The North Pond Hermit: Another Christopher McCandless

"Christopher Knight's campsite, about a 50-minute walk
from where he was arrested, yielded clues about how
someone might spend years outdoors."

      This past weekend, I was in Rome, Maine -- the exact town the North Pond Hermit recently brought to the front pages. Christopher Knight, known as the North Pond Hermit, went undetected, living "a life of solitude and larceny" in the wilderness of Maine for 27 years. After his arrest last week, he said he had not made a purchase since the 1980s and had been stealing his necessities from campsites and cabins, i.e. propane tanks, clothes, food, supplies for a make-shift shelter. It is estimated that over the course of 27 years he has committed more than 1,000 burglaries. Not once did he burn a fire, out of fear that someone may detect him so the propane tanks came in handy.
       Knight became a myth and legend; people did not actually know if he was real for years. Reports were filed saying people had the feeling of being watched but nothing ever turned up. One account of a local resident, David Proulx, from Waterville, the next town, says he knew Knight's pattern -- when his cottage would be burglarized, "twice a year since 1990 -- close to 50 times."

      I'd leave him a note: 'Don't break in. Just tell me what you need, and I'll put it by the 
      side of the road,' Proulx said. The hermit never took him up on the offer.

      It became a bit of a joke to the residents of the surrounding towns of Rome, asking each other jokingly how many pairs of pants they had left. Knight was interested in reading current news and keeping updated with the outside world although he chose not to live in it. He did not have any contact with the outside world, not even his own family. His criminal record were clean and no missing-person report had been filed. District Attorney Maeghan Malony commented, "'It's ironic that someone who wanted to be completely anonymous is now the most famous citizen in Maine.'"
      This story seems to lead directly back to Into the Wild; the story of Christopher McCandless's journey to live in the wild away from all human contact. Funny how they were both named Christopher, and they both became widely famous when they wanted the exact opposite. Will it be possible for someone to go completely off the grid without others knowing in the future? In McCandless's case, hikers had stumbled upon his site in the Alaskan bush; in Knight's case, surveillance cameras were put up for his detection. Is there such a thing as 'off the grid' any more? Should there be?

Disaster Relief: It All Cycles Back

        When disaster strikes, family comes first. We think of our family and our community, our life and how it will be effected. A little self-centered? So what would we do if disaster hit someone else? Treat them as our own? I would hope so.
         The tornado that hit Oklahoma left practically nothing; it destroyed 13,000 homes and being more than a mile wide "it pummeled everything in its path for 17 miles, with winds traveling at 200 miles per hour." After hearing numerous stories from a mother being killed from protecting her child to a school teacher grabbing a mattress to protect her students, the emotions still remain high with 24 reported killed and 353 reported injured.
        Monday's tornado was a level five, the worst on a scale from zero to five. Lying in "Tornado Alley", Oklahoma is known for being a center of dusty winds, but storms to this extent are rare.

       And until Monday, America was enjoying an unusually quiet tornado season. 
       Between January 1st and April 27th it had just seen 228, compared with an 
       average of 537.

       The 'little' number of 228 still sounds large to me! That is why I love living in Chicago! One could call it a happy medium of weather to some extent ie we may have extreme hots and colds, but we don't have natural disasters.
        Discussion of the cost of the damage from the tornado is now on the frontline, estimated to be between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. After Obama signed a disaster declaration Monday night, federal funds were "available to stricken homeowners and businesses." This is where it got a little rocky with Oklahoma politicians. Both senators and the majority of its state representatives "opposed the bill that provided federal aid to victims of Sandy, a hurricane that devastated New York and New Jersey last year." Junior senator of Oklahoma, Tom Cobrun, also disagreed with a 2011 bill to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster-relief fund. Yet, "the day after the twister struck his home state he promised Oklahomans that 'any and all available aid will be delivered without delay.'" SO should he have considered what could happen to his home state if disaster struck before he voted on the prior bills? A little hypocritical, eh? We may be always thinking about ourselves and the people that surround us, but when it comes down to the end, it is important to also think about our 'neighbors' hundreds, thousands, and millions miles away. At some point, it may cycle right back to us!

My Three Brothers and Me

       Every opportunity my family has to be together, we take.  Getting together is pretty hard when we are spread across the country; one brother in Philadelphia; one brother in Maine; one brother in Denver. Though the times that we see each other may be a handful during school semesters, we converse like it is everyday. This was a particularly special weekend because we all got to be together for one graduating college the same day as another's birthday.
       After reading an opinion piece from the New York Times, "The Gift of Siblings", I thought I could relate pretty well. Not only did the author's family have three older boys and one girl, the youngest, but he also found that siblings are always the one you can turn to, whether it be for advice, a different outlook on a situation or a number of other things. Jeffrey Kluger, author of the book The Sibling Effect says:

       Siblings are the only relatives, and perhaps the only people you'll ever know 
       through the entire arc of your life. Your parents leave you too soon and your
       kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings know you when you are 
       in your most inchoate form.

      The arc that Kluger described made me think of Dan McAdams' "Redemptive Arc". Arcs like these ie "sin to salvation, rags to riches, sickness to health" are the exact arcs that siblings will always be there for. They see you at your highs and at your lows. They may be your best friends and your worst enemies. But one thing that I will always know is that I can always count on them.

What You Don't Know About Food

       Do you think sweet corn and potatoes are nutritious? Do you enjoy eating nice juicy apples because they have so few calories? Do you think you are healthy when you are eating romaine lettuce? Do you think our blueberries are the healthiest? Do you like to eat orange carrots because it will improve your eyesight? If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, I've got news for you: there is something a lot better that you could be eating.

