The Mind of Migel from Sept. 13, 2007

More than six years following the devastating tragedy that occurred Sept. 11, 2001; one has to beg the question: have we as a nation already become desensitized to the horrific events of that day? Or are we still living vigilantly, as if our soil had just been attacked? Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between.
It’s easy for people to get discouraged over the governments handling (or mishandling) of the War on Terror. Rather than pursue Osama bin Laden the perpetrator of the attacks a any cost, the fight was taken to Iraq. It is here that the Bush Administration has opted to pursue the business of nation-building instead of hunting down the people responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.
Like I said, it’s easy to get discouraged over the results (or lack thereof) of the war thus far. But that doesn’t make anyone less patriotic. As Mark Twain put it, “Patriotism is supporting your country at all times and your government when it deserves it.” Having said that, I believe it is critical that we remain committed to the cause of fighting terror – wherever it may be. Sure Iraq was a mistake; but the fact is that we are there now and we’ll probably have to stay there for a while until we can bring our troops back home. Am I happy about that? No, not at all. But the fact is that a withdrawal would be disastrous. Last I heard, the American people didn’t give up on a job before it was finished. Americans usually don’t just forget things like a natural disaster or a stunning attack on our own soil. Then again, from what I’ve seen lately in the news it’s not that hard to become distracted from things that really matter.
When Miss South Carolina screwed up on national television, delivering an absurd answer to a relatively easy question in Miss Teen USA, she got to go onto the Today Show. Why? So a beauty queen made a fool out of herself on TV…so what? Is it really worth putting her on the cover of a newspaper or letting her tell her ‘side of the story’ when that coverage could have gone to educating people about what’s going on in Iraq? Or maybe the space could’ve gone to a story about how almost three quarters of New Orleans is still in ruins following Hurricane Katrina.
The reality of the situation is that our generation has its work cut out for it. But since when has that stopped any group of Americans before?
The only mistake in this global war on terror is that we still have the gloves on. If you want it to end, it’s not going to be pretty.
Unfortunately, from what I see in people today is that if it’s too hard, folks don’t want to do it. Does anyone today think about how the New York City subway system was built more than 100 years ago? People just take for granted that it’s there. No thinking about the inordinate manpower hours and all the work that went into it.
The same goes for this War on Terror. Does anyone truly understand what its like to walk in the boots of our soldiers? Do you know how you would react with Improvised Explosives and bullets flying? Be honest, most of you don’t, but you certainly do have an opinion as to how it could be done better, don’t you?
9/11 united us all for a brief fleeting moment…and then it got hard. As the years go by we should keep focused on fighting this war (remember when it was still a ‘just’ war?) but make sure we’re doing it the right way.

Social Marketing and the Pro-Life Movement

Social marketing is a field which was first explored in the 1970’s. It can be defined as the application of commercial resources toward the solution of social problems in an effort to create ‘behavioral change.’ Social marketing deals more with the ‘selling’ of ideas rather than the normal definition of marketing which is concerned with selling products. Like commercial marketing, the primary focus is on the consumer – on learning what people want and need rather than trying to persuade them to buy what the company happens to be producing.

Around the same time that the concept of social marketing was defined, the abortion debate began in America. In the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, it was declared legal that women have the right to choose whether or not they wish to have abortions or keep their baby. The decision created a major ideological split in the minds of many Americans: those who are Pro-Choice (in favor of the decision) and Pro-Life (those who strongly oppose the Court’s decision.) For this assignment I have chosen to examine a campaign from the Pro-Life base and evaluate its effectiveness.

Student LifeNet is a coalition of pro-life students located throughout the United Kingdom. They have launched several campaigns since their creation in 1999 with the aim of changing the way people think about abortion – and ultimately earning more support for the pro-life movement. The first P (product) therefore, would be rather too complex to simply list one. Successful pro-life campaigns are usually characterized by literature (detailing the pro-life mission, etc.) and protests. According to their website, the first major campaign launched by Student LifeNet was in October of 1999. It focused on the birth of the six billionth human being. This campaign featured protests in front of the UK Parliament as well as other rallies. The product for a campaign such as this is difficult to simply define as it is an idea which the group is trying to sell; (if an individual identifies with the ideal than they are likely to join in the protests and reinforce the group.)

The next P is price. For a campaign such as this, there isn’t really a monetary price. The price typically associated with a pro-life campaign is ideological. In order for consumers to obtain the product, they need only read some literature and join up with the pro-life movement.

The third P (place) similarly does not really relate with this issue since it is a global, intangible topic. For a campaign such as the Student LifeNet one, the Place could refer to the literature they distribute, the demonstrations they organized or the mass media coverage they received during the campaign. The social marketing product can reach consumers in any number of ways.

The fourth and final P (promotion) is an overall evaluation of the effectiveness of the campaign. With the Student LifeNet example, it is difficult to discuss the success of the campaign since it is so intangible. Nevertheless, their rally in front of Parliament did attract over a thousand people to attend. In the United States, no pro-life campaigns have ever achieved their goal of causing the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Yet, that doesn’t mean they weren’t successful. The goal of a social marketing campaign is to change a person’s behavior and many pro-life campaigns in America have done that.

