Drama coursework †Response Essay

Introduction In our group we came up with lots of similarities in our thought showers. A lot of us described the Witches the same as in the green faces, long noses warts & spots, and there broom sticks. Some differences that our group came up with is that a few of us thought of modern witches, as in a normal human being look but with witch features, instead of black cats a lot of our group wrote different pet names. Our mind has been influenced about the topic by many things e.g. the media’s outlook on a stereotypical witch, children’s stories also portray witches with the green faces big hats etc. which means movies portray it like this. Also from the image created by our ancestors where the apparent witches were being burnt at the stake. Macbeth extract: focusing on the ‘outsider’ This role-play brought about issues such as how society today fears outsiders. How society today is divided into different groups, such as Goths / punks / gangster and take different paths in life. We fear the outsiders of society because we fail to understand the logic behind their culture / background. This also brings about racism / religion clashes. In the olden days most of the fear was based around witches because they were conveyed as the biggest outsiders. The storyline of our role-play was about a gothic boy who was feared & isolated from family & school because of being a Goth. We started the role play with Steven (the gothic boy) being in a school photo where is he is isolated from the rest of the school and then we went into his home life where his parents & siblings make jokes about his appearance and his way of life. We ended the play with a twist, where Steven was with all his gothic friends and his little brother (Aaron Tovee) walks past Steven and his group of gothic friends and is mocked for being what society would call â€Å"normal† and he is then conveyed as the outsider. We showed isolation in this play from the very first scene. In the first scene we had school photos were Steven (the outsider) was separated a foot away from the rest of the school that were huddled together for the photo. We portrayed an even bigger sense of frustration & isolation by this when the photographer asks Steven to step in the photo and the group moves away from him. The photographer blames Steven and again snaps at Steven to move into the photo. We did this to show how normal society blames the outsider, as if it was just easier to do so. We also showed isolation at the dinner table of Stevens’s family-home. We showed this by having all his siblings laugh and snigger at him and make comments like â€Å"drink blood† because of his gothic background. We ended that scene with Stevens father shouting at Steven telling him he’s not welcome in the home for kicking his sibling under the table (for making the comments) and telling him to get out and hang around with ‘his own kind.’ This made the whole idea of isolation seem a lot more effective because even his father, he whom he should be very close with, kicks him out of the house belting abuse at the top of his voice just because he is a Goth. We also ended our role-play with a twist on the sense of isolation where Steven is with a group of his Goth friends when his little brother walks past and his little brother feels isolated and afraid because he is the outsider there. The crucible Some similarities of ideas that we had on the idea of witchcraft from this stimuli went along the lines of how accusations were so quickly thrown around in the courtroom, and how everyone believed someone who was called a witch. Most people also thought that it was a fairly racist time and that’s why if you was black like the maid in the stimuli the blame was easily put on you. Some differences on the stimuli were about how the accused always showed a sense of fear. How society was so gullible and why the lies were started. In our role play we showed the accusation by the same sort of scene as the stimuli. We had it set in a court-room in the olden times whereas the judge’s verdict was the final, and punishment was death / something incorporating pain. We built hysteria in our role-play by levelling up the amount of volume in the courtroom until it was mayhem and chaos with everyone throwing accusations of being a witch to the accused. We marked the moment where the defence is getting shouted at and abused really badly and she gets up and accuses a man from the courtroom audience. We did this by building up the hysteria with everyone standing up shocked, and built up amount of noise slowly to a really loud volume and then when she got up and said â€Å"It’s him!† we silenced the courtroom immediately so it was just a big awkward silence. Studying this stimulus helped us understand the context at the time because it showed how gullible society was at that time period. An example of this is the fact that everyone believed that a person was a witch just by someone else’s word. The stimulus also shows that there was a big thing about racism in that time. An example of this is where the black woman was blamed for being the witch and beat brutally, the accusation was easily accepted by society because of the colour of her skin. Forum Theatre. Our class used forum theatre through studying a news article about a woman sacrificing her two babies to Satan. We then used this as a stimulus and did a whole-class courtroom drama, where we would switch places (defence, prosecution, judge, witnesses etc) This was useful to use because it made you think on the spot about the subject and it also improved your improvisation skills. Using the court-room drama attached with forum theatre was very useful because reading about just the sacrifice gave you a biased opinion about what really happened. But when we used the courtroom drama we had to act as defence as well so you started thinking about both sides of the story, and maybe reasons for why they did it. When playing the witnesses it also opened up that it might not just affect the family it could also affect other people around too. Conclusion My understanding of the topic has developed through studying the different stimuli a lot because you start to realise that witchcraft isn’t all fairytales and children’s books. It can be portrayed through children’s theatre, but also relate to serious events such as when the babies were sacrificed by the mother to Satan and such. Studying the different stimuli in different times and cultures developed our Understanding a lot too because you can see that not along ago was it that people actually were killed for being accused of witches, and everything was done through religion, and people believed in God strongly. You can see that science has developed through the ages and changed the thoughts of people today drastically through things such as the theory of evolution, which puts people in 2 minds about the creation of mankind, and even questions religion. Therefore people aren’t willing to believe things like witchcraft anymore as it has become abnormal for us to comprehend supernatural things.

Disability and Sport: Hypermasculinity Explored

Whether you prefer â€Å"the Blade Runner†, â€Å"the Man Without Legs†, â€Å"the Fastest Man on No Legs† or Oscar Pistorius, this young man's story will serve as a case study of mainstreaming in ‘disability sports', specifically in the film Murderball. Pistorius is a 21-year-old South African below the knee amputee who won gold in the 100, 200 and 400 meter events at the 2006 Paralympic Athletics World Championships. Pistorius was regarded as being fast enough to earn a spot for the 200- and 400-meter sprints on South Africa’s Olympic team.Pistorius asked to be allowed to run in the Olympics if he would qualify for his country's Olympic team. The world governing body for track and field (IAAF) ruled on 14 January 2008 – invoking its rule 144. 2 which deals with technical aids – â€Å"that double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius is ineligible to compete in the Beijing Olympics because his prosthetic racing legs give him a clear compet itive advantage† (IAAF, 2008).The story of Pistorius well serve as the example of attempted mainstreaming of disability in sports, on the elite international front. Does the film Muderball make progress in mainstreaming disability through sport? The merits of the film will be analyzed through the lens of the relationship sport and disability, as well as its connotations for mainstreaming in disability. Murderball presents a unique opportunity to reflect on representations of disability in the contemporary North American context.The narrative of the film constructs a rugby wheelchair rivalry between Team U. S. A. , captained by Mark Zupan, and Team Canada, coached by Joe Soars. Murderball does exceptionally well in muddling the notions of people with disabilities as fragile and helpless, countering ableist assumptions about what persons with quadriplegia can accomplish. However, based on a close reading of the film, it is suggested that Murderball accomplishes this disruption t hrough the celebration of ableist, sexist and heterosexist tropes.The following is a critique the film’s construction of the relationship between competitive international sport settings, disability, and masculinity by drawing on anti-normative politics. It is proposed that recuperations of normative identity in Murderball rely on a jingoistic and violent moral authority, while subjecting themselves to the constraints of normalcy. Due to its popularity and its subject matter, the film presents a unique opportunity to reflect on representations of disability, through the unique lens of sport, in the contemporary North American context.In portraying disabled men participating in a highly risk involving contact sport in intensely belligerent nationalist settings, the film differs from the majority of North American cinematic portrayals of disability. As Irving Zola, in his Missing Pieces: A Chronicle of Living With a Disability, points out that â€Å"the use of the concept of d anger was questionable, for a basic human right  is the right to take  risks†, a right which a quadreplegic does not surrender. Murderball serves to humanize disability in this regard.It was compelling to undertake a critical examination of the film that Murderball works exceptionally well to disrupt notions of people with disabilities as fragile and helpless, and that disability was humanized through the story presented. Kurt Lindemann and James Cherney (2008) similarly argue that: â€Å"wheelchair rugby is itself a communicative act that sends a complex message to both the community of sport and our broader social collectives that counters ableist assumptions about what persons with quadriplegia can accomplish† (p. 08). Within the discipline of disability studies, premises of disability have evolved in the last several decades. Nigel Thomas and Andy Smith (2009) note that there has been â€Å"a shift from medical, individualized definitions and ideologies of disa bility to more socially constructed explanations of disability, which place more responsibility for disability on mainstream society† (p. 23). The medical model, however, is not without its merits. Disability has become a topic in sport sociology with increasing depth in recent years.Themes that have commonly been addressed include: disability sport policies, governing bodies, and the opportunities for participation they provide; media portrayals of disability sport; the ways that athlete’s identities are negotiated through medical and social models of disability; and the role sports play in managing the stigmatization of athletes with disabilities. Within the study of the sociology of sport masculinity has become a dominant topic of discussion. David Howe and Carwyn Jones (2006) consider the classification of disabled athletes into competitive classes in amateur associations and Paralympic competition.They claim that the International Paralympic Committee has marginali zed the disability sports community by controlling classification systems and imposing restrictions on opportunities for equitable sports practice. Their justification is, that this threatens the ideology of Paralympism while ignoring the empowerment of non-elite athletes (Howe & Jones, 2006, p. 44). While providing an analysis of sport’s structure, choices, and fairness for participants of all abilities, Howard Nixon (2007) advocates for the creation of diverse sports opportunities for people with disabilities.My critique of Murderball does not extend to the sport’s governing body, or policies that effect the sport, however the case study of Oscar Pistorius serves this exact purpose. How do individuals with disabilities negotiate their identities through sport? Both social and medical models of disability affect disability sport participants’ identity formation, while success in international disability sport may lead to positive subjectivity, changed self-unde rstanding, and an increased sense of personal empowerment.Much research of participation in disability sports at the school age indicates that physical activity is a normalizing experience for these children as it facilitates friendships and social identity (Taub & Greer, 2000). The problems of normative aspects of the representation of athletes with disabilities in Murderball demonstrates that people with profound disabilities can be aggressive and athletic. It must be noted that all of the people with disabilities depicted in Murderball are elite athletes in international competition who are shown making aggressive plays on the court and whose off court commentary is full of macho bravado.The limited representation of people with disabilities in popular films may be partially attributed to the pursuit of profit. In attempt to appeal to the largest audience possible and to increase box office and rental sales, narratives are filed with homogenizing representations and saleable them es. Normative narratives allow the maximum projected audience to relate to the story, by relaying common themes such as normative masculinity Murderball subscribes to this familiar scheme by placing the athletes at the center of a very conservative political project.The film positions quad-rugby players as worthy subjects of the documentary according to their ability to participate in a sport that requires affirmations fitting with normative masculinity such as power, violence, hypersexuality, and strength. Meanwhile, The players’ contentions with stereotypes associated with disability is unfortunately overtaken by a seemingly constant reiteration of the athletes' capacity for athletic competition, and this is demonstrated through their sport participation and physicality.This situates the athletes’ conformity to hegemonic masculinity in that â€Å"the athletic male body has been a mark of power and moral superiority for those who bear it† (Dutton in Dworkin ; W achs, 2000, p. 49). The opening scene effectively illustrates the ethos of the film in this respect. Mark Zupan undresses and gets himself ready for a workout. As he begins to dress in athletic shorts, he removes his shirt revealing a defined white, muscular torso, his physical presence doesn't seem weak or fragile. He is clearly capable of dressing himself, the absence of a sound track is noted as uncharacteristic for contemporary North American cinema.This leaves an uncomfortable silence as accompaniment for an intimate moment rarely depicted on camera. The mere fact that he has an obvious impairment and uses a wheelchair is also atypical for popular cinema. This silent visual representation provides context for the film’s opening credits and sets up the primary subject of the film. The uncomfortable image is contrasted with Mark Zupan’s capacity to be independent and fill the screen with his presence. His large bold tattoo is featured in the center of the picture as he lifts his leg with his hands.Zupan assembles a wheelchair highlighting its mechanical efficiency with close up shots of nuts, bolts, spokes and a battered metal surface covered with an American flag sticker. An electric motor makes noise, as the wheels are pumped up. The name Zupan is affixed to the pump with athletic tape. Although he does not represent completely normative masculinity as a man with a disability, the other aspects of his presence in this scene – his strength, his ability to perform complex technical tasks self sufficiently, and his loud tattoo and goatee – are symbolic of a strong masculine physicality.His embodiment also works to code his non-conformity as marketable. On a surface level, then, the film’s popularity can be considered a success for disability cultural activist movement. It is an authentic portrayal of a disabled subculture that avoids the traditional narrative traps of many mainstream disability films. The audience is immedi ately directed to check their well- intentioned sympathies at the door, along with any preconceived notions about the fragility of the disabled body. Disability sexuality, a taboo and uncomfortable ground for many non-disabled viewers, is reclaimed with a vengeance.Indeed, one of the difficulties in analyzing Murderball is that its most radical features are simultaneously its most conventional. Thus, while non-disabled viewers may find their assumptions and stereotypes challenged by the masculine sexual bravado of Murderball’s quadriplegic rugby players, there may be a simultaneous sense of relief at the ironclad endurance of male heterosexual privilege. Heterosexuality no longer functions as evidence that a disabled masculinity has finally been ‘cured’; instead, it is the masculinization of disability that holds the power to rehabilitate heteronormativity from its own gender trouble.Therefore, Murderball serves as an interesting case study of the intersection be tween disability studies and masculinity. The popularity of this film demonstrates a powerful cultural backlash against representational histories that have conflated feminization, male homosexuality, and disability. The film successfully remasculinizes its subjects, celebrating disability and strength, resulting in the inevitable hypermasculine body. Ironically, the rhetoric of masculinity in Murderball is also the source of its anatgonism. The film's ‘crip' critique of able-bodiedness relies on repeated heteromasculine performances.A close reading of the film reveals masculinity as the visual mechanism through which disability is beginning to find its place on the contemporary cultural stage. Murderball harnesses the normalizing powers of masculinity, presenting a narrative of gender that helped to generate mainstream appeal in the box office and, more importantly, mainstream approval of a stigmatized social identity. A question that must be mentioned is what does the film M uderball mean for quadripelegic women? The same logic that masculinizes the quadriplegic or paraplegic man also functions to both masculinize and desexualize the quadriplegic or paraplegic woman.Disabled women, and particularly disabled female athletes, are not celebrated as having been liberated from oppressive conventions of gender, nor are they given access to normative femininity. Indeed the few images of disabled women that the documentary presents function more as a set of brief snapshots that, while easy to miss, momentarily interrupt the temporal, and often verbal, logic through which these ‘boys’ become ‘men’. These more or less static images haunt the film’s perimeter, a subtle threat to the coherence of a narrative that celebrates quadriplegia as the natural outcome of the hypermasculine male body.The concept of mainstreaming has been prominently constant in the world of disability for many years, while its definition has evolved substanti ally. Mainstreaming, initially referring to merely placing individuals with disabilities in regular classes with able-bodied individuals, was introduced in the 1960s (Reynolds, 1962). The majority of professionals in the disability field did not accept mainstreaming. It was mostly regarded as â€Å"a statement of what could or should be possible† (Aufesser, 1991).Initially, the premise of mainstreaming only included integrating those with ‘mild disabilities' and definitely not those with physical disabilities. During the movement of deinstitutionalization in the 1970s, the definition of mainstreaming underwent a significant shift. The ‘new' interpretation of mainstreaming is highlighted by the Cascade System, a model first proposed by Reynolds in 1962 and amended and reintroduced by Deno in 1970. This revolution, of sorts, gave way to new terms such as ‘normalization', ‘least restrictive alternative', and ‘continuum of service'.The Cascade System can be characterized as a two-box system in which parallel but separate educational programs for regular and special education operate within school buildings. The implementation of the Cascade system was difficult at best, and nonexistent a lot of the time. The model helped create understanding and support around a better system that â€Å"facilitates tailoring of treatment to individual needs rather than a system for sorting out children so they will fit conditions designed according to group standards not necessarily suitable for the particular case† (Deno, 1970, p. 35). The philosophy behind this model is commendable and is the only logical framework within which to develop a system of mainstreaming. Therefore, Murderball has already been mainstreamed in some regards. The excitement and intensity of the sport attract a large following, able-bodied and disabled alike. The stories of Pistorius and Mark Zupan extend beyond bionic runners and wheelchair rugby. Several other issues arose as a result of the Pistorius controversy.Can the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, the newest human rights instrument for people with disabilities, give some guidance? By invoking the rule 144. 2 and dealing with technical aids for Olympic, Paralympic, other-lmypic, and international sport, it opened the dialogue for further progress. The future of ‘enhancements' and their impact on the Olympics, Paralympics, other-lympic, and international sport has not been thoroughly researched, and it is expected that an increase work into this issue will emerge.Another interesting dynamic that is touched upon is the relationship between the Olympics, Paralympics, other –lympics and international sports. Will we be exposed to any changes in the relationship between the ‘lympics' due to the Pistorius case? Bottom of Form Deno, E. (1970). Special education as developmental capital. Exceptional Children, 37, mildly retarded—Is much of i t justifiable? 229-237. Works Cited Dworkin, S. , ; Wachs, F. (2000). The Morality/Manhood Paradox. In J. McKay (Ed. ), Masculinities, gender relations, and sport. (pp. 47—65).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Hoare, Q. ; Nowell Smith, J. (Trans. ; Eds. ). New York: International Publishers. Howe, P. D. , ; Jones, C. (2006). Classification of disabled athletes: (Dis)empowering the Paralympic practice community. Sociology of Sport Journal, 23(1), 29—46. â€Å"IAAF Oscar Pistorius – Independent Scientific study concludes that cheetah prosthetics offer clear mechanical advantages†, International Association of Athletics Federations, 14 Jan 2008, available at:http://www. aaf. org/news/newsId=42896,printer. html; Kurt Lindemann and James L. Cherney. â€Å"Communicating In and Through â€Å"Murderball†: Masculinity and Disability in Wheelchair Rugby. †Ã‚  Western Journal of Communication  (2008): 107-25. Lead Article. Taub, D. E. , ; Greer, K. R. (1998). Sociology of acceptance revisited: Males with physical disabilities participating in sport and physical fitness activity. Deviant Behavior, 19(3), 279—302. Thomas, N. , ; Smith, A. (2009). Disability, sport and society: An introduction. New York: Routledge.