      Studies published within the past 15 years show that much of our produce is 
      relatively low in phytonutrients, which are the compounds with the potential 
      to reduce the risk of four of our modern scourges: cancer, cardiovascular 
      disease, diabetes and dementia.

       We started "breeding the nutrition out of our food" about 10,000 years ago, when people started to become farmers. The Native Americans ate wild dandelions, a staple of their diet. We thought we were being healthy eating spinach, a known "superfood", but dandelions actually have seven times more phytonutrients than spinach and that is just the start.

        Though I would think that I now know a lot about corn as I wrote my Junior Theme on it; I know I have barely touched the surface. One thing that I still love learning is even more about corn everyday. The sweet corn we love to eat at BBQs during the summer is a distant relative of Indian corn or teosinte. Though teosinte was smaller and not nearly as sweet as our corn today, it had ten times more protein, a lot of starch and a little sugar. The indian corn that we see as decorations in the fall in a variety of colors is actually "rich in anthocyanins." Anthocyanins are able to "fight cancer, calm inflammation, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, protect the aging brain, and reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease." Would you consider eating some bitter corn? 

       The supersweet white corn we eat, well that's a result of radiation; don't worry the corn isn't still radioactive. Varieties of this corn can reach up to 40 percent sugar; it's practically dessert. SO when you're at the grocery store next time consider picking up some different varieties of the foods you eat.

Blue corn has 90 times more nutrients than white corn.

The Sikkim crab apple has 58 times more nutrients than our Golden Delicious apple.

Dandelions have 40 times more nutrients than Iceberg lettuce.

The chokeberry has 16 times more nutrients than our blueberries.

Purple and yellow carrots have 16 times more nutrients than orange carrots. 

The Purple peruvian potato has 171 times more nutrients than the white potato.

(To see graphs on the foods above click here)

Don't Take Our Train For Granted

       How far is your nearest train station? How frequent does the train stop there? Does it run on time? How much does it cost? The North Shore of Chicago is privileged to have the Union Pacific North traveling from Kenosha to the Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. Stops along the way include Lake Forest, Highland Park, Glencoe, Winnetka, Kenilworth, and Wilmette. The Metra operated train makes 27 inbound stops daily in Glencoe en route to Chicago allowing businessmen and women living in the suburbs to have easy and convenient transportation to the city. Likewise, Glencoe also has 27 outbound stops allowing reverse commuters as well as nannies, house-cleaners, and au-pairs, coming from the city, a means of transportation. While en route, train-riders have the opportunity to view the lavish surrounding green and main streets of the suburbs: a rather nice, peaceful view.

Stationmaster, Nisar Ahmed Abro, at Ruk station, a train
stop that has not seen a train in six months.

        Let's take that view half way around the world to Pakistan -- "a country of jaw-dropping landscapes, steeped in a rich history and filled with unexpected pleasures." But this also presents some "deeply troubling images." Ruk, Pakistan, Ruk Station -- stationmaster, Nisar Ahmed Abro, says that train lines have halted due to cutbacks. The once "dollhouse-pretty" station, lined with elaborate palm-trees and decorations is now a ghost station.  We once saw prosperity from the railways, but is has now been all but abandoned. In Mr. Abro's office, New York Times reporter Declan Walsh also noted a "silent grandfather clock." It seems as time has stopped, and the Pakistanis do not have anywhere to turn because of their "natural disasters and entrenched insurgencies, abject poverty and feudal kleptocrats, and an economy near meltdown." People are begging for change in a country that is on a downfall, but nothing has come of it yet. They want trains that once again arrive on time, but nobody has come forth to change that either.

A map of the Glencoe train station.

       At the Glencoe train station, fixed between Highland Park and Hubbard Woods, an overhead cover and bench is on the northbound side of the tracks. On the southbound side, going towards Chicago, is an overhead cover with bike racks underneath, granite lettering with flowers around spelling "Glencoe", many benches, newspaper dispensers, a fountain, a water fountain, and the train station. Were these amenities placed on the southbound side for a reason? Perhaps for the businessmen and women going to work rather than for the au-pairs coming on the northbound train.
       A look at Peshawar's station, Pakistan -- The train station is a far cry from Glencoe's: "policemen wielding AK-47s guard the train station." Train lines have been closed due to floodwaters, and even if they were intact, it would be too dangerous because of the insurgent violence. And to think I don't feel safe riding the El (elevated train) in Chicago at night. In Peshawar, this was not always how it was. The area boasted in the 1930s when the train was a "popular mode of travel used by the wealthy and working classes alike." That sounds like our train system right in the North Shore: the wealthy businessmen and women going to work and the working class coming to work. That was the past for them, the present for us.
       The Union Pacific North and train lines alike in Illinois create a line that often divides and defines towns, such as in Glencoe: 'east of the tracks' and 'the other side of the tracks'. Though we have this dividing line, people still come together in central parts of the town such as Starbucks, Foodstuffs, and Little Red Hen. Similarly, the train system in Parkistan, "over 5,000 miles of track inherited from the British at independence in 1947, helped mesh a new and fractious country." Here in Glencoe, I could get to Chicago in about 50 minutes; on the other hand, in Pakistan, one can get from one place to another but it might not be so convenient. Because of delays and mishaps an eighteen hour train ride can turn into a three day 'adventure' in Pakistan.
       In Lahore, Pakistan, the downfall of the trains did benefit one group of people: the elite. The Royal Palm Golf and Country Club now stands on the bones of the railways. "The club, which costs $8,000 to join has become a showcase for new money: families that made their fortunes from property and industry, contacts and corruption." This stop along the way faces stark differences with its distant neighbor, Karachi, where slums and sewage line the snaking railway. Trains across the globe seem to share the same stigmas: the better the status of the country, the better the train system. What would happen if our train system came to halt like Pakistans did?

