Volume 134, Issue 5
Talking About Globalization
Speakers discuss the effects on minorities
By Mousa Rebouh
Mary King speaks about globalization issues at the Diego Rivera Theater on Friday, October 25. Over 500 attended the conference and teach-in. |
³The purpose of the forum is to start a dialogue on globalizationıs effects on minorities and to connect community colleges to the larger academic community,² said Tim Killikelly, political science teacher.
³I didnıt know too much about globalization before the conference,² said music major Sarah Castro.
Gustavo Lopez, a Political Theory student, expressed the importance for students to seek information on globalization. ³It is important to learn about globalization,² said Lopez. ³Especially when you look at the loss of jobs here due to U.S. companies moving to Latin America and other countries².
³Itıs important for the students who are living in the world shaped by these forces called globalization to better know how to participate in society, to relate the personal to the community life. To know what kind of choices to make individually and for the community² said Killikelly.
Many controversial topics were discussed including a speech by Dr. Mary King, Associate Economics Professor at Portland State Univer-sity. ³The politics of welfare reform are the politics of race and sex in the USA, playing on the racial fears of whites,² said King.
Tim Killikelly talked about the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998, which was passed in a landslide vote 423-1 in Congress. The new law bans taxes on commerce done via the Internet.
³In the last 25 years, there have been ideological attacks on the public sector with political forces working to mitigate the negative effects of capitalism to ensure the poor do not get protections as they were getting before the Reagan Era,² said Killi-kelly.
There were four speakers per hour, giving each one little time to touch on large topics like welfare reform or the digital divide.
John Whitehead, economics teacher, organized the forum with support from the Social Sciences department, the Concert & Lectures series, AFT2121, the Economics Club, and Milton Jacobs and Asso-ciates.
³We passed note cards for questions, and took care of the banner on Batmale Hall,² said Vince Largo, a member of the Economics club.
³But we were not included in the planning of the conference.²