D Block Criminology 12 - Since we got to go into the library today we'll watch the White Collar episode we were going to look at yesterday. The episode I’d like you to show is called Hard Sell from season 1, which deals with stock manipulation and churning the value of stock in a boiler room (metaphor). From tv.com...
The scam is a "pump and dump", in which a group of "junior Gordon Gekkos" is selling bad stock. The guy in charge buys a large amount of dollar stocks, and has his men inflate the price by selling it over the phone. When the price peaks, guy in charge dumps the stock and leaves the buyers holding worthless shares. The average person loses $30,000, and some victims have lost their homes. The boiler room is mobile, moving to a new location after each stock dump
This episode deals with the white collar crime unit
that we previously covered in Criminology and I’d like you to have a discussion
about this:
Agent Burke describes the boiler
room salesmen as "junior Gordon Gekkos". Gordon Gekko was the mega-successful,
totally ruthless stock trader played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Wall Street. Minor trader Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen)
tries to break into the big time by following Gekko's
merciless killer-instinct methods. Along the way Fox discovers that Gekko-style
success can cost dearly. One of the most famous quotes
from the movie is when Gekko says “Greed, for lack
of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts
through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of
its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward
surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper,
but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.”
So we’ve looked at
psychopaths in Criminology and we watched “The Corporation” which compared
modern business to psychopaths…Gordon Gekko is the embodiment of the psychopath
in the 1980’s corporate world while the boiler room characters in White Collar
are a 2000’s version of the same thing. So… does Avery Phillips (the “man behind
the curtain”) exhibit psychopathic traits and if he’s successful what does that
say about business (corporate) crime?
C Block Geography 12 - Today we'll watch Home, an incredible documentary by
Yann Arthus-Bertrand who also helped to initiate a foundation called Good Planet. Please take some time to
share this movie with as many family and friends as you can. You can watch it on
line at the YouTube
homeproject's channel or connect with it on the film's Facebook page.Think about the title. What is our collective home? Now think about the statement from the beginning of the film today...
Listen to me, please. You're like me, a homo sapiens. A wise human. Life; a miracle in the universe appeared around 4 billion years ago and we humans only 200,000 years ago, yet we have succeeded in disrupting the balance so essential to life. Listen carefully to this extraordinary story, which is yours, and decide what you want to do with it.
B Block Law 12 - This is it...today I have the notebooks for you to finish up your work on the major civil law project. Not to sound pushy but you have today to work on this assignment in class and that's it...like no more...really...I'm serious, you have no more time in class to get this done and it's a major project...and you've had all term to work on it...no pressure. If you are done then I'd like you to begin your preparations for the final exam (Wednesday and Thursday next week). I'll help you with your preparations tomorrow.
A Block Social Studies 11 - Today we'll watch a 20 minute on line video called the Story of Stuff.
We'll end the class with a seemingly simple question...."How Much do You Consume?" This is directly connected with a concept called "Ecological Footprint" and we'll be looking at the impact of our "western" consumption based society on the global environment. Here are some websites to look at when considering our ecological footprint:
World Wildlife Fund - Living Planet Report
A Graphic Look at the State of the World
David Suzuki Foundation
Global Footprint Network
Zero Footprint Calculator
Earth Day
No comments:
Post a Comment