World Cultures Comparison Project/Forming the Project

World Cultures World Cultures Comparison Project Forming the Project Discussion and Lists

Group members please add your name and this: ~~~~ after your comments so it it easy to sort out who said what when. Thanks Plaz 20:47, 7 December 2006 (EST)

See also Help:Wiki Markup Cheatsheet --Plaz 12:40, 17 December 2006 (EST)

Outline

Proposal--Plaz 21:32, 11 December 2006 (EST)

Video

Globalization Intro

~5 min
introduces what it is and different definitions
gives short history
done in uber-documentary format
- real deep announcer voice
- like in Dodgeball movie
mix of old? and new (we film) clips

Debate

Then debate

~15 min
each person specializes in topic

Pro

economic prospective (plaz or groff only please!)
- free trade
- most efficient
- are going to be learning this is a few weeks in class
stats support
- see wikipedia article: wp:Globalization
ending harsh sharia pratices
- middle east
jobs
- usa to India

Con

China
- diet
- see fast food nation book
  - i have it and will lend it to whoever does this
exporting artificial wants
- in general
less job security
destroying culture
latin america
- www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/integration/download/publicat/4_3_208_wcsdg-wp-23.pdf

I agree w/Dave that theres a 90% change at least 1 of us will undershoot their part by like 1-2 mins. in our debate or introduction. But remember, we can always come up with a 1-2 min. rant on the spot during the debate to make up for lost time.-Greg

Haahah right, lets leave the main and specific economics explanation to dave and plaz, the macro guys. I think jeff or i would screw it up if we started talking too far into the economics topic.-Greg

Dont worry Dave, i havent acted in a while, but i'll pull it off 4 the video. Really, just worry about the clever script, thats what cobb cares more about. He also cares more about getting the main point across in our video to the audience. Cobb will just find the bad acting amusing and laugh at it.- Greg, 12 December 2006

We shouldn't be worrying about time limits now, I think. Once we have most of it done,, we can look at where we are add and we might add topics/points to the debate. Our topic is broad enough that we could add stuff if we are short on time. So who will be pro and who will be con?--(Plaz in school)147.31.4.47 12:02, 13 December 2006 (EST)

I am not so worried about time as I am about lack of content. Maybe we could add something just to add more variety and content to the presentation without making it busy. I would also like to animate the debate a little bit. If I figure out how to make Flash presentations, I have Macromedia Flash 8, which does the cool video presentations. We could use this to supplement the debate because let's face it, Greg will feint if he talks to long. Jeff doesn't want to and will not be able to talk too long. I don't want to talk for too long. And we get enough of the Plaz on H-Vision so the debate must be supplemented and it would be highly useful to add one more visual aid to our presentation in order to explain our topic. -Groff

Good idea. Extra video media will help to structure our presentation. --Plaz 22:41, 13 December 2006 (EST)

People

-agreed in class 12/13/2006 --Plaz 22:41, 13 December 2006 (EST)

Plaz

pro
economics (free trade, efficiencies)
harsh sharia practices

Jeff

pro
stats support
outsourcing jobs

Greg

con
china's diet
Latin American case study (whatever you find)
(addition made by Groff) effects on environmental situations (i.e. pollution, etc.)

Groff

con
exporting artificial wants (materialism)
less job security
destroying culture

Dave, dont worry about me fainting from talking too long; the more important issue is not boring cobb and everyone for like 15 mins. The visual aid (macromedia flash thing) should add some pizazz and keep the debate interesting. It's a good idea.- Greg, 24 December 2006

Paper

See World Cultures Comparison Project/Paper

I moved it to a separate page to help organization --Plaz 22:19, 3 January 2007 (EST)

I talked to Cobb after-school. He says length is not a problem. I had a mini-debate with him and explained to him some of my points. I got a video clip on tape. His only concern is that we need to keep it on a level so that others will understand. The intro video should help that. More clips tomorrow. I will see how many people I need to help (We don't need all of us). See you tomorrow. (9th of January already!!!) --Plaz 18:53, 9 January 2007 (EST)

Facts

I am just keeping this stuff here for greg --Plaz 22:15, 3 January 2007 (EST)

Con: China (Greg)

Comments: Alright, here's my rough draft of China's cons guys. I still have yet to thumb through "Fast Food Nation" Plaz, but check out what I have so far first, and I'll go from there. I have a list of facts from that packet/article you gave me plaz, and then I used those same list of facts in my part of the paper. The "(Watson 1)" just shows what page # I got the facts from, so it was easier to organize. The "9)" is the actual fact. I'll have a printed copy of the list and my paper section when we go back to school.- Greg, 29 December 2006

