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1. Complete QuickStudy Module 6: Finding Facts, Reviews and More and QuickStudy Module 7: Evaluating Sources.

2. Read "The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh Debates Reality" from the FAIR site at http://www.fair.org/press-releases/limbaugh-debates-reality.html.

3. Find a statement in some popular medium (television, magazines, radio, newspapers) on an issue or social problem that US citizens are facing today.

4. Using library sources, locate factual information to either prove or disprove your statement.

5. Write up your answer using the format below. Make sure you clearly cite the source information.

   EXAMPLE:

   LIMBAUGH: "The worst of all of this is the lie that condoms really protect against AIDS. The condom failure rate can be as high as 20 percent. Would you get on a plane -- or put your children on a plane -- if one of five passengers would be killed on the flight? Well, the statistic holds for condoms, folks." (Ought to Be, p. 135)

   REALITY: A one in five AIDS risk for condom users? Not true, according to Dr. Joseph Kelaghan, who evaluates contraceptives for the National Institutes of Health. "There is substantive evidence that condoms prevent transmission if used consistently and properly," he said. He pointed to a nearly two-year study of couples in which one partner was HIV-positive. Among the 123 couples who used condoms regularly, there wasn't a single new infection (AP, 8/29/93).

6. Present your findings to the class. Are they convinced?

Adapted from University of Arizona Library

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