Project To-Do List
Soundslides Presentation (Armory Square vs. Projects in relation to class disparity). Integration or intervention/ disrupt or fit in, and three-dimensional model of sculpture in Armory Square: Lauren
Timeline A (History of Armory Square) and Timeline B (future of Armory Square post-monument)/ creating a logical blueprint for materials we would use to create monument: Jordan
Computer generated model of monument, inspiration from other artists, goals and objectives for project powerpoint/ how to measure our project’s success: Max
Intended audience and intended reaction: Deanna
_______
Lauren, Max, Jordan and Deanna
Project Proposal
This project was primarily developed as a parody that mocks, and somewhat condemns, the spending habits of people in Armory Square and how these people represent something more than just frivolous shoppers or satisfied stomachs: they represent the upper class in a city whose class disparity is alarming. While Armory Square hosts some of the best restaurants and boutiques in the Syracuse area, just ten minutes away stands housing projects of an impoverished, dilapidated city. Lauren will create a “soundslides” presentation that will present pictures, dialogue and statistics in order to give background information on the class disparity and why this project became of interest to the group. For example, it will discuss demographic maps that were provided by the Syracuse Hunger Project, which demonstrate statistics, such as the majority of families who make anywhere from zero to just $13,000 per year resides in the heart of Syracuse, surrounding the University. Meanwhile, in the outskirts of the the University, nearly zero percent of people living in suburban areas, such as DeWitt, live below the federal poverty line (SU Community Geographer). Such a disparity snowballs into other social inequities, such as teenage pregnancy, inadequate schooling and decreased homeownership rates. For this reason, our group chose Armory Square as a prime location to satirize the upper class, as this area illustrates several of the social divides found within the Syracuse community.
Jordan will continue the presentation by discussing the history and future of Armory Square. Once a hubbub for industry, Armory Square was first settled in 1804. As the nineteenth century progressed, Armory Square became more populous and many of today's historic buildings were constructed during this time period. Because of its proximity to the Erie Canal, Armory Square became a center of commerce, as hotels and other architecture were created. In the twentieth century, many of the historic buildings were demolished, as Armory Square has been spiraling downward for quite some time. Recently, it has been revitalized. Numerous stores, bars and other establishments have been opened, as Armory Square has become a renowned commercial area again. Through all of this time, class disparity has continued to exist. Poor people continue to surround the outskirts of Armory Square, as poor neighborhoods still exist into the 21st century.
In order to show the class examples of what our monument will look like, the group will create two models. Lauren will present a three-dimensional model of the project entitled Money, which will show the cube and its surroundings. To supplement this, Max will make a computer generated version of the same area. It will be a powerpoint presentation that condenses this graphic with information about Damali Ayo and the AREA project so that the discussion can move fluidly. Damali Ayo was especially important to our project because her work “Panhandling for Reparations” was a parody on race, just as ours is a parody on class. She uses satire in her art when she panhandles on the street for reparation money due to slavery. From this project, we decided to adopt a satirical attitude for Money. In addition to Ayo, we found inspiration in the ball of trash from the AREA project. This project in physical form is very similar to our cube of molded money.
One of the main objectives for the project is to successfully commentate on how the upper and middle class people of Syracuse visit Armory Square and waste their money on consumer goods when they could be donating a portion of this money to the less fortunate within their own community. The monument will make donations possible, as the cube will have a slot for people to donate money. Such funds will be dedicated to the low income neighborhoods. The goal is to bring awareness and money to the low-income areas in Syracuse. We hope to improve these residential areas by building new playgrounds, safehouses where community members can go when frightened and improved educational standards that promote the importance of schooling.
Moreover, because this sculpture is satirical, a certain audience is required. Deanna will discuss how we are aiming towards the wealthier, upper class that frequents Armory Square as a place of leisure. The target audience therefore needs to be both educated and philanthropic, as it is our ultimate goal to raise money for impoverished areas in the city of Syracuse. When people see the monument, we want them to be surprised, yet intrigued. The audience must question the monument and what it represents in order to recognize its overall significance. More importantly, we hope that this monument will spark change in the Syracuse area, thus people must be willing to donate both their time and money to improve current conditions.
