Instituto Henry George - Noticias

Managua, May 11, 2001 -- The Instituto Henry George's fifth intensive "Comprender la Economía" Political Economy class is scheduled for May 21 to June 1. The IHG has handed out 354 solicited applications over a three week period to interested Nicaraguans and received 149 completed applications for the May CE course. Approximately 100 former applicants will also be invited to register for the course which will have a class size limit of 120 students. Solicitation of the CE application was significantly less the first week of the application process, so the IHG extended the application period an extra week (to three weeks total) to compensate. This is the first CE course offered in May, the tail end of Nicaragua's hot season, which may explain why applicant turnout has been less vigorous than for the previous courses. Nevertheless, with the extra week of application, the May 2001 CE course accounts for the largest number of solicited applications distributed and the third largest applicant turnout to date (see table below).

	CE 6-00	CE 8-00	CE 10-00	CE 2-01	CE 5-01
# Days Promo	18	7	9	10	15
Promo Media (newspaper classified ads in LP or END, flyers, handouts during surveys)	END/Vol.s	END/LP	LP/END	LP	LP/END Fly.s / Surv.
# Days App.s Received	23	8	8	11	14

Total App.s Disbursed	194	341	165	322	354
Total App.s Received	72 (37%)	179 (53%)	89 (54%)	159 (49%)	149 (42%)
Avg. Applicant Qualification	68%	57%	63%	65%	70%

Inicial Course Participants	50	50	96	102	?
# Course Graduates	23 (46%)	22 (44%)	46 (48%)	52 (51%)	?

IHG volunteer Donaldo explains the CE course application process to three interested applicants.

CE Teacher Training Course Advances
Managua, May 10, 2001 - The IHG's second attempt at a teacher training course was initiated on April 11th, 2001 with 8 teacher candidates, all "Superior" level graduates of the Comprender La Economía" course of the IHG. The CE tearcher training course meets once a week for 2 hours to review the basic texts of the course (Progreso y Miseria abbreviated and the CE Guide) and to learn teaching methods proven effective in past courses. Teacher training candidates also participate in other activities of the Instituto, such as the Survey/Outreach project, the Radio show, Admin. assistance, production of teaching materials, etc., and they assist with the actual CE course administration and teaching. Each class includes a review quiz and requires each candidate to participate in the exposition of the materials being studied. Qualifed teachers will be expected to be able to promote, administer, coordinate, and teach an entire CE course. IHG plans to expand the number of CE courses and locations offered for each pair of qualified teachers graduated.

IHG Radio Show Completes 9th Airing
Managua, May 10, 2001 - The Radio show of the IHG, "Comprender La Economía", completed its ninth airing on May 9, 2001. The show is an hour long with a segments dedicated to a synopsis of the Georgist analysis and remedy summarized in 13 points, reading of all or part of a chapter of the abbreviated version of Progreso y Miseria (Progress and Poverty), discussion of current economic trends and events from the Georgist economic point of view, a "Question of the Day" open to callers phoning in, and Instituto news of our activities. Listener participation in the program has been minimal, but that does not mean that there are not people listening, as the IHG has received calls about events announced in the program and comments on the program from listeners we meet on the street. IHG qualifies the success of the show as moderate, but its role in our overall strategy of public education is important. We are proud that every Wednesday at 11:00 AM US Central time, the truth about progress, poverty, and political economy is being announced for all to hear.

IHG volunteers Brenda and Donaldo, and IHG Director Paul Martin broadcast socio-economic reality to Nicaragua.

Campus Outreach Project Makes Contact with Hundreds of Students
Managua, May 10, 2001 - The IHG initiated its public survey outreach campaign on March 21st of this year. Since then, groups of 3-4 IHG volunteers have administered the IHG survey to more than 1,000 university students while handing out the IHG brochure and information sheets. Survey-outreach activities continue to take place regularly 3 to 4 times per week at a half a dozen university campuses in Managua. Results of the surveys have yet to be tabulated, though it is clear from a cursory review of the completed survey sheets that almost nobody interviewed expresses more than a minimal understanding of the importance of land value in the economic life of their country. The IHG policy is to only give information sheets to people who express a desire to receive them. IHG survey agents report that almost all interviewees ask for more information on the Georgist economic analysis and remedy.

IHG volunteers Gustavo and Vladimir administer the IHG survey and information handout project at UNAN RUCFA in Managua.

Educational Video Project on IHG Agenda
Managua, May 10, 2001 - IHG is planning to produce a video in Spanish for use in IHG workshops, for TV airing, and for distribution in Nicaragua and Latin America. The video will be an hour long covering the basics of Georgist economic theory with visual graphics explaining the law of Rent, the law of Salary, land speculation, etc., with real life examples from scenes depicting the economic reality of Nicaraguan life from the perspective of the Georgist paradigm. The video will place emphasis on the benefits to the Nicaraguan economy and society that would result from implementation of the Georgist remedy. If the project proves to be sucessful and cost effective, the video will be adapted and produced in English for international distribution, and specialized videos explaining certain aspects of the Georgist analysis will be produced to make the CE course more duplicatable.

"Work with passion, have fun, save the world!"
"Trabajar con pasión, divertirse, salvar el mundo!"

NOTICIAS, Mayo 2001