Thanks. I just reorganized the section so the site displays it better. I will look over the paper selection soon. See if FFN helps you at all. Happy New Year!--Plaz 17:50, 29 December 2006 (EST)

(Watson 1)

1) Bumper-to-bumper traffic. 2) Too many American franchises: Xerox, Mobil, Kinko’s, Northwest Airlines, Starbucks, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dunkin’ Donuts, Pizza Hut, etc. 3) NATO accidentally bombed China’s embassy in Belgrade during the war in Kosovo, yet the boycott message failed.

(Watson 2)

4) Youths are being exposed to American culture (franchises/restaurants) more than Chinese culture- not learning own culture values. 5) Parents use McDonald’s to “connect” their children with the outside world. Children attend American universities, rather then their own country’s.

(Watson 3)

6) Society is changed- men no longer rule the household in the larger cities; newlyweds no longer live with the groom’s parents; husband and wife work full time- so someone has to take care of household labor; bride’s mother does household labor instead of husband’s mother. 7) New Chinese family system is emerging- conjugal unit: the needs and aspirations of married couple. The conjugal unit undermines old traditions of filial piety and Confucianism. 8) McDonald’s is becoming too popular, especially with the younger generations- society is changing too much from old ways of life.

(Watson 4)

9) McDonald’s draws anti-American protestors; some protestors have even bombed some restaurants. 10) McDonald’s symbolizes everything that many finds objectionable about American culture. 11) Cantonese and Taiwanese complain that no one has carried on the tradition of Hong Kong's chefs’ delicacies in favor of “industrialized food.” 12) New exotic cuisines and restaurants force competition with Chinese-style restaurants.

(Watson 6)

13) McDonald’s is too local- Hong Kong youths go there as a daily routine, and cannot imagine life without the eatery. 14) Due to McDonald’s and other restaurants, children often eat outside their home, where consumer protection is not guaranteed. 15) McDonalds’s is becoming too powerful and influential. Chinese restaurant competitors are basing their styles off of McDonald’s. 16) Elderly Population Growth: By 2025, there will be an expected 274 million people over 60 years of age in China- more than the entire 1998 U.S. population!

(Watson 7)

17) Civil society ignores the elderly, but tens of thousands retirees exist in Hong Kong. 18) While American franchises compete against China’s in Hong Kong, Chinese franchises battle McDonald’s and KFC in the United States.

Cons- Latin America- Greg

Comments: Ok, I just finished my Latin America Cons, here they are. I only have the list of facts from my first source (Isabela Hilton), but in my paper I do have another source which you will see on my Works Cited. I'll also post up my works cited page so you guys can check that as well. I will also bring a copy of the facts and paper when we get back to school. Oh, thanks Plaz , Happy New Year to you too, and for also making my section more legible and better organized; and Happy New Year to Dave and Jeff too.- Greg, 29 December 2006; 7:09 PM (All my times are Eastern)

(Hilton)

Most countries in Latin America have pursued the benefits of economic liberalization over the past 15 years, with little results.
Distribution of wealth and income in Cancun, Mexico, is the most unequal in the world.
Increase in daily criminal violence, continuing drug-related problems, and official corruption.
Argentina appeared to blossom, then ex-president Menem faces criminal charges, the country’s external debt has reached 90 billion pounds, unemployment is up to 18%, and the country is bankrupt.
Brazil had a promising start, but economy has been plagued by recurring crises. 2004-inflation was up to 20%, general collapse in middle-class incomes, 100,000 people marched to Brasilia, the capital, demanding an end to the president.
Peru- Alberto Fujimori’s government collapsed in corruption scandal
Colombia has become the latest arena for American military illusions.
Latin America- Mostly poor, and newly impoverished middle classes (teachers and health workers) no longer have jobs; pensioners lost pensions- they articulate opposition to economic liberalism- pointed out that this has brought dramatic increases in inequalities of the distribution of incomes and assets.
President Hugo Chavez wants to introduce Cuban-style social control to Venezuela.