Next, Lauren will talk about how Money will act as an intervention piece as opposed to integration. Similar to Tilted Arc, this sculpture will not blend in with Armory Square’s architectural aesthetic. Instead, our monument will contrast starkly with its surroundings. Moreover, this project seeks to disrupt the community. In order for such a well- known, yet generally ignored social problem to re-emerge as a pressing issue, we think that our sculpture must disarm the upper class. They must recognize the severity of the impoverished city and make an equally dramatic difference.
Max will conclude, discussing how we will measure the success of this project, which will be through the amount of money received from the public. We will consider the quantity of people that visit our sculpture and the quality of received commentary. We will use the feedback from our audience to base further plans on our project and the topic that we endeavor to discuss. We want to see the impoverished community regain hope in their fellow members of society.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
FInal Project
My group project is going to be a satirical sculpture, critiquing the class difference in Syracuse. The sculpture will be a large three-dimensional object, made from welded money, such as quarters, dimes, pennies, nickels and even dollar bills. We will have slots on the side, for people to drop money into. The monument will demand attention with its robust size. The sculpture will be placed in Armory Square, because this area is a prime example of what is wrong with Syracuse, and its many low-income neighborhoods. Armory square is arguably one of the nicest areas in Syracuse, with the most shopping, dining, and nightlife. Having been to Armory Square, it is obvious that the area only serves the upper and middle class communities. In a place like Syracuse, this is a problem, because people are wasting a lot of money every day, when they could be helping these less fortunate people. Hopefully this monument will bring light to this issue. The history of this area begins in the early 1820’s, when the area began to flourish. A lot of business came to Syracuse during this time, leading to its success. Soon after business began to lag, until in the 1970’s the area experienced a revival. The project will be an intervention, as it will most definitely interfere with peoples time, because it will be so noticeable, that people will have to view the piece. As far as permission to make this sculpture goes, we will have to get permission, because it will be a huge part of the square, because of the way it will look. The project will fit in with the area in the sense that it is relevant to the area, because people spend a lot of money there, but in a physical state it will not fit in. This in a way is a good thing, as it will grab people’s attention. The project will work in the same sense that Damali Ayo’s project worked. Her projects are very satirical like ours is. Similarly to Damali, there is a goal behind our art. The goal is to raise awareness as well as money about this social class problem. This goal will be a success in my mind, as long as we raise awareness about the issue. I truly do not believe that people understand how much of an issue this is, and by raising awareness, I would consider the project a success. We need the target audience, being the upper and middle class people spending large sums of money at Armory Square, instead of fixing the poverty problem in Syracuse. Hopefully this audience will be surprised at how selfish they have been and act upon it. This project should give these people a sense of what they need to do in this community.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Max Levitt
November 1, 2007
Valery’s Ankle, an Agent of Blindness
In Brett Kashmere’s documentary, Valery’s Ankle, he talks about the connection between “nationality and sport”, discussing how violence in hockey has defined Canada. Hockey, being a very large part of Canadian culture, is notorious for its brutality, and Kashmere uses many clips involving acts of violence in hockey to make his point that hockey violence provides a cultural identity for Canadians. In this documentary, Kashmere fails to respect the other qualities these hockey clips show. These clips show passion, a willingness to succeed, and a strong sense of loyalty. Kashmere ignores these positive traits, and manipulates the clips to make it seem that these hockey fights are based on violence alone. He does this in order to support his point about Canadian nationality. Roland Barthes, in his essay ‘The Blue Guide’, talks about how “The guide becomes, through an operation common to all mystifications, the very opposite of what it advertises, an agent of blindness” (Barthes 76). Similarly to this ‘guide’, Kashmere’s accusation that hockey fights provoke a negative view of Canada, acts as ‘an agent of blindess’ to the reality that passion and loyalty are also displayed by these actions.
