Ames High's Top 10 Includes War Crimes, Same Sex Marriage and Internet Privacy

A world leader convicted of war crimes, a Federal Appeals Court decision to take up the Defense Against Marriage Act and news about Internet privacy were far more important than the local death of a man who fell during according to a group of advanced placement government and politics class at Ames High School.

Students who made a presentation on current events to their classmates last week said they search for news that has a global impact so local news is often left off their list.

A recent group's top 10 current events didn't include the story of a man who fell to his death during VEISHEA.

“We looking for what's important for the world as a whole,” Ella Holme said.

The shooting death of Trayvon Martin was discussed in a recent class students said because of the racial issues involved.

“It has a large impact on our society as opposed to a person falling out of a window, which is obviously a bad thing, but ….” Alfred Tang said.

The advanced class breaks into small groups and take turns gathering the most important current events from the previous 14 days. They read their lists and then discuss what the rest of the class wants to know more about.

Last week, Liberian President Charles Taylor's conviction was the most important students said because it was the first time a head of state has been convicted in international court since the Nuremburg trials.

And the appeals court decision on DOMA could mean a U.S. Supreme Court ruling a year from now, which could make it illegal to deny federal benefits to same sex couples, students said in a recent class.

CISPA the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act could give broad power to intercept and block user information if approved and is important, Tang said because the rest of the world usually follows United State's decisions.

Obama's administration is expected to veto the bill, which has already passed the U.S. House, Tang said.