Read on the Google Doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eZsMQXI87cCsveo3QapPI_jHuK4hZWuHDOazKG3V8-I/edit?usp=sharing

Maxfield Chan, Erika Talero, Kaden Kwon

OR

English 137H

November – December 2023

Duties

Max: Main Scribe, maybe narrate, develop script, 

Erika: Park Ranger, supplementary scribe, develop script

Kaden: Goalkeeper,  supplementary scribe, develop script

Unassigned role: Video editor 

Timeline

Unfortunately due to a last minute topic change, we are running behind

• ASAP: Assign more concrete focuses for each member
• Nov 28: complete research, generate a library of images and clips
• Nov 30: Finish Script
• Dec 1-2: Recording done, begin editing
• Dec 3: Rough draft submitted, prioritize arguments pro/against and history, transitions may have to be messy for rough draft given time
• Dec 6: Final Draft, have each member review and/or express concerns
• Dec 8: Submit final draft

 

Day One + Two Topic Brainstorming

Max was sick day one, so some independent brainstorming; here’s a summary:

• History of the US-Mexico border and the transition from migrants crossing through cities to enduring harsh desert crossings.
• Book Banning – LGBTQ+ / Critical Race Theory
• Auto manufacturers lobby for the interstate system and its effects on public transportation
• Decline of U.S. based manufacturing examining the policies and environment in the 1970s and 80s.
• Mistreatment of indigenous peoples in the U.S.
• Human Trafficking
  • Sof
• Childhood Obesity
  • Bogalusa study
• Capital Punishment and Death Penalty
• Electoral College and Voting Infrastructure 
• Minimum wage and tipping

 

Day Two

On day two, we gathered our ideas and deliberated which one to pick.  Our top choices were childhood obesity, immigration, and human trafficking, where we ended up picking the rise in childhood obesity, specifically weight loss camps.  (Switched to immigration, specifically the “prevention through deterrence” policy, see below)

 

Day 3 (This is included just for record keeping purposes, but can be disregarded)

Firstly, we received guidance from Prof. Taheri to remember to include potential solutions to the problem, as those are the more controversial problems.

 

Then, we did research on each of our selected areas:

Max:

Dumitrescu, Claudia, et al. “Examining Consumers’ Responses to Corporate Social 

Responsibility Addressing Childhood Obesity: The Mediating Role of Attributional Judgments.” Journal of Business Research, vol. 88, Elsevier BV, July 2018, pp. 132–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.03.006. 

• Use this source to introduce corporate social responsibility
• Maybe start with the example of Jack in the Box removing toys from meals and providing the option of apples instead of french fries

Rhodan, Maya. “Burger King Quietly Drops Sugary Soft Drinks From Kids’ Menu.” Time, 10 

Mar. 2015, time.com/3738659/burger-king-soda-kids-menu.

• Burger King joins other restaurant chains in dropping soda from their kids menu (2015)

 

Reynolds, Sharon. “Highly Processed Foods Form Bulk of U.S. Youths’ Diets.” National 

Institutes of Health (NIH), 24 Aug. 2021, www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/highly-processed-foods-form-bulk-us-youths-diets.

• “Overall, the proportion of calories in youths’ diets that came from ultra-processed foods rose between 1999 to 2018, from about 61% to 67%. The proportion from whole, unprocessed foods dropped from almost 29% to 23.5% during the same time period.”
• “The biggest jump in ultra-processed food consumption came from ready-to-heat and -eat dishes, which accounted for about 11% of daily calories in 2018, compared with 2% in 1999. The percentage of calories that came from sweets and sweet snacks also rose during the time period studied, from about 10% to almost 13%.”

 

Maybe talk about sugar taxes as a controversial way to curb rates

 

Moss, Michael. “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food.” The New York Times 

Magazine, The New York Times Company, 20 Feb. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html. 

• TOP SOURCE!!!!
• Mudd, vice president for Kraft at a convention for food companies repeated a quote, “As a culture, we’ve become upset by the tobacco companies advertising to children, but we sit idly by while the food companies do the very same thing. And we could make a claim that the toll taken on the public health by a poor diet rivals that taken by tobacco.”
• Sanger, CEO of General Mills responded, “Don’t talk to me about nutrition,” he reportedly said, taking on the voice of the typical consumer. “Talk to me about taste, and if this stuff tastes better, don’t run around trying to sell stuff that doesn’t taste good.”
• The Story of Lunchables: A balance between production cost and consumer liking:
  • Solving the problem of mothers not having enough time to make food for their children 
  • Created a plate with processed meats, crackers, suspect cheeses…
  • Weren’t making enough money, so “When in doubt, add sugar. “Lunchables With Dessert is a logical extension,” an Oscar Mayer official reported to Philip Morris executives in early 1991.”
  • “‘People could point to these things and say, ‘They’ve got too much sugar, they’ve got too much salt,’ ” Bible said. “Well, that’s what the consumer wants, and we’re not putting a gun to their head to eat it. That’s what they want. If we give them less, they’ll buy less, and the competitor will get our market. So you’re sort of trapped.” (Bible would later press Kraft to reconsider its reliance on salt, sugar and fat.)”