In the documentary, Kashmere begins by telling us how important hockey is in Canada. He describes how he was virtually forced to play ice hockey, as was everybody else living in Canada. He then introduces us to the centerpiece of his film, the 1974 Canadian hockey team, and specifically Canadian hockey star, Bobby Clarke. Kashmere sets the stage for a best out of seven games set with the Soviet Amateur team. He progresses talking about how the Canadians were down in the set, until Bobby Clarke slashed Soviet star Valery Kharlomov’s ankle, shattering it, and seemingly displacing him from the set. From that point on, without their leader, the Soviets found that the Canadians were unstoppable, as they went on to a legendary triumph. This triumph is still proudly talked about throughout Canada, because of a brutal slash laid out by Bobby Clarke. Kashmere decides to focus on this act as his main point of how this violence in hockey defines Canadian culture. By doing this, Kashmere is following one of Barthes quotes from ‘the Blue Guide’: “To select only monuments suppresses at one stroke the reality of the land and that of its people, it accounts for nothing of the present, that is, nothing historical, and as a consequence, the monuments themselves become undecipherable, therefore senseless” (Barthes 76). Barthes is saying that by only paying attention to what is in front of a person, such as a monument, one is suppressing everyone else to everything else surrounding it, such as the land and the people. This idea is very similar to what Kashmere is doing. He is manipulating these images so that we only see the brutality, and not everything surrounding it. We do not see how this act by Clarke was him showing passion for winning and representing his country. In all sports, hitting someone is always a way to pump ones team up. Clarke most definitely did not mean to break Kharlomov’s ankle, but he surely was trying to give his team some life, as they were losing at the time. It is known in sports that these actions are meant to give the team life. Hitting a batter with a pitch, a late hit in football, and a coach cursing at the referee and being thrown out of the game, are all ways of hidden motivation in sports. Kashmere manipulates his clips to make it seem that these actions were made in cold blood by just showing the hit, or as Barthes says “the monuments”, and nothing else.
Manipulation in theater is very easy to do, because as Michael Fried says:
“Theatrical art communicates to viewers through formal cues that make them conscious of the fact that their ostensibly transcendent encounter is in fact highly conditional—that aesthetic meaning is not immanent in the physical object but is created through and by their very situatedness in space and time before it” (Kester 47).
Kashmere does a very good job in his documentary of doing exactly this. He knows that his compilation of clips depends “on the staging, the conspicuous manipulation, of its relationship to an audience” (Kester 48). With this in mind, Kashmere was able to stage the clips with him giving explanations in the background in order to manipulate our minds.
When we see a hockey fight, and hear Kashmere’s voice, talking about how this violence defines Canadians, we are easily manipulated. This method used by Kashmere is an example of a documentary motive discussed by Robert Sklar in his essay about artifice in documentaries. He talks about how critics of documentaries focus on what is called “the documentary motive in mass communications media, and they suggest paradoxically that in nonfiction communication—as in fiction—the operative word may not be artifact but artifice” (Sklar 299). This criticism I believe rings true for Valery’s Ankle. Kashmere is trying to present an artifact in his example of Bobby Clarke vs. Valery Kharlomov, but instead he is presenting artifice. He talks about how this historical event that has in a way defined Canada is littered with violence, when in fact he is presenting artifice. His documentary is duping us into thinking what Bobby Clarke and many other Canadians doings are acts of violence, when in reality they have a deeper meaning. When looked at in context, they can be seen as acts of heroism, as they successfully pumped up their team and geared a comeback. In my personal experience, I went to a University of Maryland college basketball game. Maryland at the time was losing and playing with little excitement, when suddenly their coach started arguing a call with the referees. He began to scream and curse at the referee, while pointing his finger. At the sight of this act, the Maryland fans went crazy, cheering and chanting the coach’s name. If one looked simply at this action they might decide that this coach is out of control, and the fans should be defined as disrespectful, inappropriate people. When one looks at the entire context of the event, they would see that this was an act meant to fire up the team. Sure enough, from that point on Maryland played with excitement and emotion, and eventually came back and won the game. This idea of looking at the whole sequence, and not just the sole action is exactly what Kashmere does not do in his documentary. Michelle Amanda Grue, in her book “The Use of Archival Footage in Documentary Rhetoric”, talks about this issue saying “all evidence is subject to interpretation and argument. Once archival footage is placed into the larger context of a documentary film to support or refute an argument about a particular historical event, it becomes artistic proof” (Grue). Kashmere uses his short clips as an artifice, instead of an artifact. He is manipulating us into believing that these hockey players are violent people, when instead they are just passionate athletes, who want to win. If he listened to what Grue is arguing, he would understand that his documentary is a manipulation instead of an “artistic proof”.
As this shows, Kashmere has used common methods of manipulation to mold our minds into believing that these hockey players are simply being violent. He also leads us to believe that this defines Canadians, because they celebrate these acts of violence. By doing this, Kashmere has successfully created “an agent of blindness”, to the fact that these acts promote passion and loyalty to the people of Canada, not violence.
CITATIONS TO COME……..