   

Rich and Superrich

       

       There are rich, and then there are superrich. "The top penthouse is under contract for $95 million." 432 Park Avenue, an 84-story tower at the corner of 56th Street in Manhattan will be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere (to see a full rendering of the building, click here). Who could possibly afford these high-priced apartments? "While their identities are not known, it is likely that many are the rootless superrich: Russian metals barons, Latin American tycoons, Arab sheiks and Asian billionaires." Buildings like these greatly contribute to the divide of social classes: while the working class is building the structure, the elite class is taking advantage of the amenities they will soon have. The architect who designed 432 Park, Rafael Viñoly, says, "There are only two markets, ultraluxury and subsidized housing."

        432 Park offers a large variety of apartments ranging from $1.59 million studios to $95 million penthouses. Harry Macklowe, the developer of 432 Park, says that "a buyer [can also] pick up a $3.9 million studio for the housekeeper and a private wine cellar for $300,000." This divide in social classes has become an ongoing spiral getting bigger and bigger. As they say, 'The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer.'

A New Cashmere Sweater to Help Climate Change?

       Global warming can't be something that we just put on the back burner. Some people think how is this little recycling bin going to help the whole world from melting? Every little bit counts! The Economist reported that carbon dioxide concentrations have reached their highest level in four million years! What are we doing wrong?  Carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase from the burning of fossil fuels, using cars, cutting down trees, etc. Researchers at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, measured the carbon concentration at 400.03 ppm. In the early 1960s, carbon concentration in the atmosphere increased about 0.7ppm/year. Now, the rate increases nearly three times that at 2.1ppm/year!
         Many are aware of this change and more people need to step up to do something about it. I found a great example of how two guys are working to help. The project is called Naadam Cashmere and it gives back to Mongolia's nomadic herders who are severely threatened by climate change. While in Mongolia for a semester abroad, the founders "fell in love with the people but also learned their struggles." They learned that "the last real nomadic culture in the world is on the verge of being destroyed by the demands of the cashmere industry coupled with the drastic weather shifts that are affecting Mongolia worse than anywhere else on the planet." Unusual weather patterns and demand for more cashmere has caused a great drop in the goat populations. The herders then have no money, leading to no food, and, ultimately, they have to move into cities and abandon their nomadic life, the only life they know. Their solution: designing a line of cashmere sweaters and accessories and working directly with the herdsmen to save the goat population. By working with both local and international banks to create structures that benefit the herders and their life-styles, a percentage of  profits goes directly back to the very bottom of the chain, the nomadic herders. Supporters of Naadam Cashmere have already pledged over 4.5 times the initial goal on Kickstarter.com. There is only one more day to pledge; you can get a cashmere sweater; you can help a herder in Mongolia; and you can fight climate change by keeping the herders on their land and out of the cities.

Freighting Through the Suburbs

         On March 18, 1858, the Chicago Alton & St. Louis Railroad departed Joliet for its first trip. A celebration was hosted for a number of guests. It derailed twice en route but made it to Chicago. On May 2, 1865 a train traveled the same line carrying Abraham Lincoln's body from Chicago to Springfield. The Alton Railroad was later bought by Gulf Mobile & Ohio, and later by the Illinois Central Gulf. The line served mostly freight trains and a commuter train twice daily. It was sold to Metra and then bought by Canadian National Railroad in 1998. The extensive history behind the Illinois Central railroad is all but overshadowed now by the extensive freight schedule it manages. 

The low-grade train stop in Winnetka, IL.

         Chicago's North Shore Union Pacific North also has its own history. Four years before the Chicago Alton & St. Louis railroad, the Chicago and Milwaukee debuted the arrival of its first trains. After 31 fatalities in Winnetka, IL from the gates not operating, the Winnetkans "insisted on immediate action." As a result, the village decided to dig "The Big Ditch", which ran from Indian Hill to Hubbard Woods. With the initiation of FDR's New Deal in 1930, Harold Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior as well as the Administrator of the Public Works Association, a program started by FDR, the project was able to receive the bulk of its funding. Ickes just so happened to be a former Winnetkan. A little under half of the funding for the Big Ditch ended up coming from the PWA. Clearly, the connections between residents of Winnetka and Ickes, were very influential. 

         Likewise, have you every seen a freight train going through the Union Pacific North Railroad, the train that runs along Chicago's North Shore? No. The freight companies, such as Canadian National, have never claimed the Union Pacific North, I believe, for the same reasons the Big Ditch came to be: the Lake Michigan communties' money, power, voice, and connections. The closest freight train I run into is a little further west of the lake in Northbrook at Shermer Road. The railroad runs straight through the center of town. It is a Canadian National line. CN has taken control of numerous train lines in the suburbs: the Illinois Central Railroad and the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern line. CN has managed to route around the city of Chicago to avoid train traffic and, ultimately, get places faster. In order to do this, they are en route in the western suburbs of Chicago. Notice how they are interested in buying the railroads a little farther away from Chicago's north shore. Do these communities have less of a voice than those older, perhaps wealthier suburbs close to the lake - or fewer connections like that needed to dig the Big Ditch? If there ever were a Canadian National running on the Union Pacific North, I could only imagine the outrage from the villages. Metra is our one and only, it is accessible, convenient, and fast. It is here solely for us. 

