NOTE TO STUDENTS: Before answering the questions, read the “Background” below and watch the news report under “Resources.”

1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. In this article, you will find those answers throughout the article. List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)

2. How does the Secret Service decide which presidential candidates get protection?

3. Why has Ben Carson asked for Secret Service protection?

4. What does Donald Trump say about his request for Secret Service protection?

5. The Washington Post reports:

Dan Emmett, a former Secret Service agent and author of “Within Arm’s Length: A Secret Service Agent’s Definitive Inside Account of Protecting the President,” is opposed to any candidates getting protection.

“If they want to run, it’s also a risk that they take and they have to know ahead of time there are people who could hurt them,” Emmett said in an interview. “With a campaign season like we have now, the Secret Service does not exist for the purpose of protecting everyone that wants to run for the presidency.”

“(Agents) are pulled from field offices around the country … they are running around the country with a group of people, a bunch of which who don’t have a prayer, it’s a waste of resources at a time when (the Secret Service) is strapped of resources,” he added.

Emmett acknowledged that we live in a dangerous world and there is a real threat to candidates who go into crowds of hundreds or thousands of people unprotected. Still, he thinks Secret Service agents have “more important things to do.”

Emmett also speculated that some candidates like having the Secret Service around more for the perks than the protection.

“The Secret Service is the world’s greatest chauffeur service,” he said. “You know things are going to run like a clock when Secret Service is with you.”

a) Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Emmett? Explain your answer.
b) Some candidates like Hillary Clinton already have Secret Service protection. Should the other front-runners be given the same protection, or should they have to pay for it out of their own campaigns? Explain your answer.