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: Women’s Roles in Umuofian Society

Literature and Liberation- Prof. Sicari December 3rd, 2012 Women’s Role in Umuofian Society Chinua Achebe’s â€Å"Things Fall Apart† depicts the downfall of the once great tribe of Umuofia at the hands of imperialistic European white men. However the downfall of this advanced tribe would come to be inevitable due to its numerous flaws, in terms of their â€Å"justice† system, extreme religious interpretations of the Oracle and perhaps most heavily because of their intensely misogynistic views.Umuofia’s harsh and brutal treatment of women in their society reveal the fact that women are not acknowledged to even be human, much rather they are treated as possessions – as property. Men believe women to be powerless, defenseless and ultimately useless but this ignorant belief proves to have detrimental consequences. These misogynistic views in turn become the very foundation upon which this society will unravel. With imperialistic missionaries arri ving with the tempting offer of a different and more appealing lifestyle, the once united Umuofia will wither away.Umuofia is a tribe located in Nigeria, Africa coming from humble beginnings, the means of success in this tribe come through hard manual labor such as farming. Having to start from scratch several times many men have solidified their status because of their persistence, earning themselves many titles. However, a man who earns no titles is referred to as an â€Å"agbala† (p. 13) – which also means women, but when used to refer to a male it is an insult. This exposes to the reader the fact that the word failure is synonymous with women, they are interchangeable, having the same meaning.In â€Å"women† being the choice word to insult a man it also paints the picture under which light women are viewed by men, to be a woman is to be unsuccessful and to carry no value. Another manner in which a man further reinforces his titles is in acquiring several wiv es. The number of wives a man has affects his social status, exemplifying that women are possessions of men. It’s a numbers game with men, using women as their pawns so they can further embody the â€Å"true meaning† of what it is to be a man Further exemplifying the misogynistic views of this society is demonstrated in the domestic abuse females face at the hands of their spouse.Okonkwo, an aggressive being by nature is no different towards his wives. In Chapter 4, Okonkwo violently beats his third and youngest wife, Ojiugo, â€Å"And when she returned he beat her very heavily† (p. 29) because when he arrived home food was not yet prepared and she instead of having a hot meal waiting for him went to get her hair braided. Okonkwo blind in his rage beats her brutally claiming negligence, completely forgetting the fact that it was the sacred Week of Peace – â€Å"His two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week† (p. 9). For beating his wife during the Week of Peace, Okonkwo is punished, the priest demands that Okonkwo sacrifice a nanny goat and a hen and pay a fine of one length of cloth and one hundred cowries. This scene reveals just how corrupt the Umuofian justice system is, Okonkwo is punished not because he laid his hands on his wife but because of the time in which he did it. It is not frowned down on when a male hits a female, in fact it is encouraged and Okonkwo from time to time threatens to kill his wives.It is not viewed as monstrous when a male beats a female in this society and is applauded, they feel as though women must be kept in line and know their duties as well as complete them fully anything less is negligence and physical abuse is their wake up call. Adding to the fact that men can get away with hitting their wives, the very few times in which this justice system does side with women it is very partial – with men relatively receiving a slap on the wrist. This is sho wn in Chapter 10, a dispute that comes before the egwugwu (the clan’s ancestral spirits) that involves a husband and wife.The husband, Uzowulu, states that the three brothers of his wife, Mgbafo, beat him and took her and the children from his hut but would not return her bride-price. The woman’s brothers justify their actions in stating that Uzowulu beat their sister mercilessly. They state that Uzowulu’s punishment if Mgbafo returns with him will be that his genitals be cut off if he ever beats her again. Uzowulu claims that he sees no wrong in his ways, â€Å"I married her with my money and my yams, I owe them no cocoyams† (p. 90) is his defense. He feels as though he owes his in laws no explanation and how he treats his wife is no ones oncern. This statement proves that he views his wife as just another possession of his, he paid the price and he can do as he pleases with her from that point forward. The egwugwu decide in favor of Mgbafo, telling Uzow ulu to take a pot of wine to his in-laws. One village elder complains that such a minimal matter should not be brought before them, again exposing the fact that domestic abuse is not seen as an issue in this society. In Umuofia, there are two types of crimes that can be committed, feminine crimes and masculine crimes.Okonkwo accidentally kills a clansman during a funeral, this crime falls under the category of feminine because it wasn’t a killing on purpose – â€Å"Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent. † (p. 124). In categorizing crimes under these two types the reader receives insight as to what characteristics pertain to each gender in the eyes of this society. Feminine crimes are accidental, without intent, inadvertent – these characteristics all associate with the way that men view females, carrying negative connotations that make it seem as though women don’t have strength.Masculine crimes on the other hand lie on the other side of the spectrum; these crimes consist of blunt, direct acts with an intent or purpose to be completed. These characteristics are some of the many males wish to possess in their attempt to fulfill what it is to be a man. Men are strong with a sense of direction and purpose and so are these crimes. Okonkwo agrees with the society’s interpretation of genders, primarily in his wishing that his daughter, Ezinma, were a boy.Ezinma, is Okonkwo’s favorite child, he loves her very much but does not show affection towards her due to his fear of being viewed as weak by the men of his tribe. Any emotion other than anger is a feminine emotion in the opinion of Okonkwo. Multiple times throughout the novel Okonkwo catches himself wishing that Ezinma were a boy, â€Å"If Ezinma had been a boy I would have been happier. She has the right spirit† (p. 66). Okonkwo claims that she would have been the ideal son, strikingly similar in their nature and mindset, Ezinma f ulfills all the qualities her father desires in his children- except for one.As she is a woman all of these talents and qualities will go on unexplored and unused. Society feels as though it is the duty of a woman to bear sons, â€Å"prosperous men and great warriors your daughter will bear us sons like you† (p. 117). Ezinma has proven herself time and time again but will always fail in the eyes of Okonkwo, through the love and fondness he has for her she will never be able to change the fact that she is a female and he will never be able to change his misogynistic views.Okonkwo is very capable of feeling feminine emotions but as for exposing and expressing them he is blind in his immense resentment towards his father, Unoka, and everything he represented. These misogynistic views take a toll on the tribe and prove to become their undoing. Christian missionaries soon arrive to the tribe with the intent of converting as many of the tribe members as possible, presenting them wi th a tempting offer that proves to entice one too many for the liking of Okonkwo.On the surface Okonkwo resist the implementation of Christianity because it is not â€Å"manly† enough, but frankly it is the deep rooted fear of losing societal status that prevents him from embracing this religion. His sense of self-worth is solely based on the traditional standards by which society judges him. The system of evaluation that the Christians introduce causes many of the tribe members embrace Christianity; the evaluation of self, not possessions is what composed one’s worth.Those who were once outcasted, scorned and belittled found value in Christianity. In their new community, these converts enjoy a more elevated status – no longer being the underdog was a more then welcomed change, the biggest underdog of them all being women. Presently, Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print. Denny, Frederick Mathewson, Carlos M. N. Eire, Marti n S. Jaffee, and John Corrigan. Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.

Protection of Human Rights Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Protection of Human Rights - Research Paper Example The Committee of Ministers supervises and ensure that all judgments are carried out by the particular member state. Member state could be marginalized if refuses to honor such judgments. Even though explicitly ECJ is not only for Human Right violations like ECHR, there are many cases where issue touches both the courts and eventually, these two law bodies pass judgments in support of one another. In the Cossey case1 (ECHR, 1990), of sex change, it upheld applicant's claim that she has lived a woman's life, and after the operation, she was a complete woman, and is capable of marrying a man and claim all benefits reserved for women and this was a landmark judgment. The European Convention of Human Rights established The European Court of Human Rights as the lawmaking body, governing and securing the human rights that have been approved by the Convention. Court has the power to award damages, decide punishments and direct the Member States. "The establishment of a Court to protect indiv iduals from human rights violations is an extremely innovative feature for an international convention on human rights, as it gives the individual an active role on the international arena"Â   The European convention is perhaps the highest body in the world that provides a great amount of protection of the individual human rights of a person, as opposed to another person and also against member states. There is a rarely used option of one State complaining against another state in matters of Human Rights. Human rights enshrined by the Convention are (from Article 1 to 27): obligation to respect human rights, right to life, prohibition of torture, prohibition of slavery, right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, no punishment without law, right to respect for private life, right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, right to freedom of expression , right to freedom of assembly and association, right to marry, right to an effective remedy, prohibition of discrim ination, derogations, exemption for political activities of aliens, prohibition of abuse of rights, limitation on permitted restrictions of rights etc. and the Protocols are concerned with right to property, education and free elections, civil imprisonment, freedom of movement, expulsion, death penalty, expulsion, criminal appeals, compensation, double jeopardy, spousal equality, discrimination, death penalty, changing the conventions machinery etc.

