senior seminar 2 winter 2009 isp 4860 section 002 (bowen) class 1, january 14 course web site:

Senior Seminar 2 Winter 2009ISP 4860

Section 002 (Bowen)

Class 1, January 14Course web site: www.is.wayne.edu/drbowen/SenSemW09

1/14/09 ISP 4860 Section 002 Winter 2009

2

Starting Off

• Things to do: Initial the signin sheet (every week) Pick up a copy of the Syllabus

• Review of Syllabus Meeting next two weeks in Computer Lab C

(Room 3150) in the Undergraduate Library Semester assignment: 25-page research

paper• Suggested format: five Chapters with suggested

topics, each Chapter averaging five pages


3

Review of Syllabus

• Contact information for David Bowen

• Office hours

• Textbooks and other references

• Assignment schedule

• Listing of normal Chapter topics for paper

• Grading scale 10% means one letter grade Strong push to get drafts in, keep up to date


4

Review of Syllabus

• Grade Appeals

• Accommodations

• Plagiarism What it is Consequences When it usually happens


5

Paper Topics

• Overall – “the human footprint” on earth• Your paper zeroes in on one subtopic

List in right column of assignment schedule on Pg 2 of Syllabus

Seven sections, five Chapters – also Pg 2• “References” not in MLA style

• Part of each class on information for each subtopic

• Read “your” Chapter in SOP ASAP


6

During Each Class…

• Info on human footprint and subtopics• Research requirements

Number and quality of references Research notebooks References and citations You will find large numbers of references in

these areas• Writing

One aspect Class writing activity


7

During Each Class…

• Also some time on the US / World financial crisis – why? It’s fun Something to do with Economy and

Development But also a large system that we do not

understand• Like the ecosystem• We depend on the ecosystem – Ecosystem

Services• We do not understand it as well as we think we do,

so we should be cautious here


8

Moodle

• In this course, turn work in and get it back online using Moodle (alternative to BlackBoard)

• Moodle site for this course not set up yet• Look at a site for another course

http://tools.comm.wayne.edu/moodle• Pictures for Moodle this week and next

week – be ready• How to use – two weeks, UGL Comp Lab 3

http://tools.comm.wayne.edu/moodle


9

Course Website

• http://www.is.wayne.edu/drbowen/SenSemW09

• What is/will be there: All handouts and class notes Link to Moodle Link to Libraries News stories related to course Original documents related to course

• Miss a class? Download materials, review, ask questions before next class

Financial Crisis


11

Financial Crisis

• “Bailout” – bad term, not what economists are afraid of

• The $1 economy• The economy as a wheel – the money

wheel If the money moves quickly, we all get more of

it, but we have to spend it quickly If we stop spending, the wheel stops If we slow our spending, everyone slows

down, everyone gets poor and anxious


12

Financial Crisis

• Our economy relies on credit All electronic money is credit, for example Credit can be moved around the money wheel

much faster than cash If we had to use cash, the money wheel would

turn much more slowly – we would all be much poorer

• Banks must work to lend money quickly if the money wheel is to spin quickly


13

Financial Crisis

Brief history:1. High investor demand for mortgages2. Risky mortgages sold, then resold to

investors such as banks (“toxic assets”)3. “Housing bubble” burst, house prices fell4. Foreclosures, bank sales at low prices,

more foreclosures5. House buyers wait for lower prices, sales

fall, house prices fall again, etc.


14

Financial Crisis

Brief history:6. Banks can’t sell toxic assets, don’t know how

much they are worth, don’t know how much the banks are worth, get nervous, hoard cash

7. Banks stop lending, money wheel slows down for everyone

8. “Real economy” starts downward spiral9. Job losses, more foreclosures, housing prices

drop, people walk away from houses10. If people get used to this, gets hard to stop


15

Financial Crisis

• Banks and funds don’t want to admit they may be in trouble Then people take their money out and they

fail (go out of business)

• What scares economists is that there is no obvious way to stop this vicious circle, there is no obvious bottom point The whole economy could come to a halt No credit, no jobs, no food supply, no …


16

Financial Crisis

• If everyone spends their money the way they see fit, does the economy work well? Yes: Milton Friedman, 1912 - 2006.