November 1, 2007
Valery’s Ankle, an Agent of Blindness
In Brett Kashmere’s documentary, Valery’s Ankle, he talks about the connection between “nationality and sport”, discussing how violence in hockey has defined Canada. Hockey, being a very large part of Canadian culture, is notorious for its brutality, and Kashmere uses many clips involving acts of violence in hockey to make his point that hockey violence provides a cultural identity for Canadians. In this documentary, Kashmere fails to respect the other qualities these hockey clips show. These clips show passion, a willingness to succeed, and a strong sense of loyalty. Kashmere ignores these positive traits, and manipulates the clips to make it seem that these hockey fights are based on violence alone. He does this in order to support his point about Canadian nationality. Roland Barthes, in his essay ‘The Blue Guide’, talks about how “The guide becomes, through an operation common to all mystifications, the very opposite of what it advertises, an agent of blindness” (Barthes 76). Similarly to this ‘guide’, Kashmere’s accusation that hockey fights provoke a negative view of Canada, acts as ‘an agent of blindess’ to the reality that passion and loyalty are also displayed by these actions.
In the documentary, Kashmere begins by telling us how important hockey is in Canada. He describes how he was virtually forced to play ice hockey, as was everybody else living in Canada. He then introduces us to the centerpiece of his film, the 1974 Canadian hockey team, and specifically Canadian hockey star, Bobby Clarke. Kashmere sets the stage for a best out of seven games set with the Soviet Amateur team. He progresses talking about how the Canadians were down in the set, until Bobby Clarke slashed Soviet star Valery Kharlomov’s ankle, shattering it, and seemingly displacing him from the set. From that point on, without their leader, the Soviets found that the Canadians were unstoppable, as they went on to a legendary triumph. This triumph is still proudly talked about throughout Canada, because of a brutal slash laid out by Bobby Clarke. Kashmere decides to focus on this act as his main point of how this violence in hockey defines Canadian culture. By doing this, Kashmere is following one of Barthes quotes from ‘the Blue Guide’: “To select only monuments suppresses at one stroke the reality of the land and that of its people, it accounts for nothing of the present, that is, nothing historical, and as a consequence, the monuments themselves become undecipherable, therefore senseless” (Barthes 76). Barthes is saying that by only paying attention to what is in front of a person, such as a monument, one is suppressing everyone else to everything else surrounding it, such as the land and the people. This idea is very similar to what Kashmere is doing. He is manipulating these images so that we only see the brutality, and not everything surrounding it. We do not see how this act by Clarke was him showing passion for winning and representing his country. In all sports, hitting someone is always a way to pump ones team up. Clarke most definitely did not mean to break Kharlomov’s ankle, but he surely was trying to give his team some life, as they were losing at the time. It is known in sports that these actions are meant to give the team life. Hitting a batter with a pitch, a late hit in football, and a coach cursing at the referee and being thrown out of the game, are all ways of hidden motivation in sports. Kashmere manipulates his clips to make it seem that these actions were made in cold blood by just showing the hit, or as Barthes says “the monuments”, and nothing else.
Manipulation in theater is very easy to do, because as Michael Fried says:
“Theatrical art communicates to viewers through formal cues that make them conscious of the fact that their ostensibly transcendent encounter is in fact highly conditional—that aesthetic meaning is not immanent in the physical object but is created through and by their very situatedness in space and time before it” (Kester 47).
Kashmere does a very good job in his documentary of doing exactly this. He knows that his compilation of clips depends “on the staging, the conspicuous manipulation, of its relationship to an audience” (Kester 48). With this in mind, Kashmere was able to stage the clips with him giving explanations in the background in order to manipulate our minds.
