[Infowarrior] - USG study guide for citizenship test omits freedom of press

[Richard Forno]

Study guide for U.S. citizenship test omits freedom of press
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-16-citizenship-test-press_x.
htm
Posted 5/16/2006 10:31 PM ET     E-mail | Save | Print |
By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON ‹ A set of flashcards designed to help applicants for U.S.
citizenship learn basic civics has become one of the most popular items sold
by the Government Printing Office.

But the $8.50 flashcards ‹ which contain questions and answers from the
actual citizenship exam ‹ won't help immigrants learn much about the role of
the press in American democracy.

Question 80 asks, "Name one right or freedom guaranteed by the First
Amendment." The answer lists freedom of speech, religion, assembly and the
right to petition the government ‹ but omits freedom of the press.

"What I find ironic is that a device designed to help immigrants understand
what our democracy is all about would intentionally or unintentionally fail
to mention what the framers of our constitution considered the 'bulwark of
liberty,' which was the press," says Paul McMasters, ombudsman for the First
Amendment Center.

Alfonso Aguilar, director of the office of citizenship at U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services, acknowledges that the answer is incomplete.
Aguilar says the 20-year-old citizenship test the flashcard is based on is
"flawed" and is in the process of a $6 million redesign.

The next test, set to be given to prospective citizens no later than January
2009, "will be based on the components of a basic civics curriculum and will
be an exam that can serve as a tool to encourage civic learning and
patriotism," Aguilar says.

He says the current test, unveiled in 1986 as the first standardized exam
ever given to citizenship applicants, is imprecise in several areas. Before
1986, applicants were questioned orally in interviews.

"The person who developed the test was not necessarily a civics or
constitutional scholar," Aguilar says. "The content is not very good. It's
very trivia-based."

The flashcards were introduced last year. They can be downloaded free on the
website of the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,
www.uscis.gov, or purchased from the printing office.

Until the new test is in place, examiners have been instructed that anyone
answering question 80 by citing freedom of the press will get credit for the
right answer.

The question and answer about the First Amendment appeared in USA TODAY on
Tuesday as an illustration with an article about legal immigrants.

Aguilar promises the next test will do a better job honoring press freedoms.
"Absolutely," he says.