Welcome to the Current Events Online Teaching Center! Here you'll find all the information you've come to rely on from your Teacher's Guide, now in a convenient online format. Click the tabs above to access article background information, reproducible skills pages, and additional resources. The boxes at right will take you to subscriber-only content, including interactive digital editions, archives, and your teacher's guide in printable
PDF format.

The Teaching Center for each issue will be available the Wednesday before the issue date. Scroll down or click the All Issues tab for previous issues.

The world’s population recently reached 7 billion. Don’t miss CE’s interactive, online-only Special Report on the world’s rapid population growth and some of the challenges that lie ahead. This subscriber exclusive includes audio, videos, slideshows, and games to excite and engage your students. Check it out here.

Click here for the issue's answer key.

Please feel free to contact us at edce@weeklyreader.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Objectives
Main News: Students will learn about controversial proposed laws to combat piracy on the Internet. Time Trip looks back at the world’s first general- purpose computer.
News Debate: Students will be able to conduct an informed debate about whether top college athletes should be paid to play.

Standards
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
Main News: Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text.

SOCIAL STUDIES (NCSS)
Main News: Science, technology, and society; Individuals, groups, and institutions
News Debate: Individuals, groups, and institutions

Language Arts (NCTE)
Main News: Students read to acquire new information.
News Debate: Students generate ideas and questions.

Geography (NCGE)
Main News: The changes that occur in the meaning and importance of Earth’s resources

Social Studies Vocabulary
Motion Picture Association of America; U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Skills Builders
Page 3: Comprehension Skills
Page 4: News Crossword

PREVIOUS ISSUES

Issue 1: Game Over?

Issue 2: Always Remember

Issue 3: Got Work?

Issue 4: In Our Galaxy Far, Far Away

Issue 5: Cyberbullying Crackdown

Issue 6: Three Women for Peace

Issue 7: Republican Rumble

Issue 8: Hit Men

Issue 9: War Worries

Issue 10: The War's End

Issue 11: Russia Un-United?

Issue 12: A Fight for Democracy

Dot-com Revolt

Get Talking
Ask students: Have you downloaded a song, a movie, or a TV show off the Web? How easy was it to download? From what sites did you download? How might you know whether those sites are obeying copyright laws?

Notes Behind the News
• A study conducted in January 2012 by the Pew Research Center found that coverage of the 2012 election was the most popular news with adults older than 65. Coverage of the Mediterranean cruise ship disaster was most popular with adults between the ages of 30 and 49, but the favorite news story for adults between the ages of 18 and 29 was coverage of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) battles in Congress.
• At their Charleston, S.C., debate, the four remaining Republican candidates all said they oppose SOPA and PIPA. Mitt Romney said the proposed laws are “far too intrusive and could stop job creation and further hurt the economy.” Newt Gingrich said the proposed laws censor the Internet on behalf of large corporations. Rick Santorum told the audience he doesn’t like the proposed laws, but he added that the Internet is not someplace “where anyone can do anything they want.” Ron Paul said the bills are a threat to freedom of expression. U.S. President Barack Obama said he would remain on the sidelines in the dispute over the bills. However, three top White House officials said in a statement on the White House Web site that while protecting intellectual property is important, they share many of the concerns of the online community about the effect of the proposed laws on Internet freedom.

Doing More
The Internet has grown to become a major factor in the United States and world economies. Have each student draw a chart. On one side, students should list the ways the Internet has helped the economy. On the other side, have them list the ways the Internet might hurt the economy. Have students share their charts with the class.

Pay to Play?

Get Talking
Ask: Do you watch college or professional sports? What are the main differences between the two?

Notes Behind the News
• A September 2011 study by the National College Players Association and Drexel University, titled “The Price of Poverty in Big Time College Sport,” looked at football players and men’s basketball players at the 120 colleges whose football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The study found that the average athletic scholarship failed to cover $3,222 of a player’s education-related expenses during the 2010–2011 school year. About 85 percent of players receiving athletic scholarships live on campus, and 86 percent of those who live off campus live below the poverty line.
• The average salary of the top 60 highest-paid college football coaches for the 2010–2011 school year was $2 million. Nick Saban, the head coach at the University of Alabama, earned the highest salary ($6 million), while Mack Brown, the head football coach at the University of Texas, earned the second highest ($5.1 million). Brown’s salary was greater than the total value of athletic scholarships awarded to Texas players ($3.1 million). The average salary of the top 25 highest-paid basketball coaches whose teams played in the 2011 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament was $2.4 million,
with the University of Louisville’s Rick Pitino earning the highest—$7.5 million in total compensation.
• Almost half the FBS colleges were caught violating NCAA rules from 2001 and 2010, according to a report from Inside Higher Ed, an online news source about higher education.
• The NCAA’s Web site includes a page devoted to its reasoning for why student athletes should not be paid. Check it out at tinyurl.com/7zem8mp. The site notes that most sports at college athletic departments do not earn profits for the schools but rather rely on institutional support.

Doing More
Ask students: How might paying athletes change college sports? What might be some of the positive and negative effects?

Click here for the issue's answer key.

Test students' comprehension with this activity. 

Be sure to try this issue's News Crossword.

And don't miss this issue's Smart Stuff!

Teaching Centers and Issue Dates, 2011-2012

Senior Managing Editor: Clara Colbert
Editor: Maggie Mead 
Senior Associate Editor: Rebecca Zissou
Senior Group Art Director: Jeff Talbot
Art Director: Ed Klopper
Manager, Copy Editing: Kim Paras
Senior Copy Editor: Sarah Chassé
Copy Editor: Troy Reynolds
Manager, Photo Department: Julie Alissi
Production Designer: Richard Gore
Operations Manager, Manufacuring: Christine DiLauro
Vice President, Operations: Marcia Smith
Senior Vice President, Editorial: Ira Wolfman

Contact Us