In Autopilot

          Imagine driving to work or school. You want to catch up on some emails or homework, but you can't because you have to drive. But wait; you can. You press a green button on the steering wheel, and your car is now in autopilot; it drives itself. In 2010, Google announced their research on self-driving cars; by giving people extra time in the car they may search the web, therefore boosting Google's profits. The video to the left below shows Google's very first user, Steve Mahan, a blind man, "driving".
           This subject has sparked debate with many pros and cons as discussed in recent issues of The Economist. On the positive side, insurance brokers say driving in autopilot can reduce people's rates because they can monitor the car's actions more with technology and car accidents will likely be reduced. There would also be no such thing as texting and driving anymore; no more distractions. People will have that extra time to do things they just could not get done at home. Can we assume that these cars would be a safe way of transportation? In this case many What if... questions could arise such as: What if something in the car has a failure? How could self-driving cars potentially effect America's future?
          This topic also reminded me of my recent, good 'ole Junior Theme on why is corn such a ubiquitous crop in America? I concluded my paper talking about what corn could become. You are probably thinking, how could corn possibly connect to these cars? Well, the book I read, The Omnivore's Dilemma, discussed the oncoming prevalence of processed foods in our lifestyle. Our modern American lifestyle and tastes have contributed to the ubiquitous quantity of corn production and refining. With our very busy schedules, buying processed foods becomes a time saver. Also, more people eat out, especially at fast food restaurants: "these days 19 percent of American meals are eaten in the car." And coincidentally, that is shown in the video above!

Aftermath of Tazreen: Rana Plaza

"Search crews on Thursday clawed
through the wreckage of the building,
which housed several factories making
clothing for European and American
consumers."

        Another and another. And another. First it was Tazreen Fashions Limited, then Smart Export Garments factory, and now the worst of them all, as the New York Times reports, Rana Plaza, claiming at least 377 lives, with hundreds of Bangladeshi clothing workers still missing. Rana Plaza contained five garment factories in a multi-story building. Our disconnect to our consumerism once again surfaces. supply and demand for cheap gods takes over! Rana Plaza employed more than 3,000 people producing clothing for both American and British companies: JC Penney, Cato Fashions, Benetton, Primark, and other retailers. After the arrest of Mr. Rana, the building's owner, cheers broke out in the streets. The garment factory bosses blame Mr. Rana for lying about structural safety in the building; cracks were discovered the day before the disaster and Mr. Rana reported that it would be safe to operate. Rana, known for his corrupt and greedy ego, of course, opposes this saying he was pressured by the bosses...
        Out of this came horrifying stories that no one would ever want to witness, hear, or read. Of the workers who survived, many suffered crushed and broken bones, severed and punctured organs, and amputated limbs.

        For nearly 12 hours, rescuers tried to save a trapped woman, lowering dry food
        and juice to her as they carefully cut through the wreckage trying to reach her. 
       But then a fire broke out, apparently killing the woman, leaving many firefighters
       in tears.

"Volunteers used a length of textile as
a slide to move dead victims recovered
from the rubble."

       When bodies were announced to be found among the rubble, families rushed to identify loved ones and claim the dead. Families still have hope for their loved ones, but officials say it is likely that very few are alive. So what is the next step to these ongoing disasters? Why didn't we take more action after the first, Tazreen? Reading these articles got me thinking of the writing assignment we had after reading Shirt by Robert Pinsky. I wrote about my Patagonia sweatshirt which I was able to trace back to the exact factory:
                         Nicaragua, Managua, Zona Franca Industrial.
                         The Great King of Americas Sewing Factory:
                         2,100 trabajadores sólo hablan español.
                         80% female; 20% male.

I was informed about my sweatshirt. Why not take the initiative Patagonia has to inform buyers and make sure the products we get are made in safe environments? Yes, America is a country based on capitalism, the cheaper the better, but I think we have to put a stop to it somewhere.

More on Corn: Ammonium Nitrate

        Another look at corn. How can I relate my Junior Theme to the Texas fertilizer plant explosion? It all starts with ammonium nitrate. Who knew this highly combustible chemical would be used in the corn fields of America today? It began after World War II, when scientists changed the more traditional methods of growing corn. According to Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, the government found itself with a surplus of ammonium nitrate, an important ingredient used in weapons production, and government leaders wanted a method to dispose of it. Scientists came up with the idea of using the ammonium nitrate as a fertilizer and pesticide. Thus began two new industries and, as a result, corn yields exploded!

"Debris littered a field near the West Fertilizer Company
plant in West, Texas. Investigators believe it may have
been set of by ammonium nitrate stored there."

        While corn yields have been 'exploding' in recent years, a couple days ago the West Fertilizer Company plant in West, Texas had an explosion of its own. It is believed to have been from the 540,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate stored to sell to local farmers. Following September 11, "Congress passed a law requiring plants that use or store explosives or high-risk chemicals to file reports with the Homeland Security Department so it can increase security at such facilities." It includes any plant storing more than 400 pounds of ammonium nitrate. Yet, no one from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Homeland Security Department, and the West ambulance service knew of the large  amount of ammonium nitrate the West Fertilizer Company was storing. In fact, the West Fertilizer Company plant "had 1,350 times" the amount required to file a report. If only our protection agencies had known this. The plant should have been on the list of 4,000 facilities with high-risk chemicals.
        Regulations in Texas are a little different. They are a little more lenient, which is exactly what Pat Mohan, Interim President of the Corn Refiners Association, desires for the corn refining industry. Without as many regulations, industries would be able to create and experiment much more. However, these regulations also keep us safe; like the regulation of having to report high-risk chemicals and have it on file. How can regulations be managed to support both the industrial side and the consumer side?

More on Corn: China's Demand

      A little update on my Junior Theme. It has been very interesting researching why corn is the most ubiquitous crop in the United States. I have been hooked on my books and for the past two weeks compiling mounds of information together. Though I am not focusing on the international market in my paper, this pie chart I came across immediately caught my attention. China is the next leading country, behind the United States, for world corn consumption. This not only caught my eye in statistics and articles but also the eyes of two people I interviewed: Curt Ellis and Aaron Woolf. Here's the deal: Because of an increasing amount of prosperity in the developing world, countries like China want more meat in their everyday diet. As we all know, we didn't always have the option of meat at every meal because it was too expensive; therefore, in order to have more meat quickly and cheaply, we have to grow more corn. The answer always comes back to corn!