Nuclear Fission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nuclear Fission - Essay Example A uranium atom is bombarded by slow moving neutrons. Nucleus that split produce three neutrons creating a chain reaction that must be controlled. Control in a nuclear reactor is obtained by using two isotopes of Uranium and . does not split when bombarded with neutrons and thus stops the chain reaction. Graphite modulators and control rods are also used in nuclear reactors to control the nuclear fission reaction. Graphite modulators slow down the fast moving newly generated neutrons. Carbon rods are moved in and out of the reactor to absorb neutrons and control or complete stop the nuclear fission reaction. The main disadvantage in using nuclear fission reactors is the disposal and storage of nuclear waste which remain very harmful for several thousand years. The sun generates its heat energy by using nuclear fusion reactions that takes place on the sun. Even though, both nuclear fusion and fission generate energy. However, fusion is the reverse of fission. Fission is simple in relation to fusions. Fission requires lots of highly radioactive material, creating by-products with very long half-lives, whereas fusion uses only small amounts of fuel. Fusion occurs when light atomic nuclei are forced close enough together that they combine to form heavier nuclei. On the other hand fission heavy nuclei are broken downs into lighter fragments (POST 2003, p.1). Controlling fusion reactions involves the use of two light nuclei, deuterium and tritium, which are isotopes of hydrogen. Fusion takes place when the nuclei obtain enough energy to overcome their mutual repulsion, they can undergo the fusion reaction shown in the following figure: Figure 1: simple Fusion Reaction Nuclear fusion reactions involve the fusion of two nuclei to generate helium and a neutron in addition to a large amount of energy. The particles form a high density and super hot ionized gas called plasma. At high temperature the electrons escape from the nuclei producing a plasma of positive ions. To create nuclear fusion reactions on earth, the plasma must be confined to minimize heat losses from the system. Nucleogenesis: Lithium is generated in the stars by the process of nucleogensis. This process uses the most abundant elements of hydrogen and helium to generate lithium. In the sun, the nearest star, a large quantity of energy is generated when hydrogen is converted into helium by the following nuclear fusion reaction: (Woods 2006, p9) After hydrogen is used up in the sun, a new series of fusion reactions occur in which helium generates beryllium, which then reacts with helium to generate carbon, which then reacts with helium to generate oxygen, which then reacts with helium to generate neon, which then reacts with helium to generate magnesium. All of these fusion reactions generate energy in addition to the different elements that are produced as shown in the following series of reactions (Woods 2006, p9): Once helium is used up, carbon regenerates hydrogen and helium in addition to a number of other elements as demonstrated in the following fusion

Trends in Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Trends in Organizational Behavior - Essay Example Ben Bernanke, the famous economist and current chairman of the board of governors of the Fed is constantly pursuing his current strategy (Lowenstein, 2008). He hasn’t considered the potential threat to the country of facing a major break down in terms of a great depression as was in the horrible recession of 1970s (Fortune, 2008). Several other economists challenge Bernanke on his loose monetary policy and are of the view that the opportunity cost of maintain this trend far much a higher than if we accept to sustain a small tightening to fight back the hikes in inflation and to avoid a shocking recession of the economy (Lowenstein, 2008). The various indices and statistics have further depicted a picture acknowledging a similar result that might be faced by America, if this continues. The dollar has been facing constant depreciation against various currencies of the world including Euro as the most threatening element in terms of trade. The purchasing power is reducing, though export s show a positive growth, the prices of import continue to climb up, thus burdening the foreign reserves day by day. This issue is not only the cause of the rising oil prices but due to the change in priorities and trends in spending. People are hesitant to save and thus consume more than they can and/or they should. This in turn is gradually rusting the economy and exhausting its credit line. The Fed is now considering the threats and is now putting controls on the dollar to regulate and fix its devaluation and monitor the soaring inflation. The article is relevant to the organizational behavior in term of the effects that it has on the economy. With such unproductive conditions, the employees are confused and face the threat of losing their jobs. They want to have more in terms of salaries/wages and/or compensations due to the

Marriage versus living together Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Marriage versus living together - Essay Example Both marriage and living together requires two individuals to adjust and share the same roof. Compatibility is an inherent component of both these acts. In their day to day life, two individuals need to interact, share their bathroom, dining space and perhaps even the bedroom. This aspect of sharing automatically requires a minimal respect for each other’s existence.Both the cases involve a need based approach of the two individuals. An adult gets married owing to their sexual orientation and more specifically in order to have a decent and socially acceptable sexual life. At times two persons may go a step further and set themselves to enjoy a sexual life without paying heed to social bindings. Work division occurs automatically as both the individuals share the household chores and even the earning pattern at times. It is apparent they will live together as long as the urgency or the need is there. Despite being similar in many respects there are certain differences in both t hese practices. In case of marriage the social binding is stronger than need sometimes. In conservative families women might be forced to live with her man despite becoming tired of him or even being tormented. This is more evident in the Muslim families and some Asian countries like India. However in general if one needs to break a marriage he or she has to undergo legal proceedings which will not take place in case of living together. When the two people are tired of each other, they might decide to move apart or even start living with different partners.

Diabetes mellitus type II care and management Term Paper

Diabetes mellitus type II care and management - Term Paper Example All these details are given below, reading which, will provide a clearer insight about the disease to the patients thereby increasing their awareness about it and also how to effectively manage this serious ailment. Unlike the people who suffer from type 1 diabetes, who does not at produce insulin, people with type 2 produce insulin but might not make adequate insulin or the body cannot use it well enough to manage blood sugar levels (called as insulin resistance). When the pancreas does not produce the required levels of insulin to manage the glucose, the resultant increase can enter your body cells leading to host of problems. As far as insulin resistance is concerned, insulin will not be able to play its role properly because the body’s cells remain unaffected by it (â€Å"The importance of monitoring blood-glucose levels,† n. d). Diabetes Type 2 and the resultant high blood sugar can cause series of ailments including heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, diabetic retinopathy affecting eyes, poor blood flow to the legs leading to amputations in certain cases, others. This presents a grave scenario for the patients. At the same time, although, there is no permanent cure for th is type 2 diabetes, it can be managed by eating aptly, exercising, and through medications or insulin therapy. Some patients suffering from type 2 diabetes will be able achieve their target glucose levels through apt diet management and effective exercise alone, however, majority of the sufferers will need oral diabetes medications or injection-based insulin therapy. The best suitable medication would differ from patient to patient because it depends on the individuals’ blood sugar level, their response to the initial treatment, other health problems, and so on, with doctors even prescribing a combination of drugs from different classes. In that direction, doctors are prescribing a combination of metformin and glyburide to help body cope up with high

The Notions of 'Immortality' and 'Resurrection' in the Wisdom of Essay

The Notions of 'Immortality' and 'Resurrection' in the Wisdom of Solomon - Essay Example Moreover, the rift between the ‘righteous’ and the ‘wicked’ is a pervasive theme in the book which I would like to examine in detail here so as to understand the story line which leads to the phenomena of ‘immortality’ and ‘resurrection’. Therefore, to achieve this, the wider context in which the book was realized will also be analyzed. The final section will deal with the analysis of these concepts in the light of the Wisdom of Solomon and a conclusion is drawn thereof. ‘Immortality’ and ‘Resurrection’: A Conceptual Analysis There can be different interpretations of the word ‘immortality’ as put forth by Wright – â€Å"(a) ongoing physical life without any form of death ever occurring; (b) the innate possession of an immortal part of one’s being, e.g. the soul (which is itself in need of further multiple definitions), which will survive bodily death; (c) the gift from elsewhere, e.g. from Israel’s God to certain human beings, of an ongoing life, not itself innate in the human form, which could then provide continuity of mortal life, across an interim period, between the present bodily life and future resurrection; (d) a way of describing resurrection itself†.2 ‘Immortality’ and ‘resurrection’ are not to be seen as two opposing concepts.3The word ‘immortality’ can refer to ‘a state in which death is not possible’. Unless one is totally held by the Platonic notion of ‘immortality’ (as in point (b) above);4 ‘resurrection’ can also be seen as a variant of immortality, a form in which it is manifested. This point becomes clear when Paul discusses both resurrection and immortality in his first letter to Corinthians – â€Å"For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishab ility, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’†(1 Cor 15: 53-54). Here for Paul ‘resurrection’ is a new form of bodily life which is immortal and imperishable, that is there can be no more death. Hence he presents ‘resurrection’ within the purview of ‘immortality’. This point is stressed by Wright in the fourth meaning of immortality above i.e it being a way of describing resurrection itself. It was widely held by many Jews who believed in resurrection that there existed an ‘intermediate state’ between death and ‘bodily resurrection’. Many of them believed that the body did not go for a resurrection immediately after death. This state can be regarded as a state of immortality when one regards the ‘close ally’ nature of ‘immortality’ and ‘bodily resurrection’5 This state assumes that there is still a continuing state of existence with a unique personal identity until the physical embodiment is attained in ‘bodily resurrection’ which happens at a point of time in future. Many scholars believe that the way ‘Wisdom of Solomon’ teaches clearly about the immortality of the soul, it cannot do the same for the idea of resurrection. Boismard points out that in the Platonic idea there is no scope for resurrection and hence the idea is to be disregarded in the ‘Wisdom of Solomon

Climate refuges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Climate refuges - Essay Example After all, when people lose their homes and source of livelihood, they are left with no other choice but to move to other places in order to seek a solution to their problems. However, climate refugees are making the problem worse by taxing the resources of other nations. Therefore, climate change is no longer a scientific problem but a social and political one. The movie has shown me that climate change poses multiple problems for all of us, regardless of whether we are climate refugees or not. The reality of the situation is that we are all affected by what happens in other countries and the solution to the problem does not lie in the handouts that international organizations give. Rather, the solution can be found by working together towards a common goal, that of eradicating climate change. Although science will be at the forefront of the issue, the solution to the problem has to come from various sectors of society. Unless those solutions come, and come fast enough, the next Hollywood disaster film will be all about climate refugees from around the

Fire protection Essay Example for Free

Fire protection Essay The research is to determine the fire protection education programs that need top be organized in a town. This town is a very busy town that is characterized by a population of about 12,000 people and is a major host of light industries, good climatic and environmental conditions that attracts tourist’s ant some points of the year. This town has a rapidly growing population with an above average income and good agricultural lands. Being posted as a volunteer in the fire department there is need to educate the public on the fire protection and life safety programs. This has been facilitated by the recent fire attacks. The training curriculum and the procedure for the entire town needs to be made and organized into groups, these groups need to check at the social, economical, age and religious settings of the town. The trainings should be both for the prevention and the escape. For the school going children and the Pre School aged children the trainings and drillings should include the exit drills that can help them in case of f ire attacks, smoke detectors testing and the actions that they need to take if the detectors sound alarms and the stop, drop and roll techniques. This will help the kids and school going children to escape some light fire attacks. Since in many cases the main course of fire is open flames the kids should be educated on the effects of playing with matches the lighters and fire. ( PEAP, 1980) The education package for the adults should be very much extensive and well detailed. This is because of all the businesses and the developments in the growing town; they are involved and invest in them. Their training for fire prevention and life safety should involve the use of fire extinguishers, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) , keeping their homes and businesses safe from attack and the need to install to install their homes with fire and smoke detectors. ( http://www. usfa. dhs. gov/fireservice/subjects/fireprev/) As a volunteer in the fire department I would be able to advice the town council to identify and develop public, private and fire community partnership that would be used and be instrumental in the enhancement and awareness of fire prevention activities. For this busy growing town, that is living above average class I would advocate for the for the inclusion of fire prevention and detection technology and design in construction and the architecture of the . physical facilities. This would improve the safety of the business buildings and the lives of the citizens. (http://www. usfa. dhs. gov/fireservice/subjects/fireprev) The whole town should be involved in a public fire awareness program, to get the educations and the skills for fire prevention and protection. To check at the effective ness of this program of installing fire detection machines there should be a drill at different points of the town to test the effectiveness of such machines. Reference: Fire Marshal, Public Education Assistance Program Steering Committee (PEAP,- Alaska,1980) SN publishers Alaska http://www. usfa. dhs. gov/fireservice/subjects/fireprev/ Retrieved on the 19th July 2008

A Day at the Circus Maximus Essay Example for Free

A Day at the Circus Maximus Essay The Ancient Romans knew how to make their politicians work for them, and often demanded bread and circuses from political candidates. This lead to the races being free which meant anyone could go. Gangs were seen rioting through the streets in celebration of their favourite charioteers victory. Fights broke out between the fans of victors and losers. Just like modern day sports fans. Many friends would meet up and have a good time at the races supporting their team. Latin for greatest circus, the Circus Maximus was the first and largest circus in ancient Rome, and it could seat about a quarter of the entire population of the city. Most Romans did not have weekends off, working seven days a week but if there was chariot racing they would take the day off since everyone would be at the races and no one would buy anything. Men and women were allowed in the audience, making it a popular family entertainment which allowed a larger variety of people to watch and meant that more people would watch. This was not down to it being violent but to the fact that it was free and anyone could watch. Since men and women were allowed to sit together this offered a great opportunity for a man to chat up a woman he finds attractive. This could be another reason why chariot races were so popular. The Circus Maximus was around 2000 ft long and 625 ft wide. That is about the size of five modern football fields laid end to end. This meant it was a great spectacle since it was so large and made it very exciting. At its largest, the stadium had three tiers of seating and an estimated capacity of up to 270,000 spectators which allowed for a great atmosphere at the races and made it more popular without any violence which makes me think that violence was not the only reason to watch the races. The chariots started from twelve gates, six on either side of an entrance. Above sat the presiding official whose white flag signalled the races to begin. At either end of the racetrack were the turning posts, around which charioteers raced their steeds at break-neck speeds. This did mean that it was very dangerous. There were thirteen turns, for seven laps, a distance of five miles. This made the races very exciting since the chariots were going at incredible speeds. The races were only fifteen minutes long so there was high octane action in a short amount of time which made the races very exciting. There were also around 24 races a day which meant there was a lot happening in a day and many people would stay for the day. The charioteers were split into four teams, the whites, the reds, the greens and the blues. This made the races more fun because you went to support your team rather than just watch the races. This also led to betting and many people would come just to bet on the different teams. To conclude there are a lot of reasons for coming to the races and the danger of the races isn’t one of the main reasons for watching the races.

