Federalization forum to be streamed live to ‘Net

To heighten the discussion about federalization, and particularly its impact on the local culture, the NMI Council for the Humanities will be hosting a roundtable discussion as part of the Council’s “We the People” Project on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008 at 7pm at the American Memorial Park Auditorium.

Those not able to personally attend the roundtable session can view and participate in the dialogue by logging on to www.wethepeoplecnmi.com, where the discussion will be streamed live.

Common wisdom holds that globalization is inevitable as a result of (and convergence of) the widespread use of the Internet, the ease of travel restrictions around the world, the advancement of technology, an economy that commands an international supply chain, and other agents of change.

The CNMI Islands is certainly not immune to what is happening in the global arena. Residents need only to look at the meteoric rise of the price of gasoline to see how events in other parts of the world are impacting life here.

Given all these, what of the local culture? How will the CNMI’s inevitable integration into the larger global structure impact local culture? And more specifically, given the agents of change mentioned above, what role would the recent federalization of labor and immigration play? As the CNMI becomes more a part of the bigger U.S. family, could federalization be the saving grace of local culture? Or could it hasten its disappearance?

These are only some of the questions that will be discussed at the roundtable discussion, which is part of the NMICH’s “We the People” Project and organized by Taro Leaf, Inc.

Leading the discussion will be some of notable members of the CNMI community, who will be using some literary material as a basis for the thought provoking discussion. The material can be downloaded from www.wethepeoplecnmi.com.

Some of the panelists include Rep. Tina Sablan, Gregorio Cruz, Irene Tantiado, Dr. Carmen Fernandez, Edwin Propst, and Sam McPhetres. Robert Torres, attorney, will be moderating the discussion as well as collecting questions from the community through the audience members.

In addition to watching the discussion live on www.wethepeoplecnmi.com, community members can also submit their questions via instant messaging on the same website, call by phone to 287-7954, 7955 or 7957 or e-mail and send instant messages (via Google Talk) to taroleafgroup@gmail.com,

The discussion will take place on Sept. 16, 2008 at 7pm at the American Memorial Park Auditorium. The public is invited to attend. No admission fee will be charged.

Special thanks to C.D. Consulting Services, PTI, and R&A Soundhire.[B][I] (PR)[/I][/B]