir.
Hi, I’m a wheatley student , we recently had a deliberation on immigration held. I feel as if the forum was really interesting ,and it was an effective way of discussing the topic. It was a really good learning experience because everyone expressed their views. The issue book I think opened the eyes of many students because I don’t think we all knew the troubles that immigrants faced. I think this was a big eye opener to a lot of the students we all got to express our views on the topic and saw what our peers thought of this. Over all I believe this was good that we had this deliberation.
I am a student at The Wheatley High School, where you guys hosted the forum. Before I even attended the forum, I was for immigration. I believe that immigration is a staple part of our economy and that our country will fall apart without immigrants. When discussing about immigration during the forum, I had the impression that you guys were pro-immigration as well. The group discussions were very helpful and useful because it reminded me why some people were against immigration and that they had good reasons to do so. This was a new experience for me and I hope to do it again with another topic one day.