Analysing the concept of Employee Development

Analysing the concept of Employee Development Human resources are the most important resources in any organization. It can be said that the success of any organization relies upon the success and performance of its employees. Organizations need to remain competitive within their respective markets and therefore they need their employees to equally competitive. Change management demands that competent employees are hired in order to facilitate the process of adapting to foreseeable challenges in life. Like the many forms of employee training, employee development programs are designed to address issues that affect employees. These issues range from corporate values and organizational missions to understanding and achieving personal career goals. This reports defines employee development (ED), addresses the main differences between training and development, highlights the significance of this process on the individual and organizational levels, points out various approaches used in implementing such process and finally it discusse s the roles of both employers and employee in the success development (Roth well, 2010). Definition of Employee Development The concept of employee development is not a new one. It has existed since the 1920s and it has changed and evolved depending on the ups and downs of the job market. When unemployment rates are low, making more jobs available, and organizations try to focus on keeping their current employees, so programs are designed with that in mind. When the market is more unstable and rife with lay-offs and downsizing, organizations might focus on cross-training their employees or teaching them more marketable skills. More recently, employers have adapted in such a way that they no longer expect to keep a new employee until their retirement. Hence, many organizations are now focusing their employee development programs on how to achieve personal goals, how to better prepare for various technological advances, and how to be more productive, in an overall sense. In doing this, an organization creates a culture that embraces and encourages employee growth, development and success, which in turn cont ributes to the overall success of the organization (Sims, 2001). Employee development is therefore a system of providing opportunities for employees to reach their full potential through improving their skills, knowledge and other attributes and to become of greater value for the organization. Normally it incorporates new hire orientation, training, career Management, and Management Development (Cavanaugh Cavanaugh, 2008). Development is about preparing for change in the form of new jobs, new responsibilities, or new requirements. Differences between training and development Training and development are processes that attempt to provide an employee with information, skills, and an understanding of the organization and its goals. In addition, training and development are designed to help a person continue to make positive contributions in the form of good performance. The term training is often confused with the term development. Training is defined as any attempt to improve employee performance on a currently held job or one related to it (Cavanaugh Kail, 2008). The key difference between training and development is that employee development is not always directly tied to observable, behavioral change. It cultivates individuals so that their organization and work group collectively possess the competencies essential to meet present responsibilities and prepare for future ones (Taylor, 2002). As such, training is designed to address current performance problems, whereas development focuses on preparing employees for future assignments. Training is focus on current immediate skills and abilities enhancements that will affect have results in the employees job today. Training tends to be more focused on building skills and abilities for individuals current jobs and tends to have a more short-term focus. Development is preparing the employee for a future. This imparts employees with hope for a future with the company or industry. It has a wider focus, longer time frame, and broader scope than training (Hawley, 2004). Importance of employee Development Employee development is the most salient aspect of organizational management towards achieving set business objectives. Qualified and competent workforce ensures that company objectives are realized through greater job outcomes. Training of employees equips them with appropriate skills and competencies to perform their duties satisfactorily (Keeton Sheckley, 2001). This leads to quality job outcomes which meet the expectations of stakeholders and customers alike. Satisfied clients are hitherto retained. Employee training also facilitates the process of acquiring new job skills relevant for solving challenges at workplace by employees. Development of employee training programs by a company integrates a culture of responsibility and accountability amongst the workforce in line with expected standards of quality and performance. Employees are equally motivated to work on their assigned duties towards developing their careers. To this end, employee training motivates workers. Employee d evelopment plays a major role in the organizational strategy. Employees are competing more for power, status, managers time and opportunities for personal growth and development. Approaches to Employee Development The best approaches to employee development takes into account various techniques appropriate for the composition of the workforce, the objectives need to be accomplished, and to allow for individual differences in learning styles. These approaches fall into four broad categories and many organizations combine these approaches: formal education, assessment, job experiences, and interpersonal relationships (Society, 1996). Formal Education Another option is tuition reimbursement. Some organizations will reimburse their employees for attending courses or earning a particular degree. This frequently, though not always, involves distance education programs. Advantages and disadvantages of off-site versus on-site approaches can be differentiated as follows: Advantages Get to learn outside of the culture of the organization. Get fresh perspectives. Increases critical thinking skills. Disadvantages Information taught is not always directly applicable to the industry or company the employee is in. Assessment Information for assessment may come from the employees, their peers, managers and customers. Why would companies invest in assessment of employees? The most frequent uses of assessment are: to identify employees with managerial potential, to measure current managers strengths and weaknesses, and to identify managers with potential to move into higher-level executive positions (Roth well, 2010). Methods and sources of information used in developmental assessment include: performance appraisals, psychological tests, and ratings of behaviors and style of working with others. Tools used for assessment include: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, assessment centers, the Benchmarks assessment, performance appraisal, and 360-degree feedback (Taylor, 2002). Developing a planning Process Employee development should be one tool for implementing HR plans. Unfortunately, it rarely is because ED is seldom planned. Creating a planned employee development program usually consists of many steps: Identifying each work group in the organization: Clarifying the groups purpose, activities and responsibilities Planning changes to group purpose, activities and responsibilities so that they match the desired purpose, activities and responsibilities of the work group. Determining how many and what kind of people are presently available in the work group. Comparing desired human resources to available supplies. Establishing a long term action plans for each work groups in order to narrow gaps between desired and available HR supplies through planned ED. Identifying development needs Choosing a development goal Identifying the actions that need to be taken by the employee and the company to achieve the goal Determining how progress toward goal attainment will be measured Investing time and energy to achieve the goal Establishing a timetable for development Employee development is most likely to meet the organizations needs if it is part of a human resource system of career management. Basic career management system involves four steps: Self-assessment Reality check Goal setting Action planning At each step, both the employee and the organization have responsibilities.The system is most likely to be beneficial if it is linked to the organizations objectives and needs, has support from top management, and is created with employee participation (Cavanaugh Cavanaugh, 2008). Conclusion Maintaining human resources is a vital part of the overall management of organizations greatest resources, their human capital. This includes proper employee orientation, training and development. These will help the organization create a posture of learning and thus remain competitive in their respective markets (Society, 1996). Employees should be help accountable for the training and development that they receive and thus results should be measurable for it to be an overall success. Effective training and development is vital part of the overall management of human resources however, in recent budget constraints it is often the first place organizations look to cut. This should be reconsidered based upon the return that an organization receives from its investment in its employees (Sims, 2001). . Training and development are critical components to successfully managing the human capital of an organization. Ongoing training and development is an investment that can help firms stimulate employee growth and maximize the competitive advantages provided by lifelong learning (First College, 1996). There are many ways to begin, and it all doesnt have to be done at once or in any particular order.

Shakespeares Hamlet - Comparison of Gertrude and Ophelia Essay

Hamlet -- Comparison of Gertrude and Ophelia      Ã‚  Ã‚   Gertrude and Ophelia occupy the leading roles for females in the Shakespearean drama Hamlet. As women they share many things in common: attitudes from others, shallow or simple minds and outlooks, etc. This essay will delve into what they have in common. The protagonist’s negative attitude toward both women is an obvious starting point. John Dover Wilson explains in What Happens in Hamlet how the prince holds both of the women in disgust: The difficulty is not that, having once loved Ophelia, Hamlet ceases to do so. This is explained, as most critics have agreed, by his mother’s conduct which has put   him quite out of love with Love and has poisoned his whole imagination. The exclamation â€Å"Frailty thy name is woman!† in the first soliloquy, we come to feel later, embraces Ophelia as well as Gertrude, while in the bedroom scene he as good as taxes his mother with destroying his capacity for affection, when he accuses her of such an act That blurs the grace and blush of modesty, Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose From the fir forehead of an innocent love And sets a blister there. Moreover, it is clear that in the tirades of the nunnery scene he is thinking almost as much of his mother as of Ophelia. (101) Other critics agree that both women are recipients of Hamlet’s ill-will. In the Introduction to Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet, David Bevington enlightens the reader regarding the similarities between Gertrude and Ophelia as the hero sees them: Yet to Hamlet, Ophelia is no better than another Gertrude: both are tender of heart but submissive to the will of importunate men, and so are forced into uncharacteristic vi... ... â€Å"An Approach to Hamlet.† Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet. Ed. David Bevington. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Rpt. from An Approach to Hamlet. Stanford, CT: Stanford University Press, 1961. Pennington, Michael. â€Å"Ophelia: Madness Her Only Safe Haven.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from â€Å"Hamlet†: A User’s Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996. Pitt, Angela. â€Å"Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Excerpted from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html Wilson, John Dover. What Happens in Hamlet. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Oil Crisis in Libya :: OPEC, Middle East

Because of the crisis that is going on in Libya, Libya’s oil production and exportation has been greatly affected. This country is a member of OPEC, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Libya is the world’s seventeen largest oil producer, the thirds largest oil producer in Africa, and the continent’s largest crude oil reserves. (Hauser, 2011) Since Libya has such an important part in the oil industry, the crisis has affected other countries and their trade, such as the price of oil and gas, as well as monetary value. Libya only contributes two percent of the world’s oil supply. (Andrews, 2011) It might not seem like a big deal because of such a small percentage, but it is very hard for the world to absorb the two percent loss of oil every day. Libya was producing 1.6 million barrels of oil every day before the crisis erupted. (Dagher, 2011) As of now, unfortunately, it is only producing between four hundred and six hundred thousand barrels of oil. (Dagher, 2011) But it doesn’t even matter how much Libya produces, since it is currently not exporting oil and gas to outside countries, such as Europe and the United States. Most of the foreign workers have fled the country, which makes up for the industry in Libya. Eighty five percent of Libya’s exports are sold to European countries, especially Italy. (Dagher, 2011) Libya and Italy has close economic ties with one another, having a friendship treaty with one another since 2008. (Langundo, 2011) Italy is currently the biggest foreign investor in North Africa, who received thirty two percent of Libya’s oil exports. (Langundo, 2011) Italy is greatly affected by Libya’s turmoil. Italy is currently trying to re-establish its access to Libya’s oil and gas. As of now, the shortage of oil does not have a great effect in Europe since other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, have been increasing their oil production to make up the loss from Libya. Libya contributes about five percent of their oil production to the United States. (Dagher, 2011) Though out the United States, oil prices have been increasing between three and five percent because of the increase cost of barrels. (Andrews, 2011) It is hard for those who live in the United States to adapt to the higher prices. Many already have burdens from the recent financial crisis, but the increase in oil prices will only add to the people’s burden,

John Smith And Pocahontas: A Disney Romance :: essays research papers

It can be easily assumed that almost everyone has heard the tale of the American Indian princess, Pocahontas – the narrative of a mysterious young girl who rescues an English explorer from death only to fall in love and win his affections in return. It is one that is quite popular and has even been developed into an animated movie by Walt Disney Pictures. Regardless of which version they may have heard, most people are familiar with the legend now thanks in part to Disney. However, what they are not familiar with, are the facts. All too often, we accept what is presented in films as history without any thought into the matter. Did Pocahontas and explorer John Smith ever actually meet? If so, how did they, and was there ever the feeling of love between them? There are similarities, but more differences between historical fact and what is presented in the Walt Disney motion picture.Aside from obvious deviations of the film, such as the language , there are others including how Pocahontas and Smith meet, which they did in fact do. In the movie from the beginning, Pocahontas is an independent, curious woman who stumbles upon the English settlement. As a result, Captain Smith notices her and assures her that he will do her no harm. The two instantly warm to one another. While this makes a wonderful opening for a movie – we view a great scene of the English working hard to establish a settlement – it is not how they met at all. In his book Pocahontas and Her World, Philip L. Barbour offers a more accurate account of the two’s first meeting. He explains that John Smith was the one who was adventuring, not Pocahontas (as Disney depicts). He says that "on or about December 29, 1607" , Smith was led into the chief’s hut as a "prisoner" by Indian braves. Inside, he witnessed chief Powhatan – Pocahontas’ father – lying in comfort, surrounded by women he thought to be the chief’s wives . According to Barbour, Smith was treated well and given food and drink. What happened next was more exciting than a modern day film could depict, but also very complicated to explain in a film geared toward younger audiences. After some dicussion among the elders, "two big stones were brought in, and Smith was forcibly stretched out on them.

