This site if for use by students and faculty involved with the People & the Environment courses at Bemidji State University during Spring Semester 2004. The goal here is to develop consensus statements regarding specific topics addressed in class (or otherwise related). Once you have registered (see right), feel free to add to existing topics or to open new topics of your choosing. Again, the goal here is to develop a consensual understanding of the nature of specific problems and to begin to explore possible solutions. This process should help you clarify your own understanding and will help define key concepts for exams.

Corporate Control of News Media

The media tells us what the corporations want us to believe and know. They can influence our decisions with their analysis of events.

History is written by the winners.  The corporations are the winners so far.  Who you going to side with?  Hehehe.

Human Population Growth

Look at it this way. The next time you're outside walking to class, take a look around you. By the year 2050, there will be twice that many people walking to class. That also means that there will be twice as many people to clog-up the tunnels. That's why we should work on alternate forms of transportation. How about teleportation?

Human population growth is our biggest problem in my opinion.  People think they can still keep making babies, and all they're really doing is adding fuel to an inevitable fire.  The simple truth is that if we keep going the way we are, this planet simply won't sustain us.  So either we need to expand into outer space, or, how's this for a novel approach:  Stop having so many babies!

Global Climate Change

Did you know that in the 1970's Newsweek published an article outlining how scientists were gravely concerned about a "global cooling" phenomenon?

I'd like a link to this article.

http://www.globalclimate.org/Newsweek.htm

Purpose of Human Culture

I added this topic because after we handed in our papers, we never really talked about this. What is the purpose of human culture, anyway?