Session 1B: Geography

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I wanted to ask about birth rates in China. One of the graphics reminded me of a problem I came across last year, but Prof Dube seemed to be on a roll, so I thought I'd ask it here:

I had a student last fall who was neighbors with someone who fled China. This neighbor told my student about government-forced abortions for families because of the one-child per family rule. I tried to move the conversation in a different direction-- we were talking about common stereotypes about communist China, but I found that I really didn't know what kind of programs and consequences are in place if someone has more than 1 child.

The map that showed some regions having more than 1 birth per woman got me wondering about this-- is this rule less enforced in the less populated, Western regions of China?

[Edit by="kwilliamskorbel on Jul 29, 4:42:49 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

This was quite an enlightening session, specially in terms of China's population growth multiplying four times. The limit to a child per family is interesting. Also, the fact that population influx is concentrated mainly in the cities. Interesting comparison in terms of geographical features of the U. S. and China.
Awesome details of the rivers of China and that Shanghai was built on the sediments left by the Yangtze river.
As per the Vietnam war difficulties, the soldiers had a hard time to get across the insurpassable terrain, hence South Korea more developed than the North.

[Anonymous]

Comparison of what Asians precieve as important compared to what Americans do was interesting. Asians spend less on housing than an American will. Priorities are different in where we, Americans spend and spend wheather we need it or not, and an Asian will save more of his/her income to be able to access in the future. Incredible how the Japanese have an average income of $47,139 and spend only $28 thousand of it and save the rest. Out of the $28 thousand spent they only use 6% for food and 22% for food. The people save but their government spends $5.6 trillion with their debt raising as we post.
Futhermore, it was educational to learn different geographical differences, similarities, and features about the rivers in China. First the Songhua River up north and its importance to both China and Russia, and why Russia disputes China's dumping to pollute the river because of their dependence on it. Secondly, the Yellow River on the northern Chinese plain and how it is also being disputed because of all the health problems caused by the water pollution in that area. The Yangzi River has it issues as well, the 3 Gorges Dam which is opposed by some saying it is causing build up pressure on the mountains; which is causing landslides and earthquakes. On the other hand, if the dam is not in place the river floods. Benefits to the dam is that it generates electricity and helps develop the economy. Another issues mentioned was that when people in those areas had to relocate so they could flood the area to build the dam, ancestoral graves became an issue. Would the graves be handled properly.
I believe I was out of the room when the Pearl River in the south of China was discussed so I went on line to find out. It has 4 separate systems that runs 1243 miles long. It has shrunk from 2187 yards to 197 yards. There are currently 10 bridges that cross it and it has become a spot for nightlife, with high rises and malls that surround it. Besides the beautiful natural sceneary during the day, it also potrays beauty at night.

[Anonymous]

I agree, Rosanna, that Japan's citizens' financial priorities seem more logical than ours. I read recently that the average US citizen saves less than $400 a year. How are we going to support ourselves as we age if we cannot manage our personal finances better?

Yet, as you noticed, the services provided by the Japanese government come at an exhorbitant cost. I would love to be able to take the bullet train and have busses run every ten minutes, but how much would that cost? Can the Japanese afford those conveniences? Can we?

But then again, can we afford NOT to implement efficient mass transportation? What if China's ever growing population achieves the American dream of a car (or two ... or three) in every garage? The southern part of the country will get warmer than ever, but with the rising oceans, they may lose some of that ground they have gained via sediment build up.

The world is not such a big place after all.

[Anonymous]

I also wondered about the birth rates and how they are controlled. I remember hearing that the parents of children who died in the schools that collapsed during the earthquake were especially dismayed because they lost their only child. I also heard that some parents might be able to reverse sterilizations in order to parent another child.

Does the Chinese culture still assume that the child will care for the aging parent? That burden will be tremendous for this next generation. They will each be supporting two parents.

