March 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Magazine Cover Explanation

 

 I’ve chosen to create my magazine cover from the viewpoint of “the other side”. 

 Rather than focusing on how Americans view migrants arriving into our society, I decided that this cover would instead be on a magazine in the “sending” country, and would touch on issues that face the non-migrants that were left behind.  The image of the man relaxing under the money tree - (please ignore the laptop!) – symbolizes to me the many people in those countries that do nothing but sit back and wait for their checks to come in from their relatives in the U.S.. 

 The “articles” in this magazine will represent many issues that would be faced by the non-migrants…..

 The Question of Care – For many migrants, it is common to leave their children behind (or send them back) so that they can be raised in their home country by relatives.  This creates many conflicts in disciplining these children, as no one really knows who has the “final authority” for most issues.  Meanwhile, back in the US, these migrants are working as nannies for someone else’s children.

 Overseas Communication – This would be an article about the different types of phone services that are available to them:  different long distance carriers, what time of day to call for the best prices, and maybe the benefits of using prepaid calling cards.  Perhaps an offer for low cost phone cards and money order cashing.

 American Fashions – Non-migrants love to emulate the “western” styles that their migrant relatives wear and send back.  In fact, those who don’t have the latest American fashions are looked down upon in their hometowns.

 Leisure Time Activities – Because they know that they will receive checks from the US, many non-migrants have simply stopped working.  They have realized that the amount that they earned by working was so minimal; the jobs weren’t worth their time or effort.  This article would give ideas on how to fill all of that free time.

 Rating Appliances – A common item for migrants to send back to non-migrants is household appliances.  Heaven forbid they not get the best!

 DO LESS / HAVE MORE – The article would basically “sum it up”.  Just as the non-migrants seem to be doing, the article will totally disregard the hard work that the migrants do, how poorly they live, and how much they struggle to send what they do.  It will help the non-migrants to justify what they’re not doing.  It will teach them techniques to guilt those who left into sending even more.