Corn Taking Over

Monsanto's corn seed-- not really
what I thought corn seed would
look like?!

        The corn season is starting! Corn farmers are looking forward to a better crop after last years "yields were the smallest in 17 years because of the worst drought since the Dust Bowl years." Farmers are beginning to plant their seeds and believe what some are saying that this may be the Midwest's "biggest crop in decades." This will also profit Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, who is expected to sell a record amount of their corn seed. But why corn? What is all the hype about this plant? The corn that you and I eat, sweet corn, is not the same corn that takes up about 97.2 million acres of the United States. That corn goes by the name Number 2 Yellow Corn. It may look the same, but it is not something that anyone would want to eat off the grill on a summer's day. Number 2 Yellow Corn is what every corn supplement is made from (check out this list of Corn-derived ingredients). When I started to see these ingredients in foods that I frequently ate, I began to wonder, and began to notice it more and more.
       In researching my Junior Theme: Why is corn the largest subsidized crop in the United States?, I have come across some great, easy-to-talk-to people. After watching the movie King Corn, I interviewed the Director/writer, Aaron Woolf. After my extensive analysis and inquiries on corn and more corn, I wondered how he got involved in this industrialized crop. It wasn't ingredient labels he read that got him interested or the increasing use of high fructose corn syrup, but it was the previous movie he directed that intrigued him. In 2003, he directed and wrote Dying to Leave, a movie about human smuggling and human trafficking. He then went on to tell me that after traveling to about 13 countries around the world, going back and forth from the United States, he noticed how much fatter Americans were, as a whole, than all the other countries. After doing research, everything led back to corn. That is where he began his journey with making King Corn. We agreed that everything can somehow lead back to corn -- from the food you eat, the gas you pump into your car, and the place where your tax dollars are going.

"Maple Syrup Takes a Turn Toward Technology"

"Today, five miles of pressurized blue tubing spider webs
down the hillside at Morse farm, pulling sap from thousands
of trees and spitting it into tubs. They help producers pull
twice as much sap as before."

        As my mom and I drove through Vermont this past week during spring break, we passed dozens of sugar shacks and maple syrup farms. Along the way we stopped for maple ice cream and similar treats containing Vermont's very own maple syrup. A couple days later, I came across a New York Times article about maple syrup! Is that good timing or what?! I didn't really know much about it going into the article; my only background was the sweet taste of the syrup. One thing that I did know was that while shopping for maple syrup at the grocery store two seemingly identical bottles sat next two each other. They both read "Organic Maple Syrup", but one was in a plastic bottle and the other was in a glass bottle. The plastic one was cheaper but was this the only factor that made it different? My mom and I turned the bottles over to compare the ingredients. Bingo! The glass 'All Organic' bottle had one ingredient, Pure Maple Syrup, while the plastic 'All Organic' bottle included a couple extra ingredients including 'organic corn syrup.' I have never heard of 'organic corn syrup' but corn in any form in maple syrup can't be too 'natural.' And unfortunately, this is exactly what we are headed for, more and more 'unnatural' maple syrup. 

          Climate change is disrupting temperatures in Vermont and causing great stress among syrup farmers. As a result, American maple syrup farmers have been forced to invest thousands of dollars in technology and machinery never needed before. With the high-tech equipment, farmers can now “process sap into syrup in 30 minutes, something that used to take two hours.” They are betting on technology and “installing equipment that may take 10 years to earn back their cost in syrup sales.” Although scientists say the technology is not harming the maples in anyway, it is the dependency that concerns me. The technology behind producing maple syrup is just another example of how each generation after the other today has become more and more dependent on technology. Similar to what I brought up in my Gas in the Natural Cycle, we are caught in a linear progression that is, I believe, 'unnatural' to nature's cycle because as we continue to increase our dependence on technology it causes climate change among other things, and in turn causes an even bigger increase in technology. So the big question now is: how do we move back to a more cyclical progression? And is it even possible?

Cheating and Greed

         When I hear the word cheating I think of kids-- Kids wanting to do well on tests so they can get a better grade, right? No, not right. This week the New York Times published an extensive article about Atlanta's former district superintendent Beverly Hall who was found to be cheating; in fact, she "was charged with racketeering, theft and other crimes in the doctoring of students' test answers." Why even change the test answers? I mean, we are talking about elementary school here. The test scores brought Dr. Hall fame and fortune. She was named superintendent of the year in 2009 by the American Association of School Administrators and was hosted at the White House by the secretary of education, Arne Duncan. The fortune -- "she earned more than $500,000 in performance bonuses while superintendent." This is where greed and selfishness really comes out. Dr. Hall wasn't in it for the students because she wanted them to get better test scores; she was in it for herself, popularity, prosperity and all. Is it really worth such a high risk for the high reward? We are finding more often than not, that the answer is no!

A 2½-year investigation has gone on because Beverly L. Hall
was suspected to have changing students test answers.

          In Dr. Hall's case, though the risk was high, her reward was higher. She "led the district of 52,000 children, many of them poor and African-American, Atlanta students often outperformed wealthier suburban districts on state tests." A little bit fishy? The investigation began in August 2010 when test scores increased substantially yet a high number of eraser marks were found on the answer sheets from wrong to right. Third grade teacher, at Venetian Hills Elementary School, Jackie Parks admitted to the wrong doing, complied with Georgia state investigator, Richard Hyde, and wore a wire to record conversations. She admitted that she was among "the chosen" -- one of seven teachers "who sat in a locked windowless room every afternoon during the week of state testing, raising students' scores by erasing wrong answers and making them right." The teachers said they would do this because of the fear and standard Dr. Hall set among them.
       