 

Day 3: Unfortunately due to lack of clarity and size of conflict regarding weight loss camps after beginning research, we have decided to switch topics to immigration along the U.S. Mexico border, narrowing down on the concept of “prevention through deterrence,” and its horrific effects on those attempting to cross the Sonoran desert balanced with the concerns of Americans on border security.

 

Immigration is a big topic in any developed country, as a stable society necessitates a balance between resources and a population for them to be spread across.  This creates cases where those seeking immigration are turned away, leaving them in a situation lacking security, money, and a clear future.  Sometimes, this leads to illegal border crossings, especially concerning the US-Mexico border.  However, the US-Mexico Border has changed significantly since the late eighties to now, with benefits and drawbacks for both migrants and U.S. citizens.  As the history of the controversy outlines in more detail below, the US government has shifted approaches from a relatively relaxed border to one that, although not heavily monitored, forces migrants through unimaginable conditions through the Sonoran desert, but may technically have lowered illegal immigration figures because of death in the desert.  The controversy around this approach, dubbed “prevention through deterrence,” has two sides where some see illegal immigration as harmful to the country, and that the measures taken, although scary, are acceptable, while others note the deaths of desperate and underprivileged people, and believe their humanity should be placed above border concerns.

Focusing on the project more specifically, we plan to answer the following questions concerning the rise of the topic and different groups’ responses.  

1. What is the role of immigration, especially in a country as diverse as the United States?
2. How has policy affected the number of deaths resulting from illegal immigration attempts?
3. How should we prioritize the distresses of local communities on the U.S side of the border?
   1. Provide an example of a person who expresses these concerns
4. How should we prioritize the distresses of migrants, not only in their home countries, but the potentially illegal journey to the U.S? Should we concern ourselves with the safety of migrants?
   1. Provide an example of a person who knows the concerns of immigrants 
5. Examine the events following the implementation of policy, like the formation of smuggling groups.  Should we continue to use prevention through deterrence and potentially create an “arms-race” with these groups, or do we allow migration more liberally, either legally or illegally? 

 

Here’s a history of the controversy we’re trying to illustrate: 

• Illegal immigration prior to prevention through deterrence generally consisted of groups of migrants attempting to outrun border patrol agents near cities.  If one didn’t make it through or got caught, they would be “sent back”. 
  • However, nothing stopped them from just trying again. 
  • Border patrol was overwhelmed, once attempts were exceeding 10,000 per day

 

• In an attempt to combat this, some border patrol agents infringed on the rights of American citizens and harassed school children by asking for proof of citizenship/immigration status based on the color of their skin.
  • A lawsuit against this practice was successful, so a different strategy was adopted

 

• Operation Blockade, in 1993 consisted of a ton of border patrol agents led by Reyes, forming a human wall where fence hopping was popular, which led to outcry from human rights groups, but was supported by Americans living along the border. 
  • (We could focus a bit on opinions here, some of which want to stop illegal immigration, while others see the humanitarian problems arising from preventing immigrants from working.)
  • This could be the earliest version of prevention through deterrence in our project.

 

• Upon seeing the support, Attn Gen. Janet Reno allowed the blockade to continue, despite skepticism at first. 
  • In 1994, Operation Gatekeeper cemented this practice (probably our main focus)

 

• As a result of these blockades around relatively geographically safe regions, many were pushed into the Sonoran Desert, leading to hundreds of migrant deaths per year.  This number is probably an underestimate, since it was discovered through experimentation that bodies decay rapidly in the conditions of the desert, often due to vultures.
• Another unintended consequence of this was the formation of the human smuggling sector across the border, which often strips migrants of everything they own and sometimes results in successful passage, while sometimes it leads to death.  
• The main controversy of this is the balance of border security and immigrant humanity.  In fact, the way that the US government could detect the effectiveness of prevention through deterrence was how many deaths were present.
• How Deterrence Policies Create Border Chaos – The Atlantic
• How U.S. Policy Turned the Sonoran Desert Into a Graveyard for Migrants – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

Media Usage:

• We plan to use a variety of images, but will also include video snippets of immigration, other new coverage, and video editing techniques to highlight certain aspects of images/headlines.  
• Undoubtedly, there will be some stock photo usage, mostly from unsplash
• We hope to match the photos with the emotion that each side of the argument feels by picking/adjusting color and brightness, as well as the duration of playtime.
• Depending on the time available, simple self-created graphics or diagrams will be included to illustrate overviews of concerns and any data points included. 
• Humanity and treatment of those in unfortunate situations is a big highlight of our controversy.  If we can source these, we would like to include close up images of thought evoking, yet tasteful images.