Our world has become a global neighborhood. It is no wonder, then, that global awareness is an important topic of discussion among administrators and faculty in many American community colleges today. This interest in global awareness can be attributed partially to increased world travel, new developments in communication technology, and large-scale immigration. Historically, millions of people from many foreign countries have taken up permanent residence in the United Statessome of them in search of work, some in search of political freedom, some legal, and some not. Indeed, the large influx of Hispanics who have immigrated to the United States over the past twenty years has resulted in an astounding fact: is now the fourth largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. And by the year 2000, Hispanics will represent the largest minority of the U.S. population. Some Americans consider this demographic change as a threat to the well-being of their country. America is for Americans! they shout. Close the borders and stop the influx of now! In my home state of Michiganthe great automobile state some of these isolationists paste bumper stickers on their cars that state: Hungry? Eat your foreign car! In a recent poll, however, Americans were asked that if they had a choice between two boxes containing undisclosed merchandise, one marked Made in Japan, the other marked Made in U.S.A., which box would they choose? majority of those surveyed said that they would select the box marked Made in Japan. If this poll had been taken twenty years ago, the results would have been exactly the opposite. Fortunately, many Americans view the recent waves of immigrants in a more favorable light; they realize that, historically speaking, those so-called foreigners helped to weave the multi-faceted fabric of our nation, and they have strengthened, not weakened, its character. United States has become increasingly interdependent with other nations within a highly competitive international marketplace. In economic terms, the American century is ov : The American economy now lives on borrowed time and borrowed money, its prosperity less and less underwritten by its productive capacity and more and more by 'the kindness of strangers' who speak German or Japanese (U.S. News & World Reports, 22). If we are to survive as a powerful nation, we ust understand the language and culture of our global neighbors, and we must learn to ooperate with them. In the current world community, we cannot afford to be both isolationists and survivors. Recent developments in high technology have also contributed to shaping our planet into a global neighborhood. Today, we take for granted a segment of the nightly news that is telecasted directly from Moscow, Tokyo, Sydney, Washington or Johannesburg, and beamed into our living rooms instantly by satellite stations orbiting the Earth. Indeed, the public will soon have the opportunity to orbit the Earth. Recently, the Society Expeditions Space Travel Company announced that i will begin its first public-access space voyages on October 12, 1992-the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus. And beginning in 2010, passengers will fly on the spaceplane from New York to Tokyo in two and one-half hours.
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Dec 1, 1999
Gwyer Schuyler 
Open Access