On this page are the assignments for Monday of Week Four. 

DEADLINES: You should have your assignments completed by Thursday, June 10, at 7 p.m.

REMINDER: Your research paper on a social or political issue raised by Internet research is also due 7 p.m., June 10. The paper, 10 double-spaced pages, should be a well-documented work, with traditional and online sources. It should include a full bibliography. See more details at Grading.

NO DISCUSSION BOARD: To give you more time to work on your research paper, we have no discussion board forum between Monday, June 7 and Thursday, June 10, 7 p.m.

Public Records

In a democracy, government and its officials work for the people, the public. The records of government officials therefore should be public.

The public votes for – “hires” – those officials. The public pays them. The public needs to have information to judge them. The public also should have information that's available to the government, such as birth certificates, death certificates and some financial records.

Public records are the records of governments made available to the people.

Examples of public records are:

• Voting records of politicians
• Donations given to politicians
• Court cases
• Birth and death certificates
• Financial records of non-profit organizations

Many people are surprised to find how much information is available to them. They shouldn’t be. Government information belongs to the people.

The Internet has the ability to make information available as never before. Because of this, some officials would like to see access to public records curtailed.

1) To understand these issues more in depth, please read a brief presentation:

4-Public

Take some of the links from the presentation. Perhaps look up a non-profit organization you know. Check out your name at ancestry.com. (You may have to register at some locations.) Or look up a California birth certificate. Please send me an email detailing what you found.

2) I would also like you to visit an important web site that has been an early voice in keeping information free and accessible: The Electronic Frontier Foundation at http:// www.eff.org.

Please read and roam at this site and then send me an email detailing what you found. The rest of your time should be spent with your research paper. Thanks.

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