Midterm Review

This Tuesday we will hold an in-class review for the midterm exam (scheduled for Thurs., Feb. 3rd.).

Quotes and Current Events (contribute here)

This is a good place to share interesting quotes and news relevant to USP2. The professor will check the comments under this post before every class. And we will draw attention to the new ones at the beginning of class. I just added the first "commnet" which includes a news item about the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, click on the comments link below to learn more (and be sure to share some interesting observations of your own --including other news headlines). --keith

From Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men" regarding the Bunny Scene in "Roger and Me"

An excerpt from Michael Moore: In my first film, Roger & Me, a white woman on Social Security clubs a bunny rabbit to death so that she can sell him as "meat" instead of as a pet. I wish I had a nickel for every time in the last ten years someone has come up to me and told me how "horrified" and "shocked" they were when they saw that "poor little cute bunny" bonked on the head. The scene, they say, made them physically sick. Some had to turn away or leave the theater. Many wondered why I would include such a scene. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) gave Roger & Me an R rating in response to that rabbit killing (which compelled 60 Minutes to do a story on the stupidity of the rating system). Teachers write me and say they have to edit that part out of the film so they won't get in trouble for showing my movie to their students. But less than two minutes after the bunny lady does her deed, I included footage of a scene in which the police in Flint opened fire and shot a black man who was wearing a Superman cape and holding a plastic toy gun. Not once--not ever--has anyone said to me, "I can't believe you showed a black man being shot in your movie! How horrible! How disgusting! I couldn't sleep for weeks." After all, he was just a black man, not a cute, cuddly bunny. There is no outrage at showing a black man being shot on camera (least of all from the MPAA ratings board, who saw absolutely nothing wrong with that scene). Why? Because a black man being shot is no longer shocking. Just the opposite--it's normal, natural. We've become so accustomed to seeing black men killed--in the movies and on the evening news--that we now accept it as standard operating procedure. No big deal, just another dead black guy! That's what blacks do--kill and die. Ho-hum. Pass the butter.

This note was provided by USP2'er Mike Mullan

State of the World 2005: Redefining Global Security

Shlomo Lipetz, a student enrolled in USP2, found an interesting article in the Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper (Jan 12, 2005). He translated some of the details for us below (the article provides a summary of a report recently published by World Watch).

World Watch, an influential global environmental advocacy organization, signaled out natural resources as the leading cause of wars and conflict around the world in recent years. According to the the World Watch report, problems involving natural resources have been responsible for over 1/4 of all wars and conflicts in the past decade. It also noted that 37% of all energy produced originates from oil, and that six out of the 10 biggest corporations worldwide are oil companies. The top 10 oil companies make over 400 billion dollars a year in profits. The report also mentions that today there are over 30 million people who are defined as environmental refugees (i.e., people who have been forced to leave their country due to a range of factors including destruction of water sources, loss of fertile land , desertification, deforestation, and the decline of fisheries). According to the report, this figure of 30 million environmental refugees is expected to grow in upcoming years due to global warming. More then 400 million people around the world currently suffer from water shortages, and 2 billion people suffer from hunger. An estimated 75% of the genetic variation in the worlds main supply of agricultural products has been eliminated; this has made it difficult for farmers to deal with pesticides and diseases.

Hi-tech trash a global threat

Article about high tech trash accumulating around the world: "As the life cycle of electronic equipment shrinks, outdated products like VCRs get replaced by DVD players and our landfills quickly overflow with hi-tech trash. In fact, "obsolete" electronics have become the fastest growing waste stream in the industrialized world." (more)

State of the World's Cities book

Esteemed Class,
The World Cities book (a required text for USP 2) will be in the UCSD book store in about a week. In the meantime, please read the on-line materials about the book posted on our USP2 class web site at: http://regionalworkbench.org/USP2/week1_05.htm
(Introduction by Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, General Overview, Cities and Globalization: A Race to the Bottom? , and Trading on Culture: Planning the 21st Century City).
thanks,
--keith