American Metaphor

Rich Migel
March 20, 2007

Metaphors contribute much to the lexicon of any single culture. To ‘insiders’ of that culture, they represent an easy way to make everyday language a bit more interesting. Yet, to the ‘outsiders’ of that culture these metaphors could easily be left out of the conversation and feel intimidated if they don’t understand what’s being said. Americans use so many metaphors that often, we don’t even think when doing it. Metaphors are a unique part of each culture and have a variety of uses. In fact, a good portion of this essay is probably written in metaphor.

Americans use many phrases to help express their perspectives on life. When it’s pouring rain outside a common phrase would be “it’s raining cats and dogs out there.” Someone from a different culture might not actually infer that household pets are falling from the sky; but they still might misinterpret what’s being said. To “work like a dog” is to work really hard a one’s job. Animal metaphors are easily conceived because of the relationship many people share with pets, nature, etc.

One of the most common places to find metaphors is in music. Lyrics always rely on metaphor in order to convey the image or emotion the artist wants. While limiting the number of words they use at the same time. A great example of this is a John Mayer song form a few years back entitled “Your Body is a Wonderland.” Rather than use a worn-out, clichéd phrase such as ‘you’re really hot,’ Mayer opted for an innovative title for his song and created a new way to express the emotion of love.

One of the most enduring metaphorical images of America is that of the “Melting Pot.” It is an idea that ingredients go into a pot (people of different cultures and religions) and are then combined so as to lose discrete identities, and to a large degree yield a final product which has a more uniform consistency and flavor – something quite different from the original inputs. The melting pot term was derived from the early twentieth century period of immigration where millions of Europeans came to the States in search of a better life. Even now, 100 years later, Americans still identify with the country as a melting pot for all peoples.

Metaphors can be found in all phases of American culture – and in all other cultures for that matter. They contribute much to the way we communicate, the way we express emotions in song, and even the way we identify ourselves.

Cultural Continuums of Iran and USA

Rich Migel
February 21, 2007
MCO 399
Prof. McCarthy

Culture and communication helps to shape the way people live and think in the world. Exploring the ways two cultures communicate is key to understanding the people of those nations. Through cultural continuums one is able to observe similarities and differences between Iranian and American cultures.
Iran is one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations. The history of Iran covers over six thousand years, and throughout history, Iran has been of great political importance because of its central location in Eurasia. The cultures in general are vastly different. For the most part, America is far more liberal and open-minded then the Iranians. Their views are controlled by the Islamic Koran and the government – which restricts things ranging from how much clothing women can wear, to who can own a company. America inherited its culture from the Western European immigrants that settled it. Likewise, Iran inherited its culture from the Ancient Persian Empire. Iran, like many other countries of Western Asia, has the Persians to thank for much of their current culture. From the Persians the Iranians inherited the religion of Islam which has become so prevalent in the country that its official name is The Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States was founded on secular principles; however, Christianity has certainly become just as insidious in this country as Islam is in Iran.
Iran is more likely to be classified as a High-Context culture rather than Low-Context. In public, men rarely are allowed to talk to women due to the laws of Islam. In America however, communication and public discourse is encouraged. It is thought to be a major attribute of any democratic society and communication has always flourished here. Also, it could be said that America is a direct culture while Iran is indirect. Americans always prefer to say what is on their minds and say it quickly. For Iranians, however, indirectness and word games are a large part of their culture. They are a very poetic culture and have always loved poetry.

Another important difference is the way communication takes place. The government runs the broadcast media, which includes three national radio stations and two national television networks, as well as dozens of local radio and television stations. In 2000 there were 252 radios and 158 television sets in use for every 1,000 residents. There were 219 telephone lines and 110 personal computers for every 1,000 residents. Computers for home use became more affordable in the mid-1990s, and since then demand for access to the Internet has increased. In 1998 the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications began selling Internet accounts to the general public. In America, however, communications has always been an independent entrepreneurial endeavor on the part of industry. The government has never been able to control the media because we are a free capitalist society, as opposed to the government-controlled media of Iran.
I would argue that both cultures are literate. Indeed, two distinctions of oral and literate have almost become a thing of the past as many cultures are literate and continue to grow in the digital age. According to R.S. Zaharna, “Whereas literate cultures may place a higher premium on accuracy and precision than on symbolism, in the oral cultures the weights are reversed. In oral cultures there appears to be greater involvement on the part of the audience, and this in turn, affects the importance of style and devices that enhance audience rapport.” I believe that both Iran and America belong under the literate field.
The comparison of these two cultures and how they communicate is increasingly important as the tension between the two is growing on a daily basis. If the two are to succeed in creating and fostering peace, it is critical that both nations and peoples attempt to understand each other’s cultures first.

How I identify myself

How do I identify myself in a global sense? That might be one of the hardest questions that has ever been asked of me. I have always viewed myself as an Irish-Catholic American, born and raised in New Jersey, with a passion for the arts (i.e. writing, reading, seeing classic flims, etc.)
That may very well be the broadest representation of myself I have ever given - meaning there is obviously much more to me and how I view myself. But I think it is interesting looking at an exercise like this from a global perspective, like: how I would describe myself in a few sentences to someone from India. I hope my answer above would make at least some sense to most of the people around the world.
In a narrower sense, I also am very passionate about sports teams (all of the New York teams) music, video games and becoming a journalist or writer. Since my first year of high school, I have known that I want to be a writer when I "grow up." I have spent several years working on the Ionian (the college newspaper) and hopefully I can get an internship this summer and then a job after graduation working for a newspaper.