Dominated recent economics. If government borrows money, that drives up interest rates, innovation slows, economy slows

No: John Maynard Keynes, 1183 – 1946. Government is “the spender of last resort” and must tax/borrow and spend to kick-start the money wheel, to stimulate the economy


17

Financial Crisis

• Keynes’s ideas dominated during and after the Great Depression. Friedman’s ideas dominated recently, up until about a year ago. Now economists are mostly educated on

Friedman’s ideas Those ideas are not working in the present

crisis If your future is iffy, conserve your cash, curb

your spending (banks too)


18

Financial Crisis

• If your future is iffy, conserve your cash, curb your spending (banks too) But this makes the economy worse – for

everyone – layoffs, unable to borrow, etc.• Now most economists are becoming

Keynesians, but without the training and discussions, so we are making it up as we go along


19

Financial Crisis

• Obama: then do everything to force spending

• Bernanke (Fed): but this may not be enough – may have to fix toxic assets

• Bailout is not the purpose – getting the money wheel moving is

• Tax rebates don’t work well for this – people don’t spend them

The Human Footprint


21

The Human Footprint• Quick review of subtopics – all interlocked

Population Urbanization Development / disease Food / fish Failed States Water Ecosystem services Energy / Global Warming Sustainability Consumption & waste Land: dwelling & food Tragedy of Commons


22

The Human Footprint

• Refers to total human impact on earth Includes how we affect ourselves

• US is not typical – we are at the rich end

• Many systems world depends on are stretched now

• Will get worse Earth’s population 6.6 B now, headed for

9.4 B – ↑ 50%


23

Human Population (Billions)

Region 2007 Pop 2050 UN est.

World 6.6 9.1

China 1.3 1.4

India 1.0 1.5

US 0.31 0.41

Europe 0.73 0.65

More Developed 1.2 1.2

Less Developed 5.4 7.8

Least Developed 0.80 1.7


24

The Human Footprint

• Footprint will get larger Rest of humanity wants to be like developed

world US ~4.5% of population For example, we consume 20 M Bbl/day of

petroleum, whole world consumes 80 (US 25%)

Factor of 5.6 greater if they achieve our current lifestyle


25

The Human Footprint

• Will get worse Plus safety factor because systems are

stretched now, maybe 1.5 Total increase in consumption:

1.5 (population) × 5.6 (consumption) × 1.5 (safety) = 12.6

No one knows how to produce this much more in any aspect

THEREFORE: future will be VERY different

Your Research Paper


27

Scope: Three Aspects

• The range or scope for each topic has six aspects:a. Adequacy of current supplyb. Adequacy if current trends continue

Population, development

c. New technology and methodsd. Sustainabilitye. Subtopic scope: all types (e.g. for food), a class of

types (e.g. grains) or one type (e.g. rice)f. Geographical scope: worldwide, regional or

national? (NOT local, e.g. Detroit))


28

Choosing Your Scope

• On your own, you can narrow one of f or g by one level

• If you want to narrow two aspects or more than one level of the scope, you need to: Describe what you want to do Get my approval

• If, when you submit your topic on Moodle, you just use the one-word topic, you are choosing the full scope (all 3 aspects)


29

Stick With Your Choice

• Last semester, many people said they kept changing their topic because they “found more research resources” on another topic They did not finish the paper (did not even get

a good start) You will be able to find more than enough

resources on any one of these topics If you do change topic, you have to repost on

Moodle.• Do not erase old topic, just put the new one

underneath

Writing


31

Teaching Writing

• Last semester, I spent a lot of course time and on writing, and grading time on correcting writing problems

• It didn’t seem to make any difference Those who wrote well coming in, did well Those who could not write, didn’t seem to

apply anything we went over

• What to do?


32

#1 Reason for Writing

• To organize your own thinking

#1 Way to Good Writing• Have something you want to say

#1 Way to Find Mistakes• Read your Essay out loud to yourself, and

listen


33

• www.is.wayne.edu/olgt then link to Writing Guide, or use The Everyday Writer

• Writing Center in 2310 UGL / 313-577-2544

• Many of you have heard this before, but the problem is applying this stuff

More Examples and Details


34

Common Writing Problems• Functional grammar

Rules of grammar have a purpose – to transmit meaning

Rules of grammar are always changing Different grammars for different groups Get too far from the group’s grammar and

you are not understood (must change with changes)

The further you get from the group’s grammar, the harder it is to understand you


35

Common Writing Problems• Functional grammar

• Being able to use good standard grammar is like dressing well for a job interview


36

Writing

• Write one-half page on how this semester is starting out for you – fifteen minutes Give a clear overall impression of your experience Give specific examples in an organized manner No spelling or grammar standards as long as

meaning is clear• Group critique – read yours aloud to the group• Whole group discusses each piece and makes

suggestions for improvements, you take notes• Rewrite, turn both in


37

For Next Week…

• Have: Three-ring research binder 3½-inch floppy diskette labeled with your

name, or a USB flash drive, any capacity

• Next two weeks: class meets in Computer Lab C (Room 3150) UGL, then back here A way to access an email account using a

web browser – do you know your password?

• Be ready for Moodle picture

senior seminar 2 winter 2009 isp 4860 section 002 (bowen) class 1, january 14 course web site:

Documents