Communicator: [Archives] June 2004

Communicator Update: June 2004

Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Monthly Feature - Eulogies and Obituaries
2. Monthly Theme - The Judiciary: State Court System
3. Featured Grant-funded Project
4. News and Views from The Center
5. Trivia -- Judicial Judgments
6. Postscript Information

1. EULOGIES AND OBITUARIES -- The nation witnessed an historic benchmark in June with the death of Ronald Reagan, our 40th president. His passing generated much commentary and evaluation, positive and negative, on a scale reserved only for influential public figures.

Teachers and students can use these moments to judge individuals and assess their impact on the country. CongressLink -- http://www.congresslink.org -- has a lesson plan that uses eulogy and obituary to evaluate such a person, in this case Everett M. Dirksen. By working through the lesson -- http://www.congresslink.org/lessonplans/FMobituary.html -- students will understand the purposes of a eulogy and an obituary and the differences between them, identify the essential elements of both, determine which is the more authentic historical record, and be able to associate an individual's life with important historical events.

For most famous people, both eulogies and obituaries exist making it possible to apply the approach used in the case of Everett Dirksen to many others, including Ronald Reagan.

2. THE JUDICIARY: STATE COURT SYSTEM -- The United States has two court systems that are somewhat parallel. The June issue of Communicator will be the first issue of a unit on the judiciary. This unit will describe the structure of state and federal courts, help your students understand the judicial processes at the federal level, and review some of the most important Supreme Court rulings.

Since 1995, The National Center for State Courts has been featuring links to state court Web sites. Available for constituent convenience, find NCSC - State Court Web Sites, including local and municipal court sites, at: http://aboutgovernment.org/othercourts.htm.

The state court system is organized as a hierarchy and includes superior courts, which act as trial courts, and a state supreme court. Generally, judges are elected in the state courts. For additional information, statistics, and publications about court organization, find Court Organization Statistics at: http://aboutgovernment.org/othercourts.htm.

Superior courts usually function at the county level and handle two types of cases: criminal and civil cases. This lesson can be used as an introduction to civil and criminal proceedings. Students will compare the steps of a criminal case and a civil case and will analyze the differences in standards of proof in legal cases. Find Government Lesson Plans - Lesson Plan 9 at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/judicialbranch/2_judicialbranch.htm.

A case may be appealed to an appellate court if a defendant loses at trial and there are questions over legal procedures or matters of law. Whatever the outcome at the appellate court, the case may go to the state supreme court, also known as the supreme judicial court in some states. Learn more about the highest court in the state court system. Find State Supreme Court at: http://aboutgovernment.org/othercourts.htm.

As you know, our judicial system is comprised of two main court systems--the federal court system and the state court system. This Webquest will help you become adept in both of these systems and the laws on which they are based. Find A Dual Court System at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/judicialbranch/2_judicialbranch.htm.

3. FEATURED GRANT-FUNDED PROJECT

** Dirksen Center Announces Grant Awards **

The Dirksen Center will distribute $20,124 in Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grants to four projects in 2004. Congratulations to the following:

Timothy E. Gregory, Department of History, The Ohio State University, $5,700, The Ancient Roots of Democracy
David B. Holian, Center for Legislative Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, $6,500, Bringing the Legislative Process to Life for North Carolina's Teaching Fellows: The Washington Summer Study Session
Stephen Williams, John C. Stennis Institute of Government, Mississippi State University, $3,324, History of Congress
Robert Hinckley, at al., University of California, Santa Barbara, $4,600, Learning about Campaign Finance On-Line

After five years, the Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grants have been discontinued. During that period, The Center has awarded over $186,000 to fifty projects encompassing a wide range of civic education projects. In November 2004, The Center will announce a new grants program designed to improve the public's understanding of Congress.

4. NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER

** Web Suite Redesign - Part 2 **

Last month we mentioned the redesign of The Center's Web suite -- http://webcommunicator.org/site%20resources/archives/may04.htm#news. This month we want to give you a snapshot of the process we followed in this redesign. Here are a few steps we went through:

Held Brainstorming Sessions -- Together, our staff assessed the current site design. We asked ourselves what we needed to change to better meet our users' needs while meeting the organization's goals for the suite. Specifically, we looked at the purpose of the suite, the intended audiences, what our users actually look for on our suite, and site navigation.
Gathered Information -- We invited feedback from our suite visitors. We looked at how to create logical, useful navigation schemes, at web usability issues, and how to design the suite for specific targeted audiences.
Developed a Briefing Outline -- We developed a document that described the scope and specifications of the project which included the purpose of the suite, the "look and feel," navigation needs, project background, target audiences for each site in our suite, and a timeline for the project.
Developed a New Design for the Suite -- Over a period of several months, we worked intensely to create a new look and feel for the suite, reworking the suite's approach to navigation and improving interactive features. This process required clear and frequent communication and forced us to face a wide range of decisions, such as: (1) How can we make the suite redesign fit with our organizational image and dovetail with the look and feel of our new building and existing logo? (2) Will we use photographs to "personalize" the suite? and (3) How can we create the redesign so that it will be seen by the largest number of visitors as we intend it to be seen?
Tested, tested, and tested -- We have tested the site on a range of computers using a staging server during the development process to critique the suite and make appropriate changes.
Launch the Site -- The redesign of our Web suite has been a labor-intensive project, but we are 6 months ahead of our planned timeline.

The Center's redesigned Web suite was introduced to Texas teachers at the Institute on Congress held at the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library earlier this month and will be featured at Congress in the Classroom® -- http://dirksencenter.org/progcongressinclassroom.htm -- in August 2004.

We value the job our Web suite does for The Center. It's worth reviewing, refining, and redesigning it as often as we can. This redesign was driven by our vision (our staff and our users) and understanding what makes our Web suite work for everyone. Stay tuned! The site will go "live" on August 1.

5. JUDICIAL JUDGMENTS

1. Prosecutors and defendants often negotiate a ____ _______, where the accused admits to a lesser crime in order to reduce overload on the legal system.

Answers to the May issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia0504ans.htm.

Hope you have a 4th of July Jubilee! Encourage your colleagues to subscribe to the Communicator. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, contact Cindy Koeppel. Your feedback makes a difference!

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