Lord Of The Flies Chapter 5 Essay

The boys life has deteriorated a lot since they first arrived on the island and from the look of the situation things can only get worse unless they change their behaviour and attitude . There is a lot of conflict between Ralph and Jack, the fear of the unknown is growing, the boys are turning into savages and becoming more uncivilised by the day, rules and taboos are being disobeyed and ignored, and bullying and rivalry is becoming more of a problem. The conflict between Ralph and Jack is causing a lot of tension in the group and is therefore affecting the boys lives. It has already divided them into separate groups with different priorities as some have followed Jack and some have followed Ralph. Jack and Ralph’s different priorities is the main reason for the conflict between them as they are completely opposite. Jack wants control and started of wanting to be leader but was out done by Ralph who was voted the leader. Jack is short tempered and very big headed where as Ralph is realistic, kind hearted and organised. Ralph’s main priority is to be rescued and have fun have fun on the island. Their relationship is described in the book as ‘two continents of experience’ and ‘ baffled in love and hate’. Their personality also clash as they are completely different. Ralph is optimistic, respectful, fair, practical and naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, where as Jack is arrogant, boastful, power hungry, self centred, easily angered and brutal. The boys fear of the unknown is represented in different ways but is rapidly growing and could get out of hand. It started of as being a beastie, then a snake like creature, and now a beast from water or even a ghost. At first it was only the ‘litluns’ that were scared of the beastie and believed it existed but now the older boys are starting to get worried and have their doubts so none of the quite knows what to believe. Even Ralph has his doubts about what the thing is and he is supposed to be leader, ‘ I don’t believe in ghosts at least I don’t think so’. This comment from Ralph shows that he is now considering there being some type of creature on the island even though he just dismissed the idea at the beginning. Deterioration has also been caused by the boys becoming totally uncivilised and turning into savages. Although they are now looking like savages as their hair has grown, Jack is mainly responsible for them turning into savages. He was so obsessed with hunting to kill that he influenced the other boys that became his hunters. At the beginning they hunted but did not manage to kill for a ling time. Then when Jack finally did he became even more obsessed and made masks that he could hide behind while hunting, ‘ the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack lived’. This made Jack a different person when he put on the mask, he was a killer with no taboos or responsibilities. Jack’s passion for hunting also caused a major disagreement between him and Ralph because on the day a ship went by the fire was let out by boys that Jack made go hunting with him that day. Ralph said to Jack when he got back ‘ There was as ship, you let the fire out.’ There was a strong chance that they may have been rescued then but down to Jack they ended up eating their first pig. From successfully killing his first pig Jack felt very strong and had fulfilled his ambition so did not really care about the fire or Ralph. Rules have been completely ignored lately and systems of organisation disrespected. This has led to the boys becoming lazy and uncivilised. At one point things were going well and most things were well organised. There was toilet system worked out so there was not mess all over the island and water was being stored in coconut shells in the shade so hat it would be cool and fresh. Though now these systems have been ignored and the boys are going to the toilet anywhere on the island and no water is being stored. Ralph also tried to built shelters for them to sleep in which would have been practical but Simon was the only one that would help in the end so they could not be completed. This shows how disorganised the boys have become and disrespectful. They have no taboos and without adults they have forgotten the way they had to behave. Bullying has also become a problem that has led to a deterioration in the boys life. Jack consistently picks on Piggy and uses him as scapegoat for his own mistakes. He makes little of Piggy and by doing this he is trying to show that he has power over the boys as well as Ralph. The litluns are also being ignored and sometimes bullied by the elder boys. Although this might have happened a bit before they arrived on the island but there were still taboos that the older boys had. All these reasons have led to deterioration in the boys life. Their behaviour on the island has had consequences and meant that their lives have become less structured and disciplined and more savage like. Ralph described the situation by saying, ‘we are all drifting and things are turning rotten’. This shows us that the boys are drifting apart and could possibly separate into different groups completely which would also make their life deteriorate more.

Demographic Transitions in Germany

Demographic Passages Germany is one of the industrialised states that have undergone singular demographic and environmental passage, from phase one through to present five. Demographic passage refers to the procedure through which a state changes from a less industrialised society, with high birth and decease rates, to an industrialised society with low birth and decease rates ( Ewert, 2006 ) . Many states have undergone demographic passage including the United States of America, Canada, Italy, Russia, England and Germany ( Lucas, 2002 ) . The demographic passage to an industrialised society is instead damaging for the environment since industrialized societies tend to devour non-renewable resources, giving off pollution. These industrialised states besides have the largest ecological and C footmark relation to the non-industrialized states. The procedure of demographic passage nevertheless presents with lower birth and decease rates, which act as some of its advantages. For case, persons in industrialis ed states such as the United States of America have fewer kids which help to command the overall population size ( Ewert, 2006 ) . The intent of this essay is to depict the demographic and environmental timeline for Germany including the major historical alteration that caused the displacements, alterations in population size, increasing or diminishing birth and decease rates, and environmental impacts associated with the passage. Demographic passage involves five phases: Phase 1: High birth rate, high decease rate, low population size ; Stage 2: High birth rate, diminishing decease rate, increasing population size ; Stage 3: Decreasing birth rate, diminishing decease rate, increasing population size ; Stage 4: Low birth rate, low decease rate, high population size ; Stage 5: Low birth rate, low decease rate, population size diminishing. Basically, really few states have reached phase five of demographic passage ( The World at 7 Billion, 2011 ) . Germany is one of those states that have reached phase five and the causes of the ascertained alterations and environmental impacts are outlined below ; Phase 1: High birth rate, high decease rate, low population size Stage one of demographic passage occurred in Germany in the old ages between 1800 and 1900 ( Kitchen, 2011 ) . Major Historical Changes: At this clip, Germany is utilizing the Continental System and is defying Napoleon. The Prussian Reform Movement undertakes the military and educational reforms. The state is under Metternich and Catholicism together with Liberalism is going more outstanding. Changing Population Size:As a consequence of changeless wars traveling on in Germany through this period, the state records general population lessening. Bonaparte wants to go the swayer of the universe and German is seeking to defy. Birth and Death Ratess: The birth rates are low while the decease rates are high. Sing the political state of affairs of the state at this clip, twosomes are non giving birth as expected and many people are deceasing due to the wars. Environmental Impact: A batch of toxic gases are released into the ambiance as a consequence of the wars, thereby doing high environmental impact. The full population of Germany is affected in the procedure. Phase 2: High birth rate, diminishing decease rate, increasing population size Phase two of demographic passage occurred in Germany in the old ages between 1900 and 1950 ( Kitchen, 2011 ) . Major Historical Changes: There is a call for peace declaration and the Treaty of Versailles is signed to stop the First World War. The nation’s economic system faces Depression and the death of Parliamentary Democracy. The image of the adult female alterations and the adult females are encouraged to venture into assorted concerns. Initial stairss in Foreign Policy are witnesses as Germany embraces National Socialism and Modernity. Changing Population Size: As the state recovers from the First and the Second World Wars, an addition in population size occurs chiefly due to in-migration. The state is going more industrialised and many people are attracted to remain in Germany. Birth and Death Ratess: There are high birth rates and diminishing decease rates following the terminal of the Wars. Peace is easy shacking in the state and women’s rights are being fought for, therefore promoting adult females to bear kids one time more. Environmental Impact:Environmental impact is on the addition due to Industrialization. The state has recovered from the war and is now seeking to stabilise. Phase 3: Decreasing birth rate, diminishing decease rate, increasing population size Stage three of demographic passage occurred in Germany in the old ages between 1960 and 1980 ( Kitchen, 2011 ) . Major Historical Changes: Germany’s Federal Republic forges the Great Alliance of 1966 to 1969. The state confronts with the past and forms the Extra-Parliamentary Opposition. The Chancellorship of Willy Brandt is formalized ; this is followed by subsequent terrorist act in the state, coercing the federal authorities to turn to this issue. During this clip, Germany besides debates on the forging and use of Atomic Weapons. The West German Society undergoes a major transmutation during this clip. Changing Population Size: The population size is still relevantly low and changeless as Germans are seeking to set themselves into the New Germany. Peoples peculiarly aliens are still loath to hold lasting abode in the state. Birth and Death Ratess: The birth rates are still high and decease rates quickly diminishing. Environmental Impact: Industrialization has been embraced to the full and this is doing legion cases of pollution to the ambiance and the general society. Phase 4: Low birth rate, low decease rate, high population size Stage four of demographic passage occurred in Germany in the old ages between 1990 and 2009 ( The World at 7 Billion, 2011 ) . Major Historical Changes: The state welcomes technological promotions. The Berlin Wall is torn down and both East and West Germany reunified after their division in the class of the Cold War. The reunion of Germany brings about arguments over the nation’s yesteryear. Changing Population Size: The population size is on the addition as people have now become comfy plenty to settle in the state. Foreigners are besides puting in concerns though at a lower rate. Birth and Death Ratess: The birth rates have decreased and so has the decease rates. Womans have become more sceptered and are now capable of gaining their single income through employment. They are choosing to work foremost so hold kids when they are financially stable. Environmental Impact: The state is sing increased urbanisation every bit good as industrialisation. Pollution and toxic chemicals from industries and mills are doing challenges to the environment every bit good as the German community, as bulk of persons opt to fire fossil fuels for their day-to-day usage. Phase 5: Low birth rate, low decease rate, population size diminishing Stage five of demographic passage occurred in Germany in the old ages between 2010 and the present twenty-four hours ( Kitchen, 2011 ) . Major Historical Changes: The position of adult females has eventually been established where an estimated 95 % of German adult females are employed outside the place. Following the reunion of the state, the authorities has adapted Angela Merkel’s two Coalition authoritiess. Germany is presently economically stable thanks to globalisation and industrialisation that has seen it opening its markets and concerns to foreign states. Changing Population Size: Germany’s population size has late been on the addition as more and more persons are migrating to the state for concern or lasting residence. The current population size is predicted to increase in the coming old ages as people continue to settle in the state. Birth and Death Ratess: There are presently low birth rates every bit good as low decease rates in Germany. The low birth rates can be attributed to the freedom adult females have in this twenty-four hours and age, one where they can take non to bear kids but alternatively concentrate more on their hubbies and callings. The mean household now has one to two kids. Environmental Impact: The current high criterion of life that has been witnessed in Germany in the recent yesteryear has resulted in a big C footmark every bit good as high degrees of pollution. Environmentalists are doing attempts of raising awareness though more still needs to be done. The car industry for case Mercedes Benz has started fabricating environmentally-friendly vehicles normally known as intercrossed autos, to minimise the impact of pollution in the air caused by conventional autos. Mentions Allen, R.C. ( 2003 ) . Advancement and Poverty in Early Modern Europe.Economic History Review,56: 403 – 443. Ewert, U.C. ( 2006 ) . The Biological Standard of Living on the Decline: Episodes from Germany During Early Industrialization.European Review of Economic History, 10: 51- 88. Kitchen, M. ( 2011 ) .A History of Modern Germany: 1800 to the Present. 2neodymiumEdition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. Lucas, R.E. , Jr. ( 2002 ) .Lectures on Economic Growth. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. The World at 7 Billion. ( 2011 ) .Germany: Beyond the Demographic Transition’s End. Retrieved, April 27 2014, from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2011/world-population-data-sheet/germany.aspx

