by LG Jackson“The weather is here. Wish you were beautiful.” - Jimmy Buffett
The day started as any day should in Ipanema Beach. I woke up early to spend a few hours on the beach. I was able to round up some fellow Mountaineers and we took to the beach for some volleyball. Tricia Sparks and I totally dominated in the hurricane force winds and rain. We decided to head back to the beach house after an incidental volley into Tricia’s face.
Around noon we made our second trip to Foundation Getulio Vargas for another round of rousing lectures and discussion. Little did I know of the controversy that would erupt. But more about that later. Professor Blumenthal gave the first presentation on Intelligence and the State. What struck me as most interesting was the prominence of writers in Brazil as compared to the U.S. Professor B. claims that writers can be diplomats, presidents, and advisors, but not in the U.S. He blames this on the fact that the U.S. does not take writers seriously. The once sacred profession has lost its shine. The solution, in Professor Blumenthal’s opinion, is to take writers more seriously.
The next speaker was FGV’s own Professor Antonio Carvalho Cabral. He delivered a lecture on intellectual property in Brazil. Professor Cabral works for the Centro De Tecnologia E Sociedade. The center researches the public interest in intellectual property rights in Brazil. Professor Cabral began his lecture with an interesting statistic that is common to the U.S. as well: From 2000-2004, CD sales in Brazil have dropped significantly. This is the result of the internet and the growth of pirating music. Piracy refers to illegally downloading or otherwise illegally obtaining music, videos, software, etc. from the internet. Furthermore, there is no “fair use” in Brazil as in the U.S. Therefore, an individual who buys a CD cannot copy it for his own use. Professor Cabral also mentioned several sites that provide free music content to users who can download and opt to pay for the music they enjoy. For example, Jamendo.com found that 40% of individuals paid $10 for their downloads. In addition to music, users can access research databases for free at sciELO.com. Finally, Brazil uses Creative Commons which is a public license that allows the creator to specify what can be done with the works. This is an alternative to a purely public license which would allow any manipulation or modification of an individual’s work.
The final and most heated lecture of the three weeks in Brazil was given by West Virginia University Professor andré douglas pond cummings. The lecture was on the global financial crisis in Brazil. Following up on a previous lecture in Brazil, the class reiterated the reasons for the global financial crisis. The Brazilian students then gave their input on the crisis. The Brazilian opinion was that the wave of fear did not affect them and the students did not feel like they were living in a crisis. Furthermore, the students felt the banking and car industry was the hardest hit in Brazil and as a result, President Lula was taking steps to become independent from U.S. markets.The debate intensified when Professor cummings began the discussion on the role of minorities and the Community Reinvestment Act in the crisis. Conflicting views were strong as Professor cummings described a widely held and erroneous view that minorities were to blame for the crisis. Two West Virginia University students claimed it was only fringe views not widely believed and cited the lack of news coverage on the issue. At this point, one West Virginia University student became so upset that he left the classroom never to return. As the debate waged on, I felt John Floyd made an excellent point that the issue was politically motivated in an attempt to take a swipe at President Carter, who supported the Community Reinvestment Act, and President Clinton, who pushed the act with deregulation. His point was followed up by Steve Broadwater who explained that the issue was raised right before the election of President Obama and was potentially used to stir voters. Professor cummings, responding to the opposing views, stated that this was not a fringe view and that he had heard the position raised by economists, politicians, professors and laypersons from across the country. Despite the controversy, all agreed that it is wrong to blame minorities for the current financial crisis.
Following the intense debate, the evening mellowed out as we made our way on the subway to Ana Luiza’s house for dinner. Although public transit is frightening and we had to ask several people for directions, we finally made it. The food was excellent. Our hosts had prepared a traditional Brazilian dish made of several different meats. After thanking Ana Luiza and her family for the wonderful meal, we made our way back to the hostel. Lying in bed, it hit me that we only have a few days left in Brazil. A mix of emotions shot through me. While I cannot wait to get back to my own bed and American food, I would love to spend another three weeks in Brazil. There is nothing left to do but take in the remaining days and be thankful for an amazing trip.
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