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TEACHERS USING HOUSE HEARINGS AS CIVICS LESSON; IMPEACHMENT PROCESS UNFOLDS.


Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Sex. Lies. Tapes. In the classroom?

A rare chance to study history in the making - the potential impeachment impeachment, formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is sometimes applied also to the trial by the legislature that may follow.  of a president - is too good an opportunity to pass up in a high school government class, even if some of the detail is a bit too racy rac·y  
adj. rac·i·er, rac·i·est
1. Having a distinctive and characteristic quality or taste.

2. Strong and sharp in flavor or odor; piquant or pungent.

3. Risqué; ribald.

4.
 for third period.

In her U.S. Government and Law and Order classes at Canyon High School Canyon High School can refer to:
  • Canyon High School (Anaheim) in Anaheim, California
  • Canyon High School (Santa Clarita), in Santa Clarita, California
  • Canyon High School (Canyon, Texas), in Canyon, Texas
, teacher Mary Stack is monitoring daily newspaper coverage of the presidential crisis and allowing her students to watch congressional committee hearings and votes on classroom TVs.

``It's a wonderful learning tool,'' Stack said of the daily advances toward impeachment - the third time in U.S. history that a sitting president has been so targeted by Congress.

``So much of history is what happened 20 or more years go,'' she said. ``Kids now don't have a feel for Nixon. This they understand. And they have strong feelings.''

Stack's counterpart at Valencia High, Gary Mast, said he has always covered impeachment in his classes, but never to the extent offered now as students become eyewitnesses to history.

``In other years I might briefly talk about impeachment,'' Mast said. ``But this year, we're living history.''

The lessons transcend the smutty smut  
n.
1.
a. A particle of dirt.

b. A smudge made by soot, smoke, or dirt.

2.
a. Obscenity in speech or writing.

b. Pornography.

3.
a.
 novel-like details that surfaced as the Clinton investigation moved from a land deal gone bad to a tawdry Oval Office affair.

Thus teachers like Mast and Stack are finding themselves in balancing acts Balancing Acts is a documentary by Donna Schatz that chronicles the lives of Chinese acrobat Man-Fong Tong and his wife Magda Schweitzer, a Jewish acrobat from Budapest, Hungary. The two met in Europe on the eve of World War II.  to follow the current constitutional crisis with their teen-age students, while leaving out references to stains, cigars and phone sex. Otherwise, parental permission would be required for government class.

Mast, who teaches American Government to seniors, said there's no question his classful of 17- and 18-year-olds knows the dirt on the Clinton crisis.

``How many of you guys know a lot about the lurid details of this scandal?'' Mast asked his class one recent morning.

The affirmative answer was unanimous.

``How did you find out?'' he probed.

``The Internet,'' was the loudest response.

``TV,'' answered a few.

``Have you gotten them from me?'' Mast continued.

``Nooooooo,'' the chorus of teens replied.

``How many of you were shocked and read things you had never heard of?'' he asked.

Yeah, right, was written all over their faces.

Still Mast focuses on the concrete lessons - Congress in action, the committee process, the partisan battles, all mounting as Election Day approaches.

``I certainly use it as an opportunity to teach,'' he said. ``I want my students to know the process and how it works and this situation is happening as we speak.

``We've discussed the issues - just not the intimate details. I suggested if they want the details, read Time and Newsweek.''

But, he acknowledges, kids are no different than their parents - the teen-agers of the '70s who saw Watergate hearings pre-empt pre·empt or pre-empt  
v. pre·empt·ed, pre·empt·ing, pre·empts

v.tr.
1. To appropriate, seize, or take for oneself before others. See Synonyms at appropriate.

2.
a.
 soap operas This is a list of Soap operas by country of origin. Argentina
  • Amandote
  • Padre Coraje
  • Pinina
  • Resistiré
  • Floricienta (2004-2006)
  • Chiquititas (1995-2003)
Australia
 and game shows.

``I don't think they're really interested in the process, they're most curious about the scandal,'' he said.

At Canyon High, students are enraged en·rage  
tr.v. en·raged, en·rag·ing, en·rag·es
To put into a rage; infuriate.



[Middle English *enragen, from Old French enrager : en-, causative pref.
. Eighty-five percent of Stack's students want the president impeached.

``This has made the kids very negative about government . . . the lying under oath Noun 1. lying under oath - criminal offense of making false statements under oath
bearing false witness, perjury

infraction, misdemeanor, misdemeanour, violation, infringement - a crime less serious than a felony
 after taking the oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations.  to uphold the laws of the land. He's a role model. The White House has great symbolism,'' she said.

``And they feel sorry for Hillary and Chelsea. She's their age,'' Stack said.
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No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1998, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Oct 10, 1998
Words:557
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