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?