Maya

Maya
Cyber Defender & Databank Supervisor

Because of her unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Maya started out as a librarian. While she loved her job, she wanted to do more to help protect people.

Since Cyber Villains such as Ms. Information and Elvirus can corrupt websites and the information on them, Maya teaches people to protect themselves by using caution when visiting websites and avoiding sites that are not trustworthy.

Favorite Quote:

Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime
- Chinese Proverb

Favorite Food:

Anything chocolate

Interests:

Browsing bookstores, baking

October 28 2008

Using the Web: Researching the candidates' records

During an election race, candidates may sound like they are telling you exactly what you want to hear, trying to convince you that they understand you and your needs better than the opponent. It's important to think about the candidates as people who have a history of making decisions, and not just who they are right now.

One way you can learn more about the candidates is to research their records, including what decisions they have made, their failures and accomplishments, and where they have stood on issues in the past.

In this particular election, both the presidential candidates are Senators so their histories include voting records for many bills in Congress. You can research their voting history to get a good idea of which issues are important to them, how often they work with members of the other party, and how often they voted with or against their party.

The records can help indicate how carefully the candidates think about the issues and how willing they are to ignore party politics (disagreements between the Republican and Democratic political parties) if they feel strongly about an issue. OnTheIssues.org has information on several politicians and how they have voted on past issues.

Sometimes a candidate is new to the political scene and so might not have a lengthy record. In that case, you look at the person's entire history, which can show you a lot about a person's intentions and where they stand on the issues. This is especially important when questions about a candidate's lack of experience are brought up.

Regardless of a person's voting record or history, however, it's possible for people to change their position on an issue in the future. But you can still get a pretty good idea of what their core values are, and this can help you decide which candidate has values similar to your own.

posted by Maya
topic: Using the Web

October 14 2008

Finding Reliable Sites: Determining Political Advertisement Credibility

Election time is a very exciting time of year, where you as a citizen get to learn about where politicians stand on the issues that are important to you. Even if you aren't old enough to vote yet, you can still think about and discuss the issues with people who can vote and make your voice heard.

Election time is also a very confusing time. With everyone saying so many different things about the candidates and their policies, it's difficult to tell what is truth and what is opinion. One thing you always need to remember is that the candidates have a bias; they want to win the election and they may do or say whatever it takes, even if it's not the whole story.

One way they try to spin information to their favor is through their advertisements. There are a lot of different types of political advertisements:

  • Attack: One candidate portrays the other in an unfavorable light
  • Biographical/Record: Lists the candidate's record on where they stand on certain issues
  • Emotional: Tries to make you feel good about the country and the candidate
  • Endorsement: Another person or group shows their support for a specific candidate, political party or viewpoint
  • Factual: Lists a set of facts
  • Humorous: Tries to make the viewer smile or laugh
  • Issue: Brings up current issues in the world to show which side the candidate is on
  • Personal: Goes into the candidates personal life to make the audience relate to him/her
  • Response: Responds to another advertisement created by the opponent or by something that happened in the media recently

When you see a political advertisement, really try to think about what type it is and what it is trying to get you to believe. Try to research the facts and separate them from opinion before you make up your mind about it.

Each party will have its own bias (favoring their party's candidate over their opponent), so try to find research sources and Web sites that are non-partisan, meaning they don't support either party more than the other.

Some very good non-partisan sites include:

  • FactCheck.org - checks the factual accuracy of what is said by politicians in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases
  • GlassBooth.org has a series of questions on issues that help you to determine which candidate is closer to your viewpoint
  • VoteSmart.org has research from thousands of citizens on the candidates' voting records, campaign contributions, public statements, and biographical data
  • OnTheIssues.org - has information on every politician in every state and how they voted on a large number of issues, their political profile, and how to contact them

posted by Maya
topic: Finding Reliable Sites