Personal Response - 4/21 Seminar

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I appreciated Clayton's final seminar presentation because I think it tied together many of the topics we have been visiting - providing discussion links across subjects, but also leaving us with many issues to continue to ponder. Each of the topics - Taiwan, Tibet and the Olympics could have been 2 hour discussions within themselves! What struck me as unique about Clayton's talk was his ability to present each topic within the historical perspective leading up to issues we are seeing in the news today. I walked away with an "a-hah" about Taiwan and Tibet that I never had before - finally piecing together the reasons for the politics in both areas.

I want to believe the Beijing Olympics will be the celebration the world has been waiting for - and hope that at the end of it all - we will say congratulations to the Chinese people for pulling it off! When I watch the Olympics, I see the human spirit - goals, determination, amazing physical agility, believing in oneself, competition for the sake of seeing yourself reach a personal best. Politics have always been a sideline of the games - but for a brief period of time, I believe we do put politics aside and go to the party. It's truly a time to celebrate and learn about the host country. The world loves a winner and a Cinderella story. I don't have an athletic bone in my body, but I look forward to the Olympics. It's pomp, ceremony, in some cases heartbreak; but always a story of human spirit. It doesn't mean we ignore human rights, but it is a time to celebrate the human spirit. The games are a reminder that we are one world and one humankind. The Olympics are just one link in understanding and appreciating the diversity that makes up our world. The games are a reminder and a nudge to care for one another on a different playing field. It is only through human contact that we can experience compassion and work toward change!

[Anonymous]

While Clay was talking about Taiwan, I remembered hearing a story on "All Things Considered" (the afternoon National Public Radio program) that focused on Taiwan's universal health care program. The link to the article and to listen to the story is: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89651916

This health care topic was produced in light of this being a topic in the current American Presidential race. It would be an interesting classroom topic for a persuasive piece of writing. Students might watch "Sicko" and/or listen to this NPR piece on Taiwan's health care system, then research the various views of universal health care in the United States.

The NPR piece is interesting -- I encourage anyone to listen to it. I was especially intrigued by the computerized medical records, which each citizen carries around on a driver's license type card. Even if the United States implemented a standardized medical record program, it seems as though it would save our country a great deal of money, as it saves the Taiwanese money.

[Anonymous]

I also hope that the olympics are a great success for China this summer. At the same time I'm bothered by Chinese failure to consider their human rights baggage as the world turns towards them. I mean this the same nation which brutally repressed a peacefull student-lead protest for more freedoms in 1989. That might seem like ancient history to some but I think that China has not honestly and openly discussed, addressed, not to mention apologized for their abuse of power. That in turn mocks their desire for a showcase style olympic celebration. I will probably watch the events that interest me but will still hope that the Chinese make some sort of explaination or justification for their human rights issues.

[Anonymous]

Conflicts come from misunderstanding. The Chinese government is formed mainly by Han Chinese which is the largest ethnic group, where some 91.5% of the population was classified as Han Chinese (~1.2 billion). On the contrary, Tibetans are only about 5.4 millions considered as minority. Therefore, the Chinese government and most of Chinese people don't really consider Tibetans' culture, language, and their needs as an important issue even until now. They think they did a big favor to Tibetans because the Chinese government has developed Tibet to become a more modern society, more Tibetans are educated in schools where teach Madarin (Chinese official language) and Chinese characters mainly, and more Tibetans are freed from traditional slavory system in which ordinary people contributed most of their income to the temples and Lamas. However, are these favors really what Tibetans want? I think what Tibetans really want is to keep their own culture, lanuguage and form a government administered by their own people who understand Tibetan the most. I believe that most of Tibetans understand one fact that they have no enough economic, military, and man power to be independent yet especially they are surrounded by several strong countries, such as India, Pakistan, etc. All they want is that Tibet is totally controlled by Tibetan people, so their kids can feel free to learn their own culture, language, and traditions. This issue reminds me how American government treated Native Indians long time ago. The history repeats itself again and again, year by year, country to country. It took quite a long time for American people to realize how important to change their minority policy from melting pot to salad bowl. I don't know how long it will take Chinese government to realize the same thing.

[Anonymous]

I heard the same report. I am very proud to say that Taiwan does have a universal health care program. It has been operated since March 1995. All people in Taiwan benefit from it. I used to be one of them. However, there are still quite a lot of problems existing within this system. First, the government spent a great amount of money to cover the loss of this system yearly and the loss is getting bigger and bigger. It's due to that many people think it's cheap to see doctors so they kind of waste of the resources and see doctors anyhow even it's just a minor problem. Second, because the government wants to save expense on this system, it sets very strict rules to release money to cover clinics' and hospitals' expense. For example, my father is an eye doctor and has his own clinic. The health care office always pays his expenses several months later than the expenses actually happened. So, my father has to pay his own money to purchase a lot of supplies to run his clinic sometimes half of a year ahead before he gets money back. It also happened many times that my father treated patients with necessary peocedures or surgery first but later on the procedures or surgeries were denied by the office with no reason. He had to cover the expense on his own. Do youknow how much they pay a doctor for his work per visit? Only $5! Doctors become cheap labors. Therefore, many big hospitals use medicine, MRI, Xrays, etc. to earn money. A patient may get more than 10 different kinds of medicines for one visit and most of them maybe useless. We used to make a joke that we need to take a shopping bag to go to a hospital to carry all medicines back home. This actually becomes a serious problem too.