[Anonymous]

This discussion on population density highlighted American over-consumption…of everything. We eat more food, we take up more space, we use more electricity, and we take “basic necessities” for granted. Americans take up so much space. We have big houses, big dinner plates and sky-high rubens (yum), SUVs and Hummers, super sized everything, the list goes on. There is something to be learned here. Do we really need that super-sized box of McDonalds French fries or the 10 lb bar of chocolate from Trader Joes? We must be more conscious of our consumption and use of resources. We have the opportunity to literally save a part of the planet by consuming less, and it would not necessarily mean having a lower standard of living. Perhaps if each of us made a concentrated effort to consume only what we needed, we would find that we do not need so much “stuff.” We would have less pollution, less noise, better health, and more space.

[Anonymous]

I thought that Chonqing is an interesting city to look at because of the inherently rapid growth happening there on the banks of the Yangze River. I look forward to investigating whether or not China can be a catalyst for change on the environmental front in the coming years and decades. They seem to be able to not be hampered by as much bureaucracy (on the surface) as perhaps we are here in the West. Hopefully the expediency and money that they used to build say, the Three Gorges Dam will be put toward hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles or solar or wind power on an uber grand scale. My sincere hope is that they do it before the coal dust cloud the size of Texas that is hanging over them wins the battle over all living creatures that it touches.

[Anonymous]

My brother is a history major at CSUN, and we were talking about Beijing and how I learned today that July-August is China's rainy season. We talked about how rain on the Olympics would be a good thing because it would clear out some of the pollution. Well, my "human flesh search engine" found this article (from 2006):

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/06/05/china.rain/index.html

In a nutshell, the government has figured out the technology to fire artillery shells full of dry ice into the atmosphere to cause it to rain, or to figure out ways of dissipating rain clouds by "shooting them out of the sky"!

So it'll be interesting to note if and when it does rain, if it will be an "act of God" or an act of the government!

[Anonymous]

I too, was wondering if culturally the elders were still respected and cared for - With the 50%+ statistics of people concerned with monies for their future, it seems as if it is a thing of the past. As a school lesson for Language/Arts we could easily fit the various maps of of Asia into our 6th grade CA standards for recognizing structural features and data. =:O

[Anonymous]

so far, in my 9t and 10th grade classes, all my students learned about asian culture is from they read in "the good dead" and farewell to manzanar. one thing that "the good deed" explains is that the most important thing that a child learns in china is to respect and revere the elders. it is amazing how putting this one belief (moral) into place could really shape a people. i'm very interested in finding out what has and has not changed about this way of life.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone else find the statistic of students becoming less aware of geography over the years, and hence becoming more stupid interesting. I personally have been noticing a dumbing down of America, and I think it has a lot to do with our culture and media. This is scary when we think of all the crap that is on television these days that influences our students on a daily basis. This makes our jobs much more of a challenge. [Edit by="mburditt on Jul 29, 10:49:06 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I agree about being surprised about these statistics, but then I think about my typical students and am no longer surprised. I remember being in sixth grade and absolutely LOVING geography. I even competed in a Geo Bee! Perhaps if there was a greater emphasis placed in more classes, then students would slowly have more awareness of the world outside them. For instance, the Average Day article about text messaging in China would be engaging for students to read and then discuss. Could be a quick warm-up or a fun posting on your classroom wall.

[Anonymous]

I absolutely loved the visuals as well. This generation of sudents that we teach are so accustomed to being stimulated through visuals; I can't wait to use some of the images that we saw today in my power points to emphasize the points. I found the aerial night view of China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan to be especially enlightening to the current state of North Korea...

A fun and somewhat controversial story that my students get a kick out of is the big German bunnies that were given to North Korea to help provide the country with more protein for their diet.

Check it out: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6865800[Edit by="ageisner on Jul 29, 11:06:05 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

This picture is just a sampling of what you will find if you click on the link I provided... Google Big German Bunnies for more! 😀 [Edit by="ageisner on Jul 29, 11:13:08 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

It is sad how little Americans know about world geography - myself included! And even more worrisome that Americans seem to be getting dumber...

The pics, statistics, and general information from this session was very useful...I will definitely use some of the financial comparison stats in my econ class.

Amanda, the huge German bunnies will be a HUGE hit in with my students!!

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