Literary Criticism Essay

The beauty about literature is that it can be interpreted in a number of ways and all those ways can be regarded as a possibility and even entirely true. No matter what angle, approach or perception a person uses to see, analyze and scutinize a literary work, that analysis will always be considered as a â€Å"possibly correct† literary crticism.However, this is also the problem regarding literary criticisms since there is no wrong analysis, anything can be true. Thus, an analysis does not necessarily help readers in further understanding the text, analyses just give readers the chance to look at a text in a different light.This is what Liane Norman gives readers when anliterary criticism was written regarding the famous work of Herman Melville—Bartleby the Scrivener with a subtitle of A Story of Wall Street. In Norman's analysis, â€Å"Bartleby and the Reader†, she gives importance on the relationship of the text, Bartleby the Scrivener, and the readers itself of the text. According to Norman, the text focused on having the reader as an important character or making the reader play an important role in the structure and interepretation of the text.This analysis of Norman is with loopholes, as with many literary criticisms. She does indeed present a rather effective and convincing judgement on Bartleby the Scrivener but she failed to point out the important of the text on its own. It is as if, the text cannot exist without the role that the reader played in the creation of the text when in fact, Bartleby the Scrivener can be seen as a creation which is intended to point something out to the reader.This argument is what will be contained in this â€Å"criticism† of a literary criticism wherein a premise is presented that Norman did deliver a good argument and judgement on Bartleby the Scrivener but she failed in delivering a good argument that should have not illicited further contestations. In Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street, a scrivener (or copyist or clerk in a firm), is the protagonist while the narrator is the protagonist's boss but who, it seems, wants to be the protagonist himself.Tthe Lawyer who is Bartleby's boss gives too much information about himself and too little information on the protagonist, Bartleby. The story starts off in the Lawyer going on about how he hired and met Bartleby but not before going to great lengths as he introduces himself: I am a rather elderly man. The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men, of whom as yet nothing that I know of has ever been written:—Imean the law-copyists or scriveners.(Melville, 2006) The Lawyer and Bartleby soon venture into a rather harmonous and beneficial relationship with each other—that is until Bartleby decides one day that he has enough of being a scrivener and stops doing his job properly to the point that he does not do anything at all. The curious and perverse Lawyer just lets Bartleby be as the scrivener goes on with life doing absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, things get out off hand to the point that Bartleby is imprisoned for hanging out in the building when it is neither his home ror has he any rights to loiter in the place.This ends the story: as Bartleby refuses everything—companionship, food, water—he dies a sad death in prison, all alone. Later on, the Lawyer finds out that Bartleby has been working in the Dead Letter Office wherein he sorts the mail of dead people. The Lawyer associates this previous job of Bartleby as the reason why the scrivener has become depressed and decided to one day, to just let everything go. In Liane Norman's Bartleby and the Reader, the role that the reader plays in giving meaning to Bartleby and the Scrivener is focused on.According to Norman (1971), there is a â€Å"rigorous and demanding human tr ansaction that takes place between the reader and the story†. This transaction is the ability of the text to have meaning only when the reader wills it do so. Thus, the dialogue, lines and other descriptions in the story would be moot and pointless if the reader does not believe otherwise. In fact, the reader becomes a character in the story itself without being in it; as what Norman (1971) asserts, â€Å"the reader is both participant and judge† in the same way that the Lawyer or the narrator of the story is also the participant and the judge.Thus, while the Lawyer is one of the characters in the story, his way of storytelling wherein he is detached from the other characters makes him have the same role as the reader. This in turn, makes the reader as the Lawyer and the Lawyer as one of the readers. But more than this form of analysis, Norman takes the notch further by relating the text and the characters to a greater and more profound extent by juxtaposing it with Chr istian values or ideals and the nature of democracy—two things which are inherently, albeit subtly, presented as the themes in Bartleby the Scrivener.On the other hand, the way Norman anaylzed the literary text was correct in a way that she gives meaning to the context and the content but remiss in her ability to add too much interepretation and meaning to what could have been just simple or meaningless lines. This is perhaps a bigger mistake in not being able to see much meaning in a literary work, that of seeing too much—a case of overreading. Norman was not false in her analysis, but she was extreme in that too much interpretatation is given from too little information.Thus, her mistake was that she was not able to give importance to the interepretation of the literary text as a text itself but she instead, concentrated on the text as how it would be interpreted by the reader. Bartleby the Srivener does not become merely Bartleby the Scrivener but it becomes, instea d, Bartleby and the Reader. Norman placed too much emphasis and importance on the reader as being part of the literary work and literary analysis. But the reader is of course important, for who will analyze a text but that being the reader himself/herself?However, what Norman has done is to indicate that there is but one reading presented by the reader and that is the only correct reading while at the same time the reader is no one but herself. What Norman should have done is present the analysis on the text as being Bartleby and A Reader instead of having it as Bartleby and THE Reader. For using the determiner â€Å"the† indicates that there is only one reader and that one reader is and will always be right.Thus, Norman's analysis gives a vaild credibility to her argument—even if the argument is indeed credible, it is unfortunately not valid. Although, there is something which is admirable and commendable in Norman's analysis which is the last part of her article wher ein she gives a profound interpretation on the implication of the Lawyer's last lines regarding Bartleby's death: The deep sense of disappointment that the story inspires in the reader is a function of the aura of America's hight but impossible promises: men have not escaped their limitations simply by founding a new policy.Bartleby is the test of democratic- Christian principle. If his resistance exposes human shortcomings, his persistence reveals man stubbornly laying claim to his humanity. (Norman, 1971) Norman maginificently gives a clear idea and interepretation on Bartleby's death while at the same time, relates its implication to humanity which is humanity's tendency to gain new insights but miserably ends in not carrying out those new â€Å"policies† or insights.Over all, both Melville (in using the character of the Lawyer) and Norman are correct, society stubbornly believes in their humanity—even if it proves that their idealist views on humanity's â€Å"huma nness† is sometimes misplaced. References Melville, H. (2006). Bartleby the scrivener: a story from Wall Street. Great Short Works of Herman Melville. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. pp. 19-38. Norman, L. (1971). Bartleby and the reader. The New England Quarterly 44 (1): 22-39.

TV or no TV

Bess TV Is an Important issue for us, because over three quarters of British teenagers have a TV In their bedroom (pretty antisocial If you ask me! ), and they watch TV for an average of 14 hours a week. In the USA, It's over 20 hours a week. In my research for this debate, Eve discovered some amazing facts. For example, 57% of programmer contain what Is called ‘psychologically harmful' violence. That means, according to the experts, that teenagers learn to behave leniently and they accept violence as normal.In addition, they become more afraid of being attacked. Not surprising, when you learn that the average child in the US has seen up to 8,000 murders on the TV by the age of Ill Furthermore, there's the couch-potato problem. Nobody does enough exercise any more or spends enough time with friends. As a result, television is turning us all into lonely fatties – also because there's an advert for high-sugar snacks and drinks every five minutes. Think English Intermediate ; Unit 10 p. 88O oxford university press PHOTOCOPIES And finally, I believe that talent shows and shows such as Big Brother give people false expectations. They make you think that anyone can become famous – and then rich, for doing practically nothing! We did a survey in my year group and found that 63% of people want to be rich and famous, and In show business. So although I like TV, I think that we should cut down the amount we watch before our brains turn to mush. Damon I don't agree that TV Is a completely negative Influence on people.In my opinion, lovelorn Is a window on the world and therefore, It's Invaluable. I get a lot of information from the TV, and so do my friends and family. My kid brother, wads five, loves wildlife programmer, so TV is often educational. Yesterday, for example, I saw a fantastic documentary about space travel, which I learnt loads from. Without the computer-generated graphics. Remember, you can choose what you watch! What's more, many progra mmer are shown all over the world, so you could say they unite the world community.For instance, my French Nepal, Bastion, really liked The CO when it was on, so we were able to talk about that together. But TV is also fun and entertaining: it helps you relax – what's wrong with that? However, there is one aspect of TV that I don't like – the adverts, especially during a film. They ruin it for me and waste time. To sum up, TV is here and it's part of our lives. Over 96% of us have one. I'm not saying it's good to watch too much, but there's an amazing choice of programmer now with satellite, digital and broadband, so why not enjoy the positive things it offers?