Every system has it own strengths and weaknesses. I just hope that we will have a better health care system one day that all people will get good qualityof health care; meanwhile, we don't have to pay a big amount of money for it.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed the last seminar. Throughout this experience, I have gathered bits and pieces of information relating to Asia, and now I feel as if it is culminating in the China Olympics. I have always been a huge fan of the Olympics- especially gymnastics and track. I am hoping that things go well for China and the world opens to them. I don't think anything will change with China, in terms of their social injustices, but maybe having the world watch them so closely will make them think.

[Anonymous]

This is in response to the post written by 'sfamekao' on 4/29 about history repeating itself. I was thinking the same thing about how so much of what is going on in China has happened in the US and other places as well. The way the migrant workers are treated, living in dormitories with long hours and very little power to demand better, is very reminiscent of the way people were treated here during our period of initial industrialization. What frustrates me is that no one ever seems to learn from other's experiences. I keep thinking how odd it is that we (at least parts of our society) are now in a period of rethinking how we use our resources related to what it is doing to our planet, while China and other developing countries seem to be following the same path we did, yet at a much faster pace. I guess we can't really expect them to be more responsible about resources than we were/are, though. That would probably seem more like we are jealous of their progress and trying to hold on to our own place in political power. Which, I suppose is also true... [Edit by="lrathman on May 3, 12:13:01 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="lrathman on May 3, 12:15:12 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

It always surprises me when I find myself using examples from our seminar to illustrate a point with my eighth grade language arts class. For example after the 4/21 seminar meeting, I was discussing the concept of bias with my students as we covered a non-fiction "reading for everyday" unit. Suddenly I was sharing my understanding of the Olympic torch protests as I had gathered from the best of Western media which I assumed were professionally unbiased. Then I shared the shock I felt in my China class upon hearing how the Chinese media presented the problem. It convinced me even the most ethical reporters cannot escape a cultural bias. Once again Atticus Finch's mandate in To Kill A Mockingbird rings true: We must always walk in somebody else's shoes before we can truly appreciate the situation.

[Anonymous]

I am sad to see the seminar's come to an end, other than the 3 hours spent Monday's after school which I was a bit tired, the actual information displayed was great. As a new teacher I was given an inside perspective to a world in which i have never been exposed to. It is great to now understand that my students do not come from the white suburbia background from which I came from. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to all that this class was. I hope all that were involved understand that you have made me a better teacher and the lessons learned will carry on for years to come.
Michael Wanmer.

[Anonymous]

During this lecture, I couldn't help comparing China's migrant workers to our migrant workers in California. Chinese workers and latino migrants have a lot in common--both travelled to improve their life situation, both send money home, many leave children at home to be raised by elderly parents.

China's internal society 'on the move' is incredible because it is happening within the country and also by the large numbers of people involved.

[Anonymous]

That is a very interesting connection to make... I wonder what the figures are in terms of the permanent migrant work force in the states vs. the many millions in China. The movement of people in China reminds me of the Lowell girl movement in the beginning of America's own industrial revolution. One question is the long term effects of taking the working people from their rural settings leaving their children to be raised by the grandparents...I guess part of the answer lies in how long the current rapid pace of economic growth will last.

[Anonymous]

yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I constantly reference my 6 ft Asian friend, but he is the only Chinese American COO with offices in CHina and U.S. I know! Anyway, this is his response to the issue of Taiwan and China:

"In the long run, there will only be one China."

[Anonymous]

Clay's final seminar presentation continues and will continue to resonate with me....why China? Look at any concern Americans face today and its amazing how large a role China plays. Gasoline prices and $100 a barrel for oil are issues we all face, the supply hasn't been able to keep up with the demand, and then look at the surging oil consumption in the newly industrializing China! Its oil usage has risen along with its economy and China is now responsible for one-third of the growth in oil consumption. And then there is the issue of climate change. Why is that a China issue? China is already the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Any attempt to address this problem must include China. Clay brought up the question of whether or not President Bush should attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. Some say yes, some think not. Thought-provoking to say the least. One thing for certain, America needs to negotiate effectively with China on issues of energy, economics and the environment...and that quite simply answers the question Why China? for me.

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