When we see a hockey fight, and hear Kashmere’s voice, talking about how this violence defines Canadians, we are easily manipulated. This method used by Kashmere is an example of a documentary motive discussed by Robert Sklar in his essay about artifice in documentaries. He talks about how critics of documentaries focus on what is called “the documentary motive in mass communications media, and they suggest paradoxically that in nonfiction communication—as in fiction—the operative word may not be artifact but artifice” (Sklar 299). This criticism I believe rings true for Valery’s Ankle. Kashmere is trying to present an artifact in his example of Bobby Clarke vs. Valery Kharlomov, but instead he is presenting artifice. He talks about how this historical event that has in a way defined Canada is littered with violence, when in fact he is presenting artifice. His documentary is duping us into thinking what Bobby Clarke and many other Canadians doings are acts of violence, when in reality they have a deeper meaning. When looked at in context, they can be seen as acts of heroism, as they successfully pumped up their team and geared a comeback. In my personal experience, I went to a University of Maryland college basketball game. Maryland at the time was losing and playing with little excitement, when suddenly their coach started arguing a call with the referees. He began to scream and curse at the referee, while pointing his finger. At the sight of this act, the Maryland fans went crazy, cheering and chanting the coach’s name. If one looked simply at this action they might decide that this coach is out of control, and the fans should be defined as disrespectful, inappropriate people. When one looks at the entire context of the event, they would see that this was an act meant to fire up the team. Sure enough, from that point on Maryland played with excitement and emotion, and eventually came back and won the game. This idea of looking at the whole sequence, and not just the sole action is exactly what Kashmere does not do in his documentary. Michelle Amanda Grue, in her book “The Use of Archival Footage in Documentary Rhetoric”, talks about this issue saying “all evidence is subject to interpretation and argument. Once archival footage is placed into the larger context of a documentary film to support or refute an argument about a particular historical event, it becomes artistic proof” (Grue). Kashmere uses his short clips as an artifice, instead of an artifact. He is manipulating us into believing that these hockey players are violent people, when instead they are just passionate athletes, who want to win. If he listened to what Grue is arguing, he would understand that his documentary is a manipulation instead of an “artistic proof”.
As this shows, Kashmere has used common methods of manipulation to mold our minds into believing that these hockey players are simply being violent. He also leads us to believe that this defines Canadians, because they celebrate these acts of violence. By doing this, Kashmere has successfully created “an agent of blindness”, to the fact that these acts promote passion and loyalty to the people of Canada, not violence.
CITATIONS TO COME……..
Friday, November 2, 2007
OUTLINE
INTRO:
In Brett Kashmere’s documentary, Valery’s Ankle, he talks about “nationality and sport”, discussing how violence in hockey has defined Canada. Hockey, being a very large part of Canadian culture, is notorious for its brutality. Kashmere uses many clips involving acts of violence in hockey to make his point about cultural identity in Canada. In this documentary, Kashmere fails to respect the other qualities these hockey clips show. These clips show passion, a willingness to succeed, as well as loyalty. Kashmere ignores these positive traits, and manipulates the clips in order to make his point. Roland Barthes, in his essay ‘The Blue Guide’, talks about how “The guide becomes, through an operation common to all mystifications, the very opposite of what it advertises, an agent of blindness” (Barthes 76). Similarly to this ‘guide’, Kashmere’s accusation that hockey fights provoke a negative view of Canada, acts as ‘an agent of blindess’ to the passion also displayed by these actions.
1st Supporting Paragraph:
Kashmere is manipulating these images so that we only see the brutality, and not everything surrounding it. We do not see how this act by Clarke was him showing passion for winning and representing his country.
2nd
Manipulation in theater is very easy to do, because as Michael Fried says:
“Theatrical art communicates to viewers through formal cues that make them conscious of the fact that their ostensibly transcendent encounter is in fact highly conditional—that aesthetic meaning is not immanent in the physical object but is created through and by their very situatedness in space and time before it” (Kester 47).
3rd
When we see a hockey fight, and hear Kashmere’s voice, talking about how this violence defines Canadians, we are easily manipulated. This method used by Kashmere is an example of a documentary motive discussed by Robert Sklar in his essay about artifice in documentaries.
Rethesis
As this shows, Kashmere has used common methods of manipulation to mold our minds into believing that these hockey players are simply being violent. He also leads us to believe that this defines Canadians, because they celebrate these acts of violence.
QUOTES
“all evidence is subject to interpretation and argument. Once archival footage is placed into the larger context of a documentary film to support or refute an argument about a particular historical event, it becomes artistic proof” (Grue).
“the documentary motive in mass communications media, and they suggest paradoxically that in nonfiction communication—as in fiction—the operative word may not be artifact but artifice” (Sklar 299).
“Theatrical art communicates to viewers through formal cues that make them conscious of the fact that their ostensibly transcendent encounter is in fact highly conditional—that aesthetic meaning is not immanent in the physical object but is created through and by their very situatedness in space and time before it” (Kester 47).