Exxon Mobil and Environment

Author Login Encyclopedia of Earth Search Top of Form [pic][pic] Bottom of Form †¢ Earthportal †¢ Earthnews †¢ Encyclopedia of Earth †¢ Forum EoE Pages o Home o About the EoE o Editorial Board o International Advisory Board o FAQs o EoE for Educators o Contribute to the EoE o Support the EoE o Contact the EoE o Find Us Here o RSS o Reviews o Awards and Honors †¢ [pic] Solutions Journal [pic] Browse the EoE o Titles (A-Z) o Author o Topics o Topic Editor o Content Partners o Content Sources o eBooks o Environmental Classics o Collections †¢ [pic] †¢ [pic] †¢ [pic] Exxon Valdez oil spill Table of Contents | |1 Introduction | |2 Events leading up to the spill | |3 The behavior of the oil | |4 Countermeasures and Mitigation | |4. 1 Control of the oil spill at sea | |4. 2 Shoreline treatment | |5 Economic impacts | |6 How much oil remains? |7 Ecosystem response to the spill | |7. 1 Acute Mortality | |7. 2 Long-term impacts | |7. 3 State of recove ry | |8 Legal responsibility of ExxonMobil | |8. 1 Criminal Settlement | |8. 1. 1 Plea Agreement | |8. 1. Criminal Restitution | |8. 2 Civil Settlement | |9 The response of ExxonMobil | |10 Lessons learned from the spill | |11 Further Reading | | | |[pic] | [pic] Contributing Author: Cutler J.Cleveland (other articles) Content Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (other articles) Article Topics: Pollution and Energy This article has been reviewed and approved by the following Topic Editor: Peter Saundry (other articles) Last Updated: August 26, 2008 [pic] Introduction On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez, en route from Valdez, Alaska to Los Angeles, California, ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The vessel was traveling outside normal shipping lanes in an attempt to avoid ice.Within six hours of the grounding, the Exxon Valdez spilled approximately 10. 9 million gallons of its 53 million gallon cargo of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Eight of the eleven tanks on board were damaged. The oil would eventually impact over 1,100 miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska, making the Exxon Valdez the largest oil spill to date in U. S. waters. The response to the Exxon Valdez involved more personnel and equipment over a longer period of time than did any other spill in U. S. history.Logistical problems in providing fuel, meals, berthing, response equipment, waste management and other resources were one of the largest challenges to response management. At the height of the response, more than 11,000 personnel, 1,400 vessels and 85 aircraft were involved in the cleanup. [pic] [pic] The Exxon Valdez aground on Bligh Reef. (Source: NOAA) Shoreline cleanup began in April of 1989 and continued until September of 1989 for the first year of the response. The response effort continued in 990 and 1991 with cleanup in the summer months, and limited shoreline monitoring in the winter months. Fate and effects monitoring by state and Fed eral agencies are ongoing. The images that the world saw on television and descriptions they heard on the radio that spring were of heavily oiled shorelines, dead and dying wildlife, and thousands of workers mobilized to clean beaches. These images reflected what many people felt was a severe environmental insult to a relatively pristine, ecologically important area that was home to many species of wildlife endangered elsewhere.In the weeks and months that followed, the oil spread over a wide area in Prince William Sound and beyond, resulting in an unprecedented response and cleanup—in fact, the largest oil spill cleanup ever mobilized. Many local, state, federal, and private agencies and groups took part in the effort. Even today, scientists continue to study the affected shorelines to understand how an ecosystem like Prince William Sound responds to, and recovers from, an incident like the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Events leading up to the spillThe Exxon Valdez departed from the Trans Alaska Pipeline terminal at 9:12 pm, March 23, 1989. William Murphy, an expert ship's pilot hired to maneuver the 986-foot vessel through the Valdez Narrows, was in control of the wheelhouse. At his side was the captain of the vessel, Joe Hazelwood. Helmsman Harry Claar was steering. After passing through Valdez Narrows, pilot Murphy left the vessel and Captain Hazelwood took over the wheelhouse. The Exxon Valdez encountered icebergs in the shipping lanes and Captain Hazelwood ordered Claar to take the Exxon Valdez out of the shipping lanes to go around the ice.He then handed over control of the wheelhouse to Third Mate Gregory Cousins with precise instructions to turn back into the shipping lanes when the tanker reached a certain point. At that time, Claar was replaced by Helmsman Robert Kagan. For reasons that remain unclear, Cousins and Kagan failed to make the turn back into the shipping lanes and the ship ran aground on Bligh Reef at 12:04 a. m. , March 24, 1989. Capt ain Hazelwood was in his quarters at the time.The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident and determined five probable causes of the grounding: (1) The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue and excessive workload; (2) the master failed to provide a proper navigation watch, possibly due to impairment from alcohol; (3) Exxon Shipping Company failed to supervise the master and provide a rested and sufficient crew for the Exxon Valdez; (4) the U. S. Coast Guard failed to provide an effective vessel traffic system; and (5) effective pilot and escort services were lacking.The behavior of the oil [pic] [pic] The oil slick (blue areas) eventually extended 470 miles southwest from Bligh Reef. The spill area eventually totaled 11,000 square miles. (Source: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council) Prudhoe Bay crude oil has an API gravity of 27. 0, and a pour point of 0 degrees Celcius. The bulk of the oil spilled from the Exxon Valdez was released within 6 hours of the ship's grounding. The general trend of the oil was south and west from the point of origin. For the first few days after the spill, most of the oil was in a large concentrated patch near Bligh Island.On March 26, a storm, which generated winds of over 70 mph in Prince William Sound, weathered much of the oil, changing it into mousse and tarballs, and distributed it over a large area. By March 30, the oil extended 90 miles from the spill site. Ultimately, from Bligh Reef, the spill stretched 470 miles southwest to the village of Chignik on the Alaska Peninsula. Approximately 1,300 miles of shoreline were oiled. 200 miles were heavily or moderately oiled (obvious impact); 1,100 miles were lightly or very lightly oiled (light sheen or occasional tarballs). The spill region contains more than 9,000 miles of shoreline.In addition to the storm of March 26, the spill occurred at a time of year when the spring tidal fluctuations were nearly 18 feet. This t ended to deposit the oil onto shorelines above the normal zone of wave action. The diversity in shoreline types in the affected areas led to varied oiling conditions. In some cases, oil was present on sheer rock faces making access and cleanup difficult, or rocky beaches with grain size anywhere from coarse sand to boulders, where the oil could percolate to a sub-surface level. The spill affected both sheltered and exposed (to high wave/weather action) shorelines.Once oil landed on a shoreline it could be floated off at the next high tide, carried to and deposited in a different location, making the tracking of oil migration and shoreline impact very difficult. This migration ended by mid-summer 1989, and the remaining cleanup dealt with oiled shorelines, rather than oil in the water. Cleanup operations continued during the summer months of 1990 and 1991. By 1990, surface oil, where it existed, had become significantly weathered. Sub-surface oil, on the other hand, was in many cases much less weathered and still in a liquid state. The liquid sub-surface oil could give off a sheen when disturbed.Cleanup in 1991 concentrated on the remaining reduced quantities of surface and sub-surface oil. Countermeasures and Mitigation Control of the oil spill at sea The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company was immediately notified of the incident and sent a tug to the site to assist in stabilizing the vessel. At the time of the incident, the Alyeska spill response barge was out of service being re-outfitted. It arrived on scene by 1500 on 24 March. Alyeska was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the incident; by March 25, Exxon had assumed full responsibility for the spill and cleanup effort. [pic] [pic] The Exxon Valdez surrounded by a containment boom. Source: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council) Deployment of boom around the vessel was complete within 35 hours of the grounding. Exxon conducted successful dispersant test applications on March 25 and 26 and was granted permissio n on March 26 to apply dispersants to the oil slick. Due to the large storm that began the evening of March 26, much of the oil turned into mousse. As dispersants aren't generally able to dissipate oil in the form of mousse, it was no longer practical to use dispersants on floating oil during this response. On the evening of March 25, a test in-situ burn of oil on water was conducted.Approximately 15,000 to 30,000 gallons of oil were collected using 3M Fire Boom towed behind two fishing vessels in a U-shaped configuration, and ignited. The oil burned for a total of 75 minutes and was reduced to approximately 300 gallons of residue that could be collected easily. It was estimated that the efficiency of this test burn was 98 percent or better. Again, continued in-situ burning was not possible because of the change in the oil's state after the storm of March 26. Five dispersant trials took place between March 25 and March 28, but by March 29 the Regional Response Team (RRT) decided tha t dispersants were no longer feasible.Because there was not enough equipment to protect all the shorelines that could be impacted, Federal, state and local agencies collaborated to establish shoreline protection priorities. The agencies decided that fish hatcheries and salmon streams had the highest priority; accordingly, containment booms were deployed to protect these areas. Five fish hatcheries in Prince William Sound and two in the Gulf of Alaska were boomed, with the largest amount of boom deployed at the Sawmill Bay hatchery in Prince William Sound.At the height of containment efforts, it is estimated that a total of 100 miles of boom was deployed. Almost all the types of boom available on the market were used and tested during the spill response. Due to the size of the spill, it was necessary to employ inexperienced workers to deploy and tend booms, and this led to some boom being incorrectly used or handled, and sometimes damaged. Some boom sank because of improper deploymen t, infrequent tending, or leakage and/or inadequacy in the buoyancy system. Other problems included fabric tears in boom due to debris, and tearing at anchorage points from wave action.In some cases, ballast chains were ripped off during boom recovery if the boom was lifted by the chain. One estimate suggests that 50 percent of the damage to larger boom came during boom recovery. For self-inflating booms, it was important to keep the inflation valves above the water during deployment so that the boom did not become filled with water and have to be replaced. Aerial surveillance was used to direct the deployment of booms and skimmers for open water oil recovery. Visual overflight observations as well as ultraviolet/infrared (UV/IR) surveys were used by the USCG and Exxon to track the floating oil.Satellite imagery was also tested as a method to track oil but was not very useful because of the infrequency of satellite passes over Prince William Sound (every 7 to 8 days), cloud cover, a nd lengthy turn around time for results. The primary means of open water oil recovery was with skimmers. In general, most skimmers became less effective once the oil had spread, emulsified and mixed with debris. To save time, it was most practical to keep skimmer offloading equipment and oil storage barges near the skimmers. The most used skimmers during the response were the Marco sorbent lifting-belt skimmers that were supplied by the U.S. Navy. Once oil became viscous, the sorbent part of the skimmer was removed and the conveyor belt alone was sufficient to pull the oil up the ramp. The pump that came with the skimmer had difficulty offloading viscous oil, so that other vacuum equipment was used to unload the collected oil. The Marco skimmers were generally not used close to shore because they draw between three and four feet. In general, the paddle belt and rope mop skimmers were the most useful for recovery of oil from the shoreline. The skimmers were placed on self-propelled b arges with a shallow draft.Sorbents were used to recover oil in cases where mechanical means were less practical. The drawback to sorbents was that they were labor intensive and generated additional solid waste. Sorbent boom was used to collect sheen between primary and secondary layers of offshore boom, and to collect sheen released from the beach during tidal flooding. Pompoms were useful for picking up small amounts of weathered oil. Towing of sorbent boom in a zigzag or circular fashion behind a boat was used to collect oil and was more efficient than towing the boom in a straight line.Sorbent booms made of rolled pads were more effective than booms made of individual particles because these absorbed less water and were stronger, and did not break into many small particles if they came apart. Early on in the response, storage space for recovered oil was in short supply. To combat the storage space problem, water was decanted from skimmers or tanks into a boomed area before offlo ading. As a result, the remaining viscous oil mixture was difficult to offload, the process sometimes taking up to 6 to 8 hours. High-capacity skimmer offloading pumps, in particular grain pumps, were the most useful in transferring viscous oil.The oil remaining on the Exxon Valdez, was completely offloaded by the end of the first week in April 1989. After offloading operations were completed, the tanker was towed to a location 25 miles from Naked Island in Prince William Sound for temporary repairs. Later in the summer of 1989, the vessel was brought to California for further repairs. Shoreline treatment Shoreline assessment was a prerequisite for the implementation of any beach cleanup. Assessment provided geomorphological, biological, archaeological and oiling information that was used for the development of site specific treatment strategies.Cleanup operations were scheduled around specific activities such as seal haulout activity, seal pupping, eagle nesting, fish spawning, fis hing seasons, and other significant events as much as possible. [pic] [pic] Shoreline treatment from the Exxon Valdez spill. (Source: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council) In 1989, hoses spraying seawater were used to flush oil from shorelines. The released oil was then trapped with offshore boom, and removed using skimmers, vacuum trucks (useful for thick layers of oil) and boom (sorbent, snare, pompoms).For hard to reach areas, or locations with weathered oil, heated seawater was used to flush oil from the shoreline. Converted vessels and barges were used for beach washing operations. It would take several days to outfit a conventional barge with the equipment needed to heat and pump the water. Smaller vessels that were used for beach washing early in the spill were re-outfitted for bioremediation later in the response. Along with the large-scale beach washing, manual cleanup, raking and tilling the beaches, oily debris pickup, enhanced bioremediation and spot washing were used to cleanup the oil.In some locations, oil was thick enough to be picked up with shovels and buckets. In addition, mechanical methods were used on a few sites, including the use of bulldozers to relocate or remove the contaminated beach surfaces. Mechanical rock washing machines, which were manufactured for the spill, were not used to clean contaminated rocks and return them to the beach. Oiled storm berm was mechanically relocated in some cases so that these areas, which normally would not receive much wave action, would be more exposed and cleaned by natural processes.If the oiling in the berm was significant or persistent it was tilled to free the oil or washed to optimize the cleaning. Recommendations were made to restrict the movement of berm to the upper third of the beach to ensure its return to the original location. [pic] [pic] Beach washing. (Source: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council) Beach applications of dispersants were tried in several locations. Corexit 7664 was a pplied on Ingot Island, followed by a warm water wash. No significant change in oil cover or the physical state of the oil was observed as a result of the treatment. Some ecological impacts were observed in the treated areas.It appeared that the effects were largely due to the intensive washing more than to the use of Corexit 7664, and were evident in intertidal epibenthic macrobiota. In addition, the dispersant BP1100X was applied to a test area on Knight Island. Toxicology studies indicated that the upper and lower intertidal biota were different from pre-application communities the day after dispersant application, and returned to pre-treatment levels after seven days. In May of 1989, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Exxon conducted bioremediation trials at two test sites on Knight Island in Prince William Sound.On the basis of these tests and other trials later in the summer, Exxon recommended the use of the bioremediation enhancement agents, Inipol (Inipol EA P22—manufactured by Elf Aquitaine of France) and Customblen (Customblen 28-8-0 —manufactured by Sierra Chemicals of California), and subsequently treated over 70 miles of shoreline in Prince William Sound with these agents. Winter monitoring of the effects of bioremediation consisted of surveys of more than 20 beaches in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.These studies determined that oil degradation had been enhanced on the shorelines monitored, but some debate existed over whether bioremediation was solely, or even largely, responsible. Cleanup operations in 1989 ceased by the end of September. All parties involved in the response agreed that continuation of cleanup into the Alaskan winter would jeopardize the safety of cleanup crews. In addition, it was speculated that the winter storms in Alaska could significantly remove oil from shorelines, including sub-surface oil.By the end of the 1989 cleanup, more than 25,000 tons of oiled waste and several hundred thousand barrels of oil/liquid waste were collected and disposed of in landfills. Cleanup in 1990 began in April and ended in September. Surveys in the spring of 1990 showed that oiling conditions had been reduced or changed over the winter. Surface oil in 1990 was significantly weathered but sub-surface oil was relatively fresh in some locations. Cleanup techniques in 1990 focused more on manual methods of treatment such as hand wiping and spot washing as well as bioremediation.Mechanical equipment was used on a few sites. Bioremediation was more extensive in 1990, with 378 of the 587 shoreline segments treated that year receiving bioremediation application. In general, Inipol was applied in cases where surface oiling existed and Customblen slow release pellets were preferred for treating beaches with sub-surface oiling. Generally, beaches were given one to three treatments over several months. Concern over the possible toxicity of Inipol led to recommendations for application of o nly Customblen on some sites.By the spring of 1991, the scope of the cleanup effort was greatly reduced. Manual cleanup, bioremediation, and very limited use of mechanical equipment were employed. Cleanup took place from May of 1991 through July of 1991. An important observation that resulted from the Exxon Valdez oil spill was that natural cleaning processes, on both sheltered and exposed beaches, were in many cases very effective at degrading oil. It took longer for some sections of shoreline to recover from some of the invasive cleaning methods (hot water flushing in particular) than from the oiling itself.Economic impacts The State of Alaska funded a several studies of the short term economic impact of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. [pic] [pic] Recreational fishing in Alaska. (Source: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council) 1. Recreational Sport Fishing Losses. This loss was estimated based on the impacts of the spill on sport fishing activity. One must consider the impact on the n umber of anglers, the number of sport fishing trips, the areas fished, the species fished for, and the length of these trips.For 1989 the loss was estimated to be between $0 and $580 million dollars; for 1990 the range was $3. 6 million $50. 5 million dollars. 