Week 9 Preclass
Please read and consider the below before start of class. The questions given are only study questions not homework to be answered. Talk about it all with your classmates, friends, or TAs, as you like.
Post-class for Monday
(1) Please read the brief article, “George the Snail, Believed to Be the Last of His Species, Dies at 14 in Hawaii.”
Available online via: George the Snail, Believed to Be the Last of His Species, Dies at 14 in Hawaii
Q.1. What fraction of Hawaiian snail species have gone extinct in the last several hundred years?
Q.2. What three factors are thought or known to have contributed to snail extinctions on Hawaii?
Q.3. What hope motivated deep-freezing a two millimeter slice of George’s foot in 2017?
(2) Please skim the article by our own Michael Specter, “Could Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Save Hawaii’s Endangered Birds?”
Available online via: Could Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Save Hawaii’s Endangered Birds?
Q.4. How do mosquitoes contribute to the extinction of native Hawaiian birds?
Q.5. Why are there mosquitos on Hawaii?
(3) Please consider the video introduction to “gene drives” available here: What’s a gene drive?
Please pay special attention to the 2.5 minutes of material starting around 30 seconds into the video.
Self-study Questions:
Q.6. What is a gene drive?
Q.7. What is CRISPR?
Q.8. What is the key insight enabling CRISPR-enabled gene drives?
See (Hint — listen for when the narrator exclaims, “…also contained a little bit of code…”)
Post-class for Wednesday
Post-class will be shared after the class.
Preclass for Friday
Please skim the essay by John Maynard Keynes, Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren
full link also: http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf
Q.1. What was the state of the global economy when Keynes published his essay?
Q.2. Who are Keynes “grandchildren” and what does Keynes conclude regarding their future economic prospects?
Q.3. Did Keynes’ prediction come true? If not, why?
Next, watch the following 5’ of Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream speech
Q.4. What is the difference between a dream and a plan?
Q.5. How would the speech be different if it was addressing a plan instead of a dream?
Please briefly examine the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Q.6. Which one do you think is most important?
Q.7. Are these goals articulated as a dream or a plan?
Now watch Michael Render’s (AKA Killer Mike) Plot, Plan, Strategize, Organize and Mobilize speech from last week.
Q.8. What is Mike’s message?
Familiarize yourself with Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969) by skimming the material online here:
Q.9. According to this case, what conditions must all be met in order to make certain speech or acts illegal?
Finally, familiarize yourself with Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964) by skimming the material online here:
Q.10. What is Justice Potter Stewart most known for regarding his opinion in this case?
Optional video: Please watch late Elijah Cummings’ remarks at Cohen hearing from Feb of 2019. Particularly pay attention to his wish (start around 2’) for a better and intact democracy, the greatest gift, that we can can give to our children.
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