      "Dr.Hall was known to rule by fear. She gave principals three years to meet their 
       testing goals. Few did; in her decade as superintendent, she replaced 90 percent 
       of the principals. Teachers and principals whose students had high test scores 
       received tenure and thousands of dollars in performance bonuses. Otherwise, as 
       one teacher explained, it was 'low score out the door.'"

        It really is only to the benefit of the woman herself. Higher scores means less financial aid from the state. Less aid means the students may not even learn what they are supposed to or increasingly fall behind. The selfishness just becomes more and more apparent. Beverly Hall was the leader of the other 34 accused last Friday.

Gas in the Natural Cycle

       Fair Oaks, Indiana, is home to Fair Oaks Farm, home to around 30,000 cows. The farm's endless supply of manure generates enough electricity to milk all the cows. Fair Oaks uses the livestock waste "to create enough natural gas to power 10 barns, a cheese factory, a cafe, a gift shop and a maze of child-friendly exhibits about the world of dairy." And where does the extra part of the total five million pounds of cow manure go? It is fueling the farm's delivery trucks and trailers making runs across the state and to Kentucky and Tennessee. Isn't this exactly what we need? Because Fair Oaks now uses "biogas" they are taking "two million gallons of diesel off the highway each year." Everything at the Farm has a place in 'the cycle' as I call it.

That's a lot of manure! Waste? I don't think so! It is just
waiting to be processed into natural gas!

        I bring up 'the natural cycle' because I have been hooked on Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma which talks about the food we eat and the process it goes through before it ends up on our plates. I have become much more aware of the reoccurring theme of the natural cycle - or lack thereof. Indeed it has become somewhat linear nowadays. Before Fair Oaks completed their own cycle of putting the livestock waste to good use, they "burned off the excess methane, wasted energy sacrificed to the sky." This is still the case for many farms and manufacturing plants today, especially in the not-so-natural ones. They are known as CAFOs, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Here the cycle has become completely linear because of the demand for more meat, faster and cheaper. The manure at these plants turns into manure lagoons, aka toxic waste, because of the numerous chemicals and antibiotics in them. Manure equals good fertilizer, right? The manure at Fair Oaks does but at every CAFO, a fertilizer can't be "good" with antibiotics and hormones. Now that Fair Oaks has put gas in their natural cycles will it come soon for other farms? Definitely not CAFOs. In the next couple years, we will see more and more biogas projects emerging. This could definitely be a turn in the right direction and away from fossil fuels.

More On Corn: The Ethanol Edition

        Corn. It is everything. Everywhere we look we are destined to face something with corn. Five years ago, ethanol was on the rise in rural America. And what is ethanol? Corn. Hundreds of ethanol plants in the Corn Belt of America opened due to government subsidies and mandates. This brought in jobs and business to small towns and corn farmers. However, "those days of promise and prosperity are vanishing." But I thought we had an abundance of corn?! Corn for all?! That is not quite the case. The drought last year left farmers with little to no corn. In fact, Don Mutter, who farms near an ethanol plant in Missouri, "said he produced about 25,000 bushels of corn last year, just 5.5 percent of his usual yield." And with this, many issues arise. Ethanol plants are strategicically placed in areas surrounded by farms so transportation costs would be low, but as in the case of one plant "without corn nearby to purchase, the plant had to spend extra to haul it in from elsewhere." Like many other ethanol manufacturers, it had been operating at a loss for months and finally ended operations in January.
       So what has happened to all of the ethanol plants? Is it nature to blame or our reliance on corn in so many industries? I will leave you with these facts: "nearly 10 percent of the nation's ethanol plants have stopped production over the past year, in part because the drought that has ravaged much of the nation's crops pushed commodity prices so high that ethanol has become too expensive to produce." And "if we are what we eat, Americans are corn."

War on Soda

"It would have amounted to a tax on the poor, said some. It would have had little effect anyway, noted others, because people would still have been allowed free refills. It was un-American, said others still, for was this not the country of freedom, more or less, of choice?"

Protestors of the ban marched outside City Hall last July.

         Last Tuesday marked the "giant-soda ban that almost was." New York City's Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's plan to limit the size of sugary soft drinks was deemed "arbitrary and capricious" by Justice Milton A. Tingling. The initiative was to ban sugared drinks over the size of sixteen ounces. Mayor Bloomberg's concern for his city was the increasing obesity rates and the fact that obesity can kill. People opposing Bloomberg quickly shot back saying it was against their civil liberties to tell them what they can and cannot put in their body. They also claimed that education is better than "dictating" what people should and should be eating and drinking. It is of significant interest that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.) backed big soft-drink companies, particularly Coca-Cola, because of their long-time relationship with civil rights groups and the tens of thousands of dollars donated by Coke to Project HELP, a health educational program developed by the N.A.A.C.P. Clearly, it always comes down to the money. The irony of this is that African-Americans and other minorities "would be among the key beneficiaries of a rule that would limit the sale of super-size, calorie-laden beverages."
          Obesity can be more prevalent in low-income areas due to the quality and quantity of affordable food people can get. Fast food is exactly what these people aim for because it fills their stomachs without emptying their wallets. In fact, "about 70 percent of black New Yorkers and 66 percent of Hispanic New Yorkers are obese or overweight, compared with 52 percent of white non-Hispanic residents." Would the giant soda ban help these numbers decrease? I, personally, do not think so because after drinking a "small" soft-drink, people just may not be satisfied. They would find a way to fill their desire for more. And as many know, when you consume sugar, you just want more and more sugar. In many other countries, our size small is their largest size! Everything is bigger in America, including the people.