2. Tourism Losses. The spill caused both negative and positive effects. The major negative effects were: 1. Decreased resident and non-resident vacation/pleasure visitor traffic in the spill-affected areas due to lack of available visitor services (accommodations, charter boats, air taxis). 2. Severe labor shortage in the visitor industry throughout the state due to traditional service industry workers seeking high-paying spill clean-up jobs. 3.Fifty-nine percent of businesses in the most affected areas reported spill-related cancellations and 16% reported business was less than expected due to the spill. The principle positive impact was strong spill-related business in some areas and in certain businesses such as hotels, tax is, car/RV rentals and boat charters. 1. Existence value. Economists tried to estimate the damage to so-called non-use or existence value of the Prince William Sound region in the wake of the spill. This is an attempt top measure what cannot be observed in the market: the value to the public of a pristine Prince William Sound.They estimated existence value using contingent valuation, a survey approach designed to create the missing market for public goods by determining what people would be willing to pay (WTP) for specified changes in the quantity or quality of such goods or, more rarely, what they would be willing to accept (WTA) in compensation for well-specified degradations in the provision of these goods. The results suggest an aggrragete loss of $4. 9 to $7. 2 billion dollars. In effect, these amounts reflect the public's willingness to pay to prevent another Exxon Valdez type oil spill given the scenario posed. . Replacement costs of birds and mammals. These costs include th e relocation, replacement and rehabilitation for some of the shorebirds, seabirds and the marine and terrestrial mammals that may have suffered injury or were destroyed in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The values range from $20,000 to $300,000 dollars per marine mammal (sea otters, whales, seal lions, seals), $125 to $500 dollars per terrestrial animal (bears, river otters, mink, deer), and $170 to $6,000 dollars for seabirds and eagles. How much oil remains?Based on the areas that were studied in the aftermath of the spill, scientists made estimates of the ultimate fate of the oil. A 2001 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study surveyed 96 sites along 8,000 miles of coastline. [pic] [pic] A pit dug on a Prince William Sound beach in 2001 revealing oil in the sediments. (Source: NOAA) The survey distinguished between surface and buried oil. Buried or subsurface oil is of greater concern than surface oil. Subsurface oil can remain dormant for many years before bein g dispersed and is more liquid, still toxic, and may become biologically available.A disturbance event such as burrowing animals or a severe storm reworks the beach and can reintroduce unweathered oil into the water. Results of the summer shoreline survey showed that the oil remaining on the surface of beaches in Prince William Sound is weathered and mostly hardened into an asphalt-like layer. The toxic components of this type of surface oil are not as readily available to biota, although some softer forms do cause sheens in tide pools. The survey indicates a total area of approximately 20 acres of shoreline in Prince William Sound are still contaminated with oil.Oil was found at 58 percent of the 91 sites assessed and is estimated to have the linear equivalent of 5. 8 km of contaminated shoreline. In addition to the estimated area of remaining oiled beach, several other important points were evident: 1. Surface oil was determined to be not a good indicator of subsurface oil. 2. Twe nty subsurface pits were classified as heavily oiled. Oil saturated all of the interstitial spaces and was extremely repugnant. These â€Å"worst case† pits exhibited an oil mixture that resembled oil encountered in 1989 a few weeks after the spill—highly odiferous, lightly weathered, and very fluid. 3.Subsurface oil was also found at a lower tide height than expected (between 0 and 6 feet), in contrast to the surface oil, which was found mostly at the highest levels of the beach. This is significant, because the pits with the most oil were found low in the intertidal zone, closest to the zone of biological production, and indicate that the survey estimates are conservative at best. Ecosystem response to the spill Recovery is a very difficult term to define and measure for a complex ecosystem such as Prince William Sound. If you ask a fisherman from Kodiak Island, a villager from the town of Valdez, an Exxon engineer, or a NOAA iologist, you are likely to receive such different answers that you may wonder if they heard the same question. In particular, disagreements exist between Exxon and government-funded scientists, and unknowns persist, especially in understanding how multiple processes combine to drive observed dynamics. Despite this, there are some things known with a high degree of certainty: oil persisted beyond a decade in surprising amounts and in toxic forms, was sufficiently bioavailable to induce chronic biological exposures, and had long-term impacts at the population level.Three major pathways of long-term impacts emerge: (1) chronic persistence of oil, biological exposures, and population impacts to species closely associated with shallow sediments; (2) delayed population impacts of sublethal doses compromising health, growth, and reproduction; and (3) indirect effects of trophic and interaction cascades, all of which transmit impacts well beyond the acute-phase mortality. Acute Mortality [pic] [pic] Sea birds killed by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. (Source: NOAA) Marine mammals and seabirds are at great risk from floating oil because they have routine contact with the sea surface.Oiling of fur or feathers causes loss of insulating capacity and can lead to death from hypothermia, smothering, drowning, and ingestion of toxic hydrocabons. Scientists estimate mass mortalities of 1000 to 2800 sea otters, 302 harbor seals, and unprecedented numbers of seabird deaths estimated at 250,000 in the days immediately after the oil spill. Mass mortality also occurred among macroalgae and benthic invertebrates on oiled shores from a combination of chemical toxicity, smothering, and physical displacement from the habitat by pressurized wash-water applied after the spill.Long-term impacts The persistent nature of oil in sediments produce chronic, long-term exposure risks from some species. For example, chronic exposures for years after the spill to oil persisting in sedimentary refuges were evident from biomarkers in fish, se a otters, and seaducks intimately associated with sediments for egg laying or foraging. These chronic exposures enhanced mortality for years. Indirect effects can be as important as direct exposure.Cascading indirect effects are delayed in operation because they are mediated through changes in an intermediary. Perhaps the two generally most influential types of indirect interactions are: (1) trophic cascades in which predators reduce abundance of their prey, which in turn releases the prey’s food species from control; and (2) provision of biogenic habitat by organisms that serve as or create important physical structure in the environment. [pic] [pic] A healthy stand of rockweed (Fucus gardneri) growing on a boulder in Prince William Sound. Source: NOAA) Scientists have found that indirect interactions lengthened the recovery process on rocky shorelines for a decade or more. Dramatic initial loss of cover by the most important biogenic habitat provider, the rockweed Fucus gar dneri, triggered a cascade of indirect impacts. Freeing of space on the rocks and the losses of important grazing (limpets and periwinkles) and predatory (whelks) gastropods combined to promote initial blooms of ephemeral green algae in 1989 and 1990 and an opportunistic barnacle, Chthamalus dalli, in 1991.Absence of structural algal canopy led to declines in associated invertebrates and inhibited recovery of Fucus itself, whose recruits avoid desiccation under the protective cover of the adult plants. Those Fucus plants that subsequently settled on tests of Chthamalus dalli became dislodged during storms because of the structural instability of the attachment of this opportunistic barnacle. After apparent recovery of Fucus, previously oiled shores exhibited another mass rockweed mortality in 1994, a cyclic instability probably caused by simultaneous senility of a single-aged stand.The importance of indirect interactions in rocky shore communities is well established, and the genera l sequence of succession on rocky intertidal shores extending over a decade after the Exxon Valdez oil spill closely resembles the dynamics after the Torrey Canyon oil spill in the UK. State of recovery The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council published a study in 2004 to assess the state of the resources injured by the spill. Fifteen years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, it is clear that some fish and wildlife species injured by the spill have not fully recovered.It is less clear, however, what role oil plays in the inability of some populations to bounce back. An ecosystem is dynamic — ever changing — and continues its natural cycles and fluctuations at the same time that it struggles with the impacts of spilled oil. As time passes, separating natural change from oil-spill impacts becomes more and more difficult. The Trustee Council recognizes 30 resources or species as injured by the spill. Depending on their status as of 2002, these have been placed in one of f ive categories: Not RecoveringThese resources are showing little or no clear improvement since spill injuries occurred: Common loon Cormorants (3 species), Harbor seal, Harlequin duck, Pacific herring, Pigeon guillemot Recovery unknown Limited data on life history or extent of injury is available. Current research is either inconclusive or not complete: Cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden, Kittlitz’s murrelet, Rockfish Subtidal communities [pic] [pic] Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). (Source: NOAA) Recovered Recovery objectives have been met: Archaeological resources, Bald eagle, Black oystercatcher, Common murre, Pink salmon, River otter, Sockeye salmon RecoveringClams, Wilderness Areas, Intertidal communities, Killer whale (AB pod), Marbled murrelet, Mussels, Sea otter, Sediments Human uses Human services that depend on natural resources were also injured by the spill. These services are each categorized as â€Å"recovering† until the resources they depend on are fully recovered: Commercial fishing, Passive use, Recreation and tourism, Subsistence Prior to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, there was no baseline date available for the abundant number of species existing in Prince William Sound.Because of this lack of data, numbers of oil spill-related casualties and recovery rates have been difficult to determine. Legal responsibility of ExxonMobil The settlement among the State of Alaska, the U. S. government and Exxon was approved by the U. S. District Court on Oct. 9, 1991. It resolved various criminal charges against Exxon as well as civil claims brought by the federal and state governments for recovery of natural resource damages resulting from the oil spill.The settlement was comprised of criminal and civil settlements with Exxon, as well as a civil settlement with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. Criminal Settlement Plea Agreement Exxon was fined $150 million, the largest fine ever imposed for an environmental crime. The court forgave $125 milli on of that fine in recognition of Exxon's cooperation in cleaning up the spill and paying certain private claims. Of the remaining $25 million, $12 million went to the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund and $13 million went to the national Victims of Crime Fund.Criminal Restitution As restitution for the injuries caused to the fish, wildlife, and lands of the spill region, Exxon agreed to pay $100 million. This money was divided evenly between the federal and state governments. Civil Settlement Exxon agreed to pay $900 million in ten annual installments. The final payment was received in Sept. 2001. The settlement contains a â€Å"reopener window† between Sept. 1, 2002 and Sept. 1, 2006, during which the state and federal governments may make a claim for up to an additional $100 million.The funds must be used to restore resources that suffered a substantial loss or decline as a result of the oil spill, the injuries to which could not have been known or anticipated by t he six trustees from any information in their possession or reasonably available to any of them at the time of the settlement (Sept. 25, 1991). The response of ExxonMobil [pic] [pic] Exxon logo. ExxonMobil acknowledged that the Exxon Valdez oil spill was a tragic accident that the company deeply regrets. Exxon notes that company took immediate responsibility for the spill, cleaned it up, and voluntarily compensated those who claimed direct damages.ExxonMobil paid $300 million immediately and voluntarily to more than 11,000 Alaskans and businesses affected by the Valdez spill. In addition, the company paid $2. 2 billion on the cleanup of Prince William Sound, staying with the cleanup from 1989 to 1992, when the State of Alaska and the U. S. Coast Guard declared the cleanup complete. And, as noted above, ExxonMobil also has paid $1 billion in settlements with the state and federal governments. That money is being used for environmental studies and conservation programs for Prince Will iam Sound.ExxonMobil hired its own scientists to study the impacts of the spill, and they come to different conclusions than many of the results published by government agencies and peer-reviewed academic journals. Exxon's scientists acknowledge the lingering pockets of oil in the sediments, but they argue that they do not pose a serious risk. It is their position that that there are now no species in Prince William Sound in trouble due to the impact of the 1989 oil spill, and that the data strongly support the position of a fully recovered Prince William Sound ecosystem.Lessons learned from the spill The scientists who monitored the oiled parts of Prince William Sound wanted to study the shoreline’s ecological recovery after an environmental disaster like the Exxon Valdez spill, and then use those lessons to better respond to future oil spills. Right now, their task is still incomplete. However, some of their findings have changed the way they think about cleaning up oil spi lls, and about how ecosystems respond to such disturbances. Following are some examples of what they have learned: 1.Clean-up attempts can be more damaging than the oil itself, with impacts recurring as long as clean-up (including both chemical and physical methods) continues. Because of the pervasiveness of strong biological interactions in rocky intertidal and kelp forest communities, cascades of delayed, indirect impacts (especially of trophic cascades and biogenic habitat loss) expand the scope of injury well beyond the initial direct losses and thereby also delay recoveries. 2.Oil that penetrates deeply into beaches can remain relatively fresh for years and can later come back to the surface and affect nearby animals. In addition, oil degrades at varying rates depending on environment, with subsurface sediments physically protected from disturbance, oxygenation, and photolysis retaining contamination by only partially weathered oil for years. 3. Rocky rubble shores should be of high priority for protection and cleanup because oil tends to penetrate deep and weather very slowly in these habitats, prolonging the harmful effects of the oil when it leaches out. . Oil effects to sea birds and mammals also are substantial (independent of means of insulation) over the long-term through interactions between natural environmental stressors and compromised health of exposed animals, through chronic toxic exposure from ingesting contaminated prey or during foraging around persistent sedimentary pools of oil, and through disruption of vital social functions (caregiving or reproduction) in socially organized species. 5.Long-term exposure of fish embryos to weathered oil at parts per billion (ppb) concentrations has population consequences through indirect effects on growth, deformities, and behavior with long-term consequences on mortality and reproduction. The Exxon Valdez also triggered major improvements in oil spill prevention and response planning. 1. The U. S. C oast Guard now monitors fully-laden tankers via satellite as they pass through Valdez Narrows, cruise by Bligh Island, and exit Prince William Sound at Hinchinbrook Entrance. In 1989, the Coast Guard watched the tankers only through Valdez Narrows and Valdez Arm. . Two escort vessels accompany each tanker while passing through the entire Sound. They not only watch over the tankers, but are capable of assisting them in the event of an emergency, such as a loss of power or loss of rudder control. Fifteen years ago, there was only one escort vessel through Valdez Narrows. 3. Specially trained marine pilots, with considerable experience in Prince William Sound, board tankers from their new pilot station at Bligh Reef and are aboard the ship for 25 miles out of the 70-mile transit through the Sound.Weather criteria for safe navigation are firmly established. 4. Congress enacted legislation requiring that all tankers in Prince William Sound be double-hulled by the year 2015. It is estimat ed that if the Exxon Valdez had had a double-hull structure, the amount of the spill would have been reduced by more than half. There are presently three double-hulled and twelve double-bottomed tankers moving oil through Prince William Sound. Two more Endeavor class tankers are under construction by ConocoPhillips, their expected induction into service is 2004 and 2005. . Contingency planning for oil spills in Prince William Sound must now include a scenario for a spill of 12. 6 million gallons. Drills are held in the Sound each year. 6. The combined ability of skimming systems to remove oil from the water is now 10 times greater than it was in 1989, with equipment in place capable of recovering over 300,000 barrels of oil in 72 hours. 7. Even if oil could have been skimmed up in 1989, there was no place to put the oil-water mix. Today, seven barges are available with a capacity to hold 818,000 barrels of recovered oil. . There are now 40 miles of containment boom in Prince William Sound, seven times the amount available at the time of the Exxon Valdez spill. 9. Dispersants are now stockpiled for use and systems are in place to apply them from helicopters, airplanes, and boats. Further Reading †¢ Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: How Much Oil Remains? †¢ Alaska Oil Spill Commission. 1990. Spill, the wreck of the Exxon Valdez: implications for safe transportation of oil (Final report). Juneau, AK. †¢ National Transportation Safety Board. 1990.Marine Accident Report: Grounding of the U. S. Tankship Exxon Valdez: on Bligh Reef, Prince William Sound, near Valdez, Alaska, March 24, 1989. Washington, D. C. : NTSB. NTSB/MAR-90/04. 255 p. †¢ Peterson, Charles H. , Stanley D. Rice, Jeffrey W. Short, Daniel Esler, James L. Bodkin, Brenda E. Ballachey, David B. Irons. 2003. Long-Term Ecosystem Response to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Science 302: 2082-2086. |Disclaimer: This article is taken wholly from, or contains in formation that was originally published by, the | |National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Topic editors and authors for the Encyclopedia of Earth may have | |edited its content or added new information. The use of information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric | |Administration should not be construed as support for or endorsement by that organization for any new information | |added by EoE personnel, or for any editing of the original content. | Citation Cleveland, Cutler (Contributing Author); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Content source); Peter Saundry (Topic Editor). 2008. Exxon Valdez oil spill. † In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D. C. : Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth August 17, 2006; Last revised August 26, 2008; Retrieved March 28, 2010]. Editing this Article We invite all scientists, environmental prof essionals and science attentive individuals to help improve this article and the EoE by clicking here EDIT CITE EMAIL PRINT NCSE Boston University M1 Digital UniverseUnless otherwise noted, all text is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Neutrality Policy Supported by the Environmental Information Coalition and the National Council for Science and the Environment. Unless otherwise noted, all text is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license. Please see the Encyclopedia of Earth's website for Terms of Use information. Supported by the Environmental Information Coalition and the National Council for Science and the Environment. [pic][pic]