Welcome...and initial guidelines...

This blog will be used in the spring of 2008 by 80+ students at Drexel University to investigate the effects of Iraq on culture and the reverse. Our goal will be to better understand why the US is in Iraq, and to question whether literature can help us on this journey.

Weekly plans and other materials will always be posted in Vista, not this blog. So go to Bb Vista to get the discussion prompts and other instructions.

I intend this blog to manage our discussions and track our collective investigation.

You should have received an email from me inviting you to become a contributor to this blog. The email was sent Monday afternoon to your official Drexel email address.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Lost and Forgotten: Elian Gonzalez

In 2000 a young Cuban boy by the name of Elian Gonzalez made headlines all over the news and had many people voicing their opinions. In case you forget, this boy was coming over to America from cuba with his mother and ten others. All but he and the boats operator died during the trip. Two fishermen spotted this boy in the ocean and dropped him in INS. He was than sent to live with his great uncle in Miami. His father called the United States of America and stated that he did not know that his son was leaving with his ex wife and should be immediately returned to cuba to be with him. His great uncle, along with the rest of the nation, believed that he should stay in Miami and get out of Cuba. There was great debate, I remember seeing this on CNN and laughing. The Cuban government, the American government, his father, his grandmothers, and his great uncle all began to debate about the fate of this boy. I thought that the world was so opinionated about this little boy who meant nothing to them and it was topping the news world. If I was to mention the name Elian Gonzalez i guarantee that no body would know who I was talking about, yet it made such a big headline back in 2000.

1 comment:

future_tristar said...

I think that the news should give us updates on historical events such as this. It was a huge ordeal...and yet, as you say: nobody would know who you were talking about if you said the name 'Elian Gonzalez'.

The news should definitely update us...they should have a segment everyday that we can "See Where They Are Now" or "This Day In History"...so we are always reminded of the things that have occured.