Yosemite's Perfect Shot

        Last week marked Yosemite National Park's annual "natural firefall," when the sun sets and hits Horsetail Fall at such an angle that it looks like lava flowing down El Capitan, the world's largest single chunk of granite. Hundreds of photographers from around the world gather in hopes to capture this exact moment. Create. This image is not what it appears to be, flames of lava bursting out of the rock. The sun creates the scene and the photographers create the picture. They sit outside for hours awaiting the perfect shot.

        After watching the brief video, one can see how different a picture becomes when it changes from black and white to color. We have also discussed in class how black and white photos were used historically to create more serious images. Although Ansel Adams, the photographer, may not have had access to color photography, he captured the essence of the "Firefall" without having to rely on vivid orange tones to make his point. He got what he wanted his own viewers to see in black and white. Ansel Adams managed to take a black and white picture but still capture the movement and tone equally as if it was in color. The first time I saw his picture, I could see the fire-like waterfall on El Capitan though there was no orange-fire color.

"When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!"
-Ted Grant ("Canada's premier living photographer")

Racism at Emory?

Students marched in protest against Dr. Wagner on Friday.

         We may not want to admit it, but we still live in a country where racist terms are part of some people's everyday vocabulary. Will this ever come to a complete end? Probably not for a while. "Racial wounds" are being "opened" at the highly renowned university, Emory, in Atlanta, Georgia. Yesterday, the New York Times published an article about the President of Emory, James W. Wagner, and a column he wrote for the current issue of the university magazine. In the column, Wagner, "praised the 1787 three-fifths compromise, which allowed each slave to be counted as three-fifths of a person in determining how much Congressional power the Southern states would have, as an example of how polarized people could find common ground." This is not a first time event that Emory has been noted to target different minority groups at the University. In September, Emory announced "sweeping cuts." Some say these budget changes also target programs popular to racial minorities. Minorities at Emory make up 31 percent of its student body.
          John Emory, for which the school is named, was a Methodist bishop who owned slaves 177 years ago. Generations later, many of Emory's leaders favored a segregated school system, but in 1962 the school decided to sue the state of Georgia in order to allow the enrollment of African American students. Despite the fact that Emory took action to enroll a more diverse student population, Emory continues to demonstrate conflicting sides of its personality, such as the flying of a Confederate flag outside of a fraternity. On the other hand, the University is also home to many African-American artifacts and literature including "what is thought to be the nation's most complete database documenting American slave trade routes." Although Wagner has "reopened the wound," he did apologize for his clumsiness and insensitivity.  Our generation has grown up in a time when we have to learn what is and is not right to say about other people. Will there ever be a time when it is just natural to accept?

Responsibility Abroad

        The 100th self-immolation in China-occupied Tibet which took place on February 3 was reported last Wednesday. Lobsang Namgyal died on scene after setting himself on fire and the International Campaign for Tibet reported that he "called for the long life of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans." The Tibetans' self-immulations are a protest against China. The Tibetan's "vast homeland came under Communist rule after Chinese troops occupied central Tibet in 1951." Out of these 100 self-immolations in Tibet at least 82 people have died.
        In America, we are pre-occupied with peace, gun-control, racism to name a few. I ask, can we have peace at home and be at peace with ourselves if there is no peace abroad? When our international community cries out for help, such as these Tibetans who suffer under their occupation of China's harsh government, what responsibility do we have as Americans- for ourselves and for our country - to help? How does our government decide which countries to help and which to watch as mere bystanders?
        Is it appropriate for countries like the United States to step in and help our international community in times like these or do we leave it to China to take care of "their" people? I will leave you with a heart-breaking picture from the New York Times 2012: The Year in Pictures. Jampa Yeshia was a Tibetan exile who "set himself on fire at a rally in New Delhi to protest the impending visit to India by China's president, Hu Jintao."

A Majority of Latinos

"Students after school in Glen Avon, east of Los Angeles.
Latinos now make up more than two-thirds of many cities
in that region."

          California's majority population is now Latino. Reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao about a Dominican-American boy's life between New Jersey and Santo Domingo, is not the only reason I chose to write about the gains Latinos are making in the United States. Only a generation ago, "California voters approved a ballot initiative that was seen as the most anti-immigrant law in the nation. Immigrants who had come to the country illegally would be ineligible to receive prenatal care, and their children would be barred from public schools." Yes, that's America for you, a great melting pot, accepting of ALL backgrounds, races, and languages. The law was later deemed unconstitutional and never achieved its true goal of its "backers": to push immigrants out and keep the demographics at a steady white majority.
           So now, the numbers just keep rising. Immigrants, mostly from Latin America, are pouring in awaiting their American Dream. The current and future estimations of demographics in California truly show what kind of country America is: accepting.
         
           In 1990, Latinos made up 30 percent of the state's population; they will make
           up 40 percent -- more than any other ethnic group -- by the end of this year, 
           and 48 percent by 2050, according to projections made by the state this month.

           Accepting. Is our melting pot accepting? We see many immigrants come in to make up extremely diverse demographics, but I don't think we are quite there yet. Our own Chicago remains the most segregated city. We don't mix in the melting pot. The course for the Chicago marathon takes you through many of Chicago's different ethnic neighborhoods, each one unique with lanquage, script, scents, sounds, colors, costumes of diverse parts of the world. The effort needs to come from both sides - it takes at least two to mix up the melting pot.

Could it be Fukú?

A driver digs out her car in Portland, Maine.

