Bonus Monday Question

Is Holmes a natural or necessary part of the White City?


From watching this video, I would have to say that Holmes was a natural outgrowth of the White City. The White City and the Chicago World Fair had to be built in twenty-seven months, therefore, most of the people in the town were being overlooked. Because millions of people were going to be traveling to one city in over two years, it gave Holmes time and motive to plan his killings. In those twenty-seven months, he was able to kill a business man and his wife in order to take over their pharmacy, and build a hotel that looked normal from the outside, but was a torture chamber on the inside. He was able to lure young women who were new to the town into his hotel, and make them fall in love with him. After he proposed to these women, who normally had an estate waiting for them back home, he would put them in a room where they would run out of air, or be gassed or even go as far as to dissect them while they are still alive. He would then take their bodies down into the cellar to dispose of them. With the World Fair being such a big hit in Chicago, Holmes never thought that he would be caught. He was confident in himself and his ability to kill and get away with it that he killed his business partner in order to get a $100,000 insurance claim. He was then jailed for insurance fraud where he began to write his autobiography. He admitted to killing three children whose bodies were eventually found and that is when he was caught. Police went to check out his hotel and were horrified by what they found. They discovered dozens of rooms designed to kill, trap doors, gas lines, and the cellar where he kept the women's clothes, hair, and bones. Before Holmes was to be hanged, he admitted to killing twenty-seven women and children and asked to be buried in cement, ten-feet under ground. Holmes may have been a serial killer anywhere he inhabited, but because the World Fair brought in millions of people in a short amount of time, he was able to conjure up a genius plan that would make him rich and nobody would be the wiser.

Monday Questioin 4/8

Part Two:
How accurate were you in part one? Do you have a different idea of what an academic conference is or does now that you've attended? What surprised or interested you about the McMaster Symposium? If it is not required attendance next year, will you attend the symposium? Why or why not?

I would say that I was close on part one. I thought that the presentations were going to talk more about the McMaster program but neither of the two that I attended talked about the McMaster program much. I was not sure how the presentations that were on Thursday related to the McMaster program but after attending the Modern Slavery presentation, I can say that I now understand. Tim Wedge, who gave the presentation, talked about how we can help save those who are being slaved. The McMaster program is for the advancement of humanity, which is what Wedge was talking about.
My idea of the academic conference has changed. I was expecting it to be boring and uninteresting to me, however, I found both presentations I attended to be interesting and I almost wanted to stay to hear more. I was surprised by the impact the stories the presenters told. They were both interesting and emotional and I wanted to listen to them talk longer. The stories were personal and really got me thinking that I want to make a difference in the world.
If I am not required to go next year, I will probably make it to see at least one of the presentations. They were interesting and I wish I could have made it to more this year. I'm hoping that in a few years I can be apart of the symposium if I make it into the McMaster program.

Monday Question 4/8

Part One:
What do you think is the purpose or goal of an academic conference? Why does the McMaster Symposium exist? Who do you think attends and what do you think they do while at the symposium?

 In my opinion, the purpose of the academic conference is to teach us about the different opportunities that the McMaster program has to offer. On Wednesday, the professors and students going to different countries for the McMaster program will be giving us updates and more information about these different countries and how they were involved. To be honest, I'm not sure what the symposium's on Thursday relate to or how they relate to the McMaster program. I have never invested time to knowing anything about the McMaster program so I'm not sure what it is all about.
The McMaster Symposium exists, I think, to let people in on exactly what the McMaster program is about. There are plenty of people on this campus who aren't sure exactly what it is about or what it does, so attending this symposium will get us interested in the program. I am one of those people that are going to learn something from this because I know very little.
Obviously the AH120 classes are going to be attending the symposium, but I think a majority of professors, faculty, and students will be attending. The AH120 classes will be there, probably to pass the class, to observe and take notes. Others, attending freely, will be enjoying and really taking in what the speakers are saying. For the most part, I think that this experience is going to be a positive influence for anyone attending, whether by force or willingly.