UGC 112

Response Question:Write a short explanation of your choices of

articles, telling us how the subjects relate either to the themes in the
No-Nonsense Guide. [Also, pick up a free New York Times and find 2
articles, one that speaks to global connections, whether economic,
cultural, political, or biological, and one that speaks to economic,
cultural, political, or biological diversity.]

The articles I chose to write about were "An American Warning to

China Causes a Ripple effect on the Korean Peninsula" by Mark Landler

and Martin Fackler and "A Path Is Sought for States To Escape Debt

Burdens" by Mary Williams Walsh. The articles are global political and

economic and political respectively. I chose these articles because they

are relevant to my interests. As a Korean citizen, the actions of China

and American in relation to South and North Korea is extremely

relevant to me. Also, as an individual living in New York, state debt is

also relevant to me, New York has a relatively high debt along with

other states such as California and Illinois.

The first article focuses on Sino-American relations as well as the

growing concern lately of the conflict between the two Koreas. The

increasing tension between America, China and North and South Korea

emphasizes the idea of globalization found within Ellwood's No-

Nonsense Guide. Through globalization, the world has "shrunk" and

countries that were once isolated from each other are no longer

isolated. North Korea has always been a hot button issue for the two

superpower countries. China has backed North Koreans since the

Korean war and Americans have backed South Korea. This strains Sino-

American relations because even though America and China are

trading partners, their respective Korean allies are enemies.

The second article speaks about American economic and political

problems. States within America have fallen on extremely tough times.

California, Illinois, and New York as just a few in a list of many states

that are looking at high debts. Because of their sovereign status, states

cannot seek help in federal bankruptcy court like cities. The article

writes about how something must be done to relieve the debt upon

heavily indebted states in order to prevent a catastrophe. This also

connects to globalization as written within Ellwood's No-Nonsense

Guide. Just as General Motor's and AIG's failure and bailout showed to

the world just how connected we are were as ripple effects hit other

countries and their economy, the rising debt of states shows and will

continue to show how connected the world is. Though the states are

within America, the effects of their debt will be long reaching. Just like

General Motor's and AIG's failure affected the other countries, so will

the rising debts of states.