        Many East Coasters are suffering through the daunting two to three feet of snow that fell in the past few days. In fact, the storm was a result of the collision of two weather systems, affecting more than 40 million people! More than 300,000 people still remain without power, mostly in Massachusetts. Federal aid helped people in local towns of Connecticut after President Obama declared it a State of Emergency. And to think that I thought we got a lot of snow here in Chicago!
         Natural disasters. First Hurricane Sandy, now Snowstorm Nemo. When natural distasters appear such as Sandy and Nemo, now I can not help but think of fukú. Junot Diaz offers a unique way of looking at why events happened in history in his book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. What is fukú? It is a curse. Many families try to stay as far away from it as possible, but sometimes it is inescapable. It was said to be "carried in with the screams of the enslaved" (1). Fukú is also often described as being related to disasters whether privately, locally, or nationally. In the point of view of Yunior, the narrator of Oscar Wao, would people say that is it fukú creating Sandy and Nemo? What have we done to deserve this type of fukú? Could it be as big as destroying our environment one gas tank at a time or as little as disobeying a teacher? Can fukú somehow be related to karma? After all, what goes around comes around.

"Drowned in a Stream of Prescriptions"

        It has taken over one year for Richard Fee's story of abusing prescription drugs for ADHD to surface in national news, The New York Times. Growing up in Virginia Beach, Fee was never diagnosed, nor did he show any symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD. It started in college when he could easily access Adderall, the ADHD drug, to focus and really zone in to study for tests and write papers through the night. Adderall can go for $5 to $10 per pill on college campuses. Richard Fee's parents first found out he was using prescription drugs for his 'disorder' because it showed up on his mother's insurance plan. He committed suicide, hanging himself in his closet, years later. His death is attributed his addiction to the ADHD drug.
        It is frighteningly easy to obtain a prescription for Adderall from doctors. In some cases, a patient can meet with a doctor two times for under five minutes and be diagnosed for ADHD. A prescription for a drug to enhance focus follows. Doctors frequently "skip established diagnostic procedures, renew prescriptions reflexively and spend too little time with patients to accurately monitor side effects." Is it the doctor's fault for not taking proper procedures leading to Richard Fee's suicide? His father begged his doctor not to prescribe him any more drugs, "You keep giving Adderall to my son, you're going to kill him." Richard Fee became "violently delusional" and spent a week in a psychiatric hospital. It was there, believe it or not, that he received prescriptions for 90 more days of Adderall! Two weeks after they expired, he was found in his closet.

        Richard Fee's experience included it all. Conversations with friends and 
        family members and a review of detailed medical records depict an
        intelligent and articulate young man lying to doctor after doctor, 
        physicians issuing hasty diagnoses, and psychiatrists continuing to 
        prescribe medication -- even increasing dosages -- despite evidence of 
        his growing addiction and psychiatric breakdown.

     
        Fee's sad story is not new news. In fact, abuse of ADHD drugs have become prevalent not only on college campuses but in high schools across the country as well. High schoolers, especially in affluent areas, find that taking the drugs will give them an edge for college standardized tests and help them focus to achieve the GPA that is expected of them. Last June, right around the time of finals, SATs and ACTs, the New York Times printed an article about the use and abuse of amphetamines and other focus drugs in high schools.
        It's not hard for kids in these well-to-do areas to get their hands on these drugs - they have the money, the support, and the skills to convince parents and doctors of their supposed needs. It is not unheard of to imagine that similar happenings go on right here at New Trier. Do people realize that "prescription stimulants like Adderall and Vyvanse (amphetamines) and Ritalin and Focalin (methylphenidates) are Class 2 controlled substances - the same as cocaine and morphine - because they rank among the most addictive substances that have a medical use"?

More Hit in Bangladesh

         In December, I reflected upon the tragic story of what happened in Bangladesh at the Tazreen Fashions factory. 112 workers died in a fire in the midst of making clothing for American companies. Nothing has changed. Nothing has been changed to make safer factory environments for workers. No preventative actions have been taken to improve factory conditions and fire hazards in them that see, pervasive.  Nothing has been changed to prohibit teenagers as young as 14 to work in factories.
        Devastatingly, an almost exact parallel to the Tazreen factory tragedy happened in Dhaka, Bangladesh at the Smart Export Garments factory.  Seven women were killed and many were left with injuries from an unnecessary fire as the New York Times reported. And again, big name clothing companies such as Inditex, makers of the well-known Spanish brand Zara, claim they were unaware of their associations with these Bangladeshi companies because "the actual receivers of purchase orders have given the work orders to Smart Export Garment in a sneaky way without informing the buyer." This, in itself, seems unbelievable! Isn't it the responsibility of the distributor to know where their clothing is being made? Is it possible to put an end to this?    
        As consumers, we need to take some of the responsibility for these unacceptable practices and conditions. With this information, should we still be going to buy brands that we know are overseen by irresponsible companies? The question is, how can we know where everything that we buy is made? Do we need to footprint everything we buy before each purchase? If the label says 'made in Bangladesh', do we assume it's made under poor working conditions? Global brands have promised us consumers "that clothes are manufactured in safe factories that are inspected through regular audits." Yet, again, the Bangladesh factory offers another horrifying example of "loopholes" in the system.
        As we discussed in class, often business gets done by a string of contractors and sub-contractors. In this way, making clothes doesn't differ much from constructing a railroad. The general contractor or distributor is at the top, who in turn hires sub-contractors, who hire their own labor and so on. This implies that often people on the top may not even know who is actually getting the job done. This is what goes on with clothing manufacturing: "the factory was filling many orders on subcontracts with other suppliers for clothing brands." Can industries be regulated by international governments to try to prevent unsafe and life threatening working conditions? How can we put pressure on big chain stores such as Walmart and Sears to have more scrutiny over brands they purchase and support? The sad fact is, I'm not sure that people really care about where their clothes come from.