Further Comments

Plaz, I think we kind of have the definition of globalization wrong. The definition is like bringing industries to the global scale and making countries more interdependent among another like creating a complex of economic, trade, social, technological, cultural and political interrelationships (wikipedia/globalization). I found this out while reading http://globalization.org So all of the categories we have are more like imperialism and foreign influence. I think Mr. Cobb wanted us to do more globalization and less of the foreign influence. Email me at Cooldaveg73@aol.com if you have anything urgent. I want to get topics out by Friday and finish preliminary research by mid-winter break and bring each of our elements together by the end of winter break. On the day we get back, we can give it all to me or Plaz (whoever is a better writer; it can be Greg or Jeff too if they want and feel that they can) and one of us will bring it into an essay and finalize it via group effort, Ms. Ward, Doctor Reilly, maybe Nachef and lastly Cobb. After we finish that preliminary essay before it goes to our editors, me, Greg, and Jeff will work on the script for the movie to be finished by January 10th roughly. Plaz, I want you to structure the debate and add any cool ideas or effects to the table. I could make video for the debate as well. Once the movie is filmed, edited, and mastered; the paper going through our editing and our teachers, and the debate structured, we will practice presenting the week/weekend before our presentation.-Groff

image:Final_Project_schedule.pdf-Groff

This PDF shows the progress I have made thus far in scheduling. I'm not sure it is the correct date for presentations, but it definitely gives us a good frame of reference in terms of time.
-Groff

It's double sided. In my essay draft I am working on (see above) I mostly talk about the definition you have just used. But the other side plays a part too. In opening up trade we are sending our culture abroad (for better or worse). This is the main negative rebuttal. As for the essay, I think maybe mid-way check in 3/4 to end of winter break with the essay parts due the first Friday in Jan. Then combine by Monday - edit till wed then go around getting feedback. Over break we must brainstorm movie. Film it first 1 weekend back. This will give you or me lead time to edit, etc. Any time remaining will go towards debate preparation. --Plaz 23:01, 20 December 2006 (EST)

Teachers will not be happy if we give them our essay and say "give it back to me tomorrow." Not only that but the script will be easier to get done once the initial essay is done. Also, I alloted time on weekdays to edit the essay. You told me you wanted a weekend. It doesn't work with the schedule. If you ask me, the debate is the easiest and least-time for preparation aspect. A debate is the discussion of the essay with media. Judging by that sly comment at the end about "you or me" doing video editing, you can edit the video for the debate and I will do the main video. The debate is really your thing structure-wise because you seem to like it and suggested it and such things. I am the big fan of the video and Greg and Jeff will probably be better in the script creation rather than structuring debate but they can choose that. Create a new schedule to meet your ideas for time allocation; you see mine and you can do it in Excel or whatever (I'm sure you know how-try not to eliminate categories, but feel free to add some) and post it up for me to see. Then we just need to start.--David A. Groff (Student)

David, do you really need an h1 for your name? Sign it like the rest of us. Thank you. Plus on your schedule, I believe, you have budgeted for 1 teacher at a time. This is not nessassry, I believe; multiple people can look at it and we collate changes/suggestions afterwards. And I wasn't meaning to be sly about who will do the video editing. We just hadn't decided this yet, and I know Jeff and Greg aren't going to do it. But whatever, we will see who does what video later. So schedule:

Essay
- Check in/outline:1/1/07
- Essay Parts: 1/5/07
- Essay Together: 1/8/07
- Teacher Review/ grammar Review: 1/15/07
Movie
- Rough Outline: 12/26/06
- Storyboard: 1/2/07
- Script/Finer Idea: 1/5/07
- Film: 1/6 or 1/7
- Edit: 1/12/07
- Finishing Touches??: 1/16
Debate
- Argument Outline: 1/8
- Detailed Supports: 1/12
- Put it together (everyone in person): 1/13 or 1/14
- Practice?: 1/15 or later depending on when we go

Respectfully submitted --Plaz 23:06, 21 December 2006 (EST)

Those were all "done" days, so I budgeted a week for essay review. What specifically do you have in mind for the debate media? I think the topics are good because they cover different facets or sections of globalization. But I agree its more about the economics, current issues which I had in mind. Mavbe a little clarification is needed. -Plaz (12/22/06; just typed it 12/29)

Revision: In-school 12/22/06

David and I (Plaz) talked about the topics and schedule in school the day before winter break. I showed David how globalization have many different sides. He agreed that we need to have a broader definition after he (or I) could not find a con for the narrower definition he proposed (above). We agreed on this revised topic list and created a paper order. Perhaps Jeff had the largest change--Plaz 18:03, 29 December 2006 (EST)