Recent Oxbridge Group Discussions:
15/9/09 - Discrimination in University Applications
Read the
article by Caron Murphy
1.
What is the issue?
2.
What is the author’s view?
3.
What are the main reasons used to support
this conclusion?
4.
What is the “formula” being used by some
universities?
5.
Does this formula discriminate against
independent school applicants?
6.
What is the justification for such
discrimination?
7.
What other injustices could be tackled by
“reverse discrimination” or “affirmative action”?
29/4/09 - Boris Johnson on Labour's "demented" education
policy
Read the article by Boris Johnson
Listen to the discussion at 0709 on the Today Programme 24/4/09 (available
for 7 days)
What is the difference between poverty and inequality?
If the country as a whole has become richer, why should we worry about
inequality?
Does anyone really need to be paid more than £100,000. If not, should
we cap salaries?
Is it fair that some universities appear to be discriminating in favour of
state school applicants?
Are grammar schools the answer?
Why have A Levels been dumbed down?
24/3/09 - A Right to Privacy?
Read the article by Mariella Frostrup in The Guardian
What rights do we have and where do they come from?
Do we have a privacy law?
What was the argument made by Gerry McCann?
What was the argument made by Max Mosely?
What other examples of press intrusion can we think of (Samantha Cameron, Euan Blair, Princess
Diana, Jade Goody)?
What principles can be established from what we think of these examples?
(e.g. is it a public figure, is there a public interest, has the person
previously courted publicity?)
Who is David Davis and why did he resign his seat?
What was the disagreement between Davis and Jill Saward? (CCTV, DNA
Database, ID Cards)
Is it reasonable to argue that only people with something to hide have
anything to fear?
What examples are there of technology leading to less privacy (e.g. Google
Street View, NHS Database)
17/3/09 - Aid for Africa
Read the article by Niall Ferguson in The Telegraph
Watch the Intelligence Squared debate - Is aid for Africa doing more harm
than good?
Where has all the money ($600bn over 45 years) gone?
What good has aid money done?
What harm has aid money done?
Could the aid system be reformed? If so how?
Is it true that aid for Africa has done more harm than good?
24/2/09 -
A Recipe for Creating
Terrorists?
Read the article by Seumas Milne in The Guardian
Listen to the item from
7.15am on the Today Programme 16/2/09 - Richard Watson explains the
government's new approach to combating radicalism in Britain
(the article and audio clip are available on the school network)
Questions
1. Jacqi Smith (who is she and why has her "second home" been a source of
recent controversy?)
2. Geert Wilders (who is he, why has he been refused entry to the UK, should
he have been refused entry to the UK?)
3. Abu Qatada (who is he, why does Jacqui Smith want him deported from the
UK, why has he been awarded compensation, why do some people argue that he
should not be deported to Jordan?)
4. Is Racism Illegal?
- What are the blasphemy laws and when were they last used?
- What does the Race Relations Act cover?
- What is the more recent offence of "incitement to religious hatred"?
- To what extent do these offences limit freedom of speech?
5. Audio Clip from the Today Programme (what is the new approach and is it
discriminatory?)
6. Article from the Guardian:
- Why has Guantanamo Bay been controversial?
- What is "extraordinary rendition"?
- What does the author believe will be "the bitter fruits of this
imperial war" (para 10)?
- What is the Tebbit cricket supporter test?
- If we accept the author's reasoning that current policy is
problematic, what would be a better policy?
3/3/09 - Was George W Bush the Worst President
for 50 Years?
Read the article by Andrew Roberts
Watch the Intelligence Squared debate (if it is no longer available on the
iPlayer, this file can be accessed from the school network)
Students to discuss the merits of the following charges against
Bush:
1. Bush stole the 2001 election.
2. Bush caused the 9/11 attacks.
3. It was a bad idea to attack Afghanistan.
4. It was a bad idea to attack Iraq.
5. Bush lied about the presence of WMDs in Iraq.
6. Bush violated human rights principles in the detentions in Guantanamo Bay
and the use of extraordinary rendition.
7. Bush refused to implement the Kyoto agreement.
8. Bush blocked stem cell research.
9. Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina was inadequate because the victims
were black.
10. Bush's policies caused the recent economic collapse.
10/3/09 - Teenage Pregnancies
Read the article by Rosemary Bennett
1. Is it a good idea to spend public money trying to prevent teenage
pregnancies?
2. Has the teen pregnancy rate really risen to the highest level in 10
years?
3. What is the difference between the teen pregnancy rate and the number of
conceptions?
4. Is it clear that the government's teen pregnancy strategy is not working
(para 7)?
5. What is the evidence that the government is actually making the problem
worse (para 8)?
6. What is the government's response to these criticisms?
7. If Britain has the worst figures in Western Europe, does it follow that
British teenagers need more sex education?
8. Current government advice is that parents and teachers should not seek to
"impose" their ideas of morality on teenagers. Is this guidance
sensible?
9. The spokesman for the YWCA (para 11) argues that more needs to be done to
tackle the causes of the problem which means that Britain has the highest
incidence of teenage pregnancies in Western Europe. How could we
discover what these causes are?
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