Interest Groups

The Details: You must sign up on the assignment sheet with your topic!!! The sign up sheet is on the board and interest groups are first come first serve.

Select a topic from the list provided (these are topics that students have done in the past that have sufficient information).ALL TOPICS MUST BE APPROVED! You must sign up on the sheet in class to reserve your topic.

American Civil Liberties Union	American Indian Movement	American Association of Retired People	National Cattlemen's Beef Association
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People	Americans United for the Separation of Church and State	National Abortion Rights Action League	American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Right to Life Committee	The National Rifle Association	National Organization for Women	The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
The Christian Coalition	Mothers Against Drunk Driving	People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals	National Wildlife Federation
The Sierra Club	The Club for Growth	MoveOn.Org	Americans for Peace Now
American Forests	Lance Armstrong Foundation	American Cancer Society	Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
American Coalition for Fathers and Children	Violence Policy Center	Council on American Islamic Relations	Eagle Forum
Center for Auto Safety	American Conservative Union	Americans for Democratic Action	Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights
The American Consumer Institute	Center for Democracy and Technology	American Family Association	Emily's List
Law Enforcement Alliance of America	The Justice Project	Children's Defense Fund	Fuller Center for Housing
American Civil Rights Institute	Project Know	American Land Rights Association	Habitat for Humanity
Pax Christi USA sti USA	9 to 5.org	Alliance for the Separation of School and State	American Highway Users Association
American Legion	American Isreal Public Affiars Committee	Americans for Fair Taxation	Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Beyond Pesticide	Bread for the World	Earth Island Institute	Focus on the Family
Gray Panthers	Mothers Againsts Fathers in Arrears	League of the South	Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Breast Cancer Coalition	National Center for Fair and Open Testing	National Council of La Raza	Muslim Public Affairs Council
National Association of Evangelicals	Ocean Conservancy	OMB Watch	Pharmacists for Life International
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition	Restoring Eden	Southern PovertyLaw Center	The Sentencing Project
TASH	Sea Shepard Conservation Society	TransAfrica Forum	Taxpayers Revolution
USAction	Zero Population Group	Washington Institute for Near East Policy	Vietnam Veterans of America
Servicemembers Leagal Defense Network	People for the American Way	National Network for Immigration and Refugee Rights	National Immigration Forum
National Fatherhood Initiative	Izaak Walton League of America	Hispanas Organized for Political Equity	Farm Animal Reform Movement
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation	National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce	Friends of Tobacco	U.S. English Foundation
Morality in Media	Log Cabin Republicans	The Heritage Foundation	Propose a new one

* What is the goal or focus of your group?

* How much does it cost to join?

* What benefits do you receive with your membership?

* How many members does your group have?

* What are the important issues your group is involved in right now?

* How does your group communicate with members? Does it have action alerts?

* What accomplishments has your group made?

* What information and resources are available for members of your group?

*How old is the organization (when was it founded)?

*What is the organization's budget? Where does it get its money and what does it spend it on?

* Where is the organization based (its headquarters)?

*How does it try to reach those goals?

The PowerPoint: (No floppy disks allowed!!! Burn it to a CD, use a flash drive, or Email it to me!! Make sure your presentation works with my computer!! (Techonology is YOUR Responsibility.)

After you are done with the research, you must create a PowerPoint that explains your group to the rest of the class. You must present your completed power point.

Your PowerPoint must include the following, but can NOT be text heavy. In other words, bulleted lists are better. I am looking for images and data that you are going to use to explain your group to the class. Excess text will cost you points. COPY AND PASTED INFORMATION IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!

* 8 to 12 slides (if you find it difficult to cover your topic and need additional slides, you must get permission)

* 15 words per slide!!! MAXIMUM!!!!!!!

* at least five illustrations: use pictures, graphs, the group's logo, etc. Most of illustrations can be copied and pasted directly from the web site. If you are using the reference book in the class, it frequently includes graphs of political donations that can be scanned into your power point. Be creative!

* information on your groups PAC (political action committee) and donation history if available

* at least ONE hyperlink to the web site of your group

* You must print out a copy of your power point in notes form (6 slides per page) for me to use while for grading purposes.

The Evaluation:

This assignment is worth 100 points. If your power point is NOT ready to go on the presentation day your final grade will be lowered by TEN POINTS. If you are absent on the presentation day and your partner has to presentation without you, your grade will be lowered one grade.