1. Military Brass in the White House?

Fox TV News chairman Roger Ailes and his boss, Rupert Murdoch, reportedly tried last year to convince U.S. Army General David Petraeus to seek the Republican nomination for president. He apparently declined. Subsequent events have made a future Petraeus candidacy unlikely. After heading U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was named last year to lead the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, but recently resigned from that post because of revelations of an extramarital affair. Had things turned out otherwise, Petraeus might have been the first general to become president since World War II hero Dwight Eisenhower, who was president from 1953 to 1960. Other military officers who have served are George Washington, Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant. Although Barack Obama has yet to be sworn in for a second four-year term, speculation already has begun over who will run for president in 2016. Check your newspaper or online to learn who is being mentioned this early. Are any military leaders among the possible candidates? Write a summary of what you find.

Common Core/National Standards: Providing a summary of a text distinct from personal opinions or judgments; determining a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details.

2. Internment

On December 17, 1944, Japanese Americans who had been interned in camps during World War II were allowed to go home. During the war between the U.S. and Japan, 110,000 Japanese Americans were forced to relocate to internment camps in remote areas, ostensibly to keep them from spying on American activities or jeopardizing military interests. Many historians now consider this one of the low points in the U.S. record of civil rights and liberties. Learn about this chapter in U.S. history through the Internet or library resources. Then read this week’s newspapers for another example of a case in which American ideals are not reflected in the reality of events. Discuss ways to close the gap. Common Core/National Standard: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; identifying disparities between American ideals and realities and proposing ways to reduce them.

3. Subway Tragedy: ‘Nobody Helped’

Before horrified onlookers, a man was pushed off a subway platform into the path of an oncoming train at a station recently in New York City’s Times Square area — and the incident was actually photographed! Waving and gesturing, bystanders tried to stop the oncoming train, but the man on the tracks was killed. Why didn’t anyone do anything to help the victim up? That’s what many who saw the photos in the New York Post have been asking. Could the victim have been helped, or was there not enough time to act without further risk? One witness says, “Nobody helped. People started running away,” perhaps afraid of the assailant. The photographer says he fired off flashes on the camera, but the driver of the train didn’t heed the warning. “If I had reached [the victim] in time, I would have pulled him up,” the photographer said. Police have a suspect in custody, an apparently disturbed man known to vendors at the station. He has been charged with murder. As a class, discuss why you think people reacted as they did to this incident. If you were on that platform, what would you have done? Finish by checking out the newspaper and Internet for examples of heroism among ordinary people.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging in a wide range of discussion topics.

4. Tanning Teens

Teenage girls, beware! Tanning salons are being banned or more closely regulated all over the world, as evidence mounts that they may be contributing to skin cancer, especially among those 25 and younger. Laws barring teens from tanning beds have been enacted in 22 European countries and in the U.S. states of Vermont and California. One-third of Australia’s tanning-bed operations have been shut down. “We’re seeing an uptick in melanoma deaths among young women,” an American Cancer Society medical officer says, citing recent studies. In the newspaper or online, research why these tighter restrictions have been issued for tanning, and why the British Medical Journal has recommended tougher warnings on ultraviolet tanning machines. Discuss the risks as a class. Then design a poster for your school to inform people about the dangers of tanning for teens and young adults.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging in a wide range of discussion topics; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

5. Prozac in the Fish?

Everyone agrees that unused pills are a problem, but not who should pay to dispose of them. If flushed down the toilet or thrown in the trash, they can find their way into waterways. So you could be drinking water with traces of harmful chemicals. One study, for example, found the antidepressant Prozac in the brains of fish. Many communities have programs urging residents to turn in unused drugs for proper disposal. Alameda County, California, has even enacted a law requiring that drug makers pay the costs of its disposal program. In response, pharmaceutical organizations have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Oakland, charging that the law is unconstitutional and interferes with interstate commerce, which can only be regulated by the U.S. Congress. Drug companies, a spokesman has said, are “not in the waste disposal business.” As a class, discuss whether you think the Alameda law is a good idea. Then write out an idea you think would be effective for disposing of unused medications.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging in a wide range of discussion topics; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.