Money News 9.4

• Is it true that a Covid-19 vaccine hospital stay costs about $17,000? (PolitiFact)
• San Jose-sanctioned homeless RV park sparks neighbor backlash (KPIX-TV)
  
• This $85 million Los Angeles home includes a two-story Swarovski crystal chandelier (Architectural Digest)
• How will Corporate America handle Texas' abortion ban? (Daily Beast)
  
• FaZe Swagg shows off his sneaker collection (GQ) 

Reflection 2: You Poor Thing⁠—Songs for the Down and Out

For such a bleak subject, impoverishment is a surprisingly common theme for singers and songwriters. Perhaps the topic is so broadly relatable because most of us, at one time or another, have experienced financial stress. For their part, artists have harvested all aspects of monetary destitution for their songs, from desperation to denial to hope. For this reflection, you will examine, in depth, the lyrics of three iconic songs about being poor. 

Choose three of the songs from the set of your birthday month to write about:

January - March:

1. Phil Collins, "Another Day in a Paradise"
2. Tom Jones, "I Who Have Nothing"
3. Arrested Development, "Mr. Wendal"
4. Anaïs Mitchell, "Wedding Song"
5. Sade, "Jezebel"
6. Pet Shop Boys, "Rent"
   

April - June:

1. Loretta Lynn, "Coal Miner's Daughter" 
2. Bruce Hornsby and The Range, "That's the Way It Is"
3. Crystal Waters, “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)
4. ABBA, "Money, Money"
5. Dolly Parton, "Coat of Many Colors"
6. Donna Summer, "She Works Hard for the Money"
   

July - September:

1. Stevie Wonder, "Living for the City"
2. Merle Haggard, "If We Make it Through December"
3. Loggins & Messina, "Danny's Song"
4. Billy Joel, "Allentown" 
5. Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Sixteen Tons" 
6. Everlast, "What it's Like" 

October - December:

1. "It's the Hard Knock Life" from Annie 
2. Lorde, "Royals" 
3. Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car" 
4. Bobby Gentry, "Fancy"
5. Simply Red, "Money's Too Tight (to Mention)"
6. Los Lobos, "Angels with Dirty Faces"
   

Notes:

1. You will be responsible for sourcing the lyrics for your songs. It is recommended you find more than one source per song as online lyrics are notoriously inaccurate. Additionally, you should credit the lyricist—which may or may not be the singer—for the words. 
2. When quoting lyrics, use this form: "You may say I'm a dreamer / But I'm not the only one / I hope someday you'll join us / And the world will be as one"  
   
3. Some songs may be NSFW.
   

Required:

• 1.5-2 pages in length
  
• MLA Style

Due: Thu 9.9-Tue 9.14 (via Canvas)

Multimedia Presentations

This semester, you (and possibly a partner) will be responsible for a 10-minute multimedia presentation on a money topic:

Requirements:

• The presentation must be no more than 10 minutes in length
• There should be 10-12 slides (including mandatory introduction and conclusion slides) and should contain least one video or audio clip—absolutely no more than 1.5 minutes in length
• A Works Cited slide in MLA Style 
  
• On the day of your presentation, email your presentation (or a link) to me at daniel.hendeldelao@sjsu.edu

Additionally:

• You may utilize any presentation program you like (PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, etc.)
• It is highly recommended that you present from a downloaded version of your presentation
• Presentations without an introduction and/or conclusion cannot score higher than a C

Topics:

1. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers: The Wealthiest Woman on the Planet
2. Six Habits Rich People Share
3. Gamestop, Reddit, and the Taking Down of Wall Street Giants
4. Santa Clara Valley's Old Money: Sarah Winchester
5. Why Do American Corporations Pay So Little Tax?
6. Buying and Selling Stocks: A How-To
7. The Fat Tax: The Hidden Costs of Being Obese
8. "Billions and Billions of Dollars": How Much is Donald Trump Really Worth?
9. Man vs. Woman: How the Sexes Differ with Their Finances
10. Why You Should Start Saving for Retirement Yesterday
11. Appalachia: Life for the Poorest Whites in America
12. What Americans Spend on Christmas
13. Tightening Your Belt: How to Successfully Live on a Budget
14. Santa Clara Valley's Old Money: Leland Stanford
15. What $1 Million Buys in Silicon Valley Real Estate
16. The Psychology of Supermarkets
17. Life in the Poorest Countries in the World
18. Cryptocurrency 101
19. Tough Going: What Life on Welfare is Really Like
20. What Goes Where: How a Tax Dollar is Divided
21. The Ship of Dreams: The Luxuries of Titanic
22. The Cost of Living: Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Boston
23. How It Works: Personal Credit
24. The Richest and Poorest Zip Codes in the United States
25. Understanding the Gig Economy
26. The Pink Tax: The Hidden Costs of Being a Woman
27. Makers vs Takers: Red and Blue States by the Numbers
28. What Americans Spend on Their Pets
29. Error Code 0: How Music Streaming Services Hurt Your Favorite Artists
30. Up in Smoke: Why Legalized Pot in California is a Bust

Choose partners and topics via Google Docs here: 

• Sec. 18
• Sec. 44
  

Due: Thu 9.9 (by midnight)

Week 3: Tue 8.31/Thu 9.2

According to surveys, markups on food from delivery apps, such as GrubHub and Doordash, range from 7-91% more than what you would pay if you bought the meal directly from the restaurant.

Week 3: Tue 8.31/Thu 9.2
Read: GD—Lit Pack 1 (“Cheap at Half the Price” by Jeffrey Archer, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, “Dip in the Pool” by Roald Dahl, “The Luncheon” by W. Somerset Maugham)
Class: Presentation topic assignments; Lecture—“Building a Better Multimedia Presentation: An Annotated Look” and “MLA Style 101”
Due: REFLECTION 1

Upcoming:

Week 4: Tue 9.7/Thu 9.9
Read: GD—Lit Pack 2 (“Job History" by Annie Proulx, “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker, “Iceman" by Emma Cline, “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me” by Sherman Alexie)
Class: Reading discussion; Lecture—“Citing Sources in MLA: The Basics,” “You’re in College Now: The New Rules of University Writing,” "Anatomy of a Short Answer Response"
Due: REFLECTION 2