“To select only monuments suppresses at one stroke the reality of the land and that of its people, it accounts for nothing of the present, that is, nothing historical, and as a consequence, the monuments themselves become undecipherable, therefore senseless” (Barthes 76).
In Brett Kashmere’s documentary, Valery’s Ankle, he talks about “nationality and sport”, discussing how violence in hockey has defined Canada. Hockey, being a very large part of Canadian culture, is notorious for its brutality. Kashmere uses many clips involving acts of violence in hockey to make his point about cultural identity in Canada. In this documentary, Kashmere fails to respect the other qualities these hockey clips show. These clips show passion, a willingness to succeed, as well as loyalty. Kashmere ignores these positive traits, and manipulates the clips in order to make his point. Roland Barthes, in his essay ‘The Blue Guide’, talks about how “The guide becomes, through an operation common to all mystifications, the very opposite of what it advertises, an agent of blindness” (Barthes 76). Similarly to this ‘guide’, Kashmere’s accusation that hockey fights provoke a negative view of Canada, acts as ‘an agent of blindess’ to the passion also displayed by these actions.
1st Supporting Paragraph:
Kashmere is manipulating these images so that we only see the brutality, and not everything surrounding it. We do not see how this act by Clarke was him showing passion for winning and representing his country.
2nd
Manipulation in theater is very easy to do, because as Michael Fried says:
“Theatrical art communicates to viewers through formal cues that make them conscious of the fact that their ostensibly transcendent encounter is in fact highly conditional—that aesthetic meaning is not immanent in the physical object but is created through and by their very situatedness in space and time before it” (Kester 47).
3rd
When we see a hockey fight, and hear Kashmere’s voice, talking about how this violence defines Canadians, we are easily manipulated. This method used by Kashmere is an example of a documentary motive discussed by Robert Sklar in his essay about artifice in documentaries.
Rethesis
As this shows, Kashmere has used common methods of manipulation to mold our minds into believing that these hockey players are simply being violent. He also leads us to believe that this defines Canadians, because they celebrate these acts of violence.
QUOTES
“all evidence is subject to interpretation and argument. Once archival footage is placed into the larger context of a documentary film to support or refute an argument about a particular historical event, it becomes artistic proof” (Grue).
“the documentary motive in mass communications media, and they suggest paradoxically that in nonfiction communication—as in fiction—the operative word may not be artifact but artifice” (Sklar 299).
“Theatrical art communicates to viewers through formal cues that make them conscious of the fact that their ostensibly transcendent encounter is in fact highly conditional—that aesthetic meaning is not immanent in the physical object but is created through and by their very situatedness in space and time before it” (Kester 47).
“To select only monuments suppresses at one stroke the reality of the land and that of its people, it accounts for nothing of the present, that is, nothing historical, and as a consequence, the monuments themselves become undecipherable, therefore senseless” (Barthes 76).
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Jacobs Lecture
In the Mary Jane Jacobs lecture, Mary began the lecture by talking about art and its relation to space. She expressed her pleasure for large art pieces, saying that space is a large contributor to art experiences. She spoke about how this concept obviously meant there is a need for larger art galleries, because the gallery itself has a lot to do with the experience the art viewer has. Jacobs quotes Dewey who said “in order to understand aesthetic, you must start with the raw”. In order to do this, there must be an appropriate setting for the art piece. For Jacobs, this place was Charleston, South Carolina. This all compares very well to something Miwon Kwan said, “These artists eschew the constricting limitations not only of artistic conventions but of the traditional institutional spaces of their production, such as studios, museums and galleries.” (106-7).
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Essay #3
I will be talking about how Valery's ankle is a manipulation of images and clips. I will talk about how kashmere decides to focus on just the violence, and ignores all the other lessons hockey has for Canadian society.
QUESTIONS:
1) Can we make an argument about one of the projects as our paper topic?
2) Can we use exampls of other documentaries to make our point?
Sources:
1) Conversation Pieces, by Grant H. Kester
2) Image Manipulations: Then and Now, by Ronald E. Sutton
3) Mirrors Without Memories: Truth, History, and the New Documentary, by Linda Williams
4) The Use of Archival Footage In Documentary Rhetoric, by Amanda Michelle Grue
5) Documentary: Artifice in the Service of Truth, by Robert Sklar
QUESTIONS:
1) Can we make an argument about one of the projects as our paper topic?
2) Can we use exampls of other documentaries to make our point?
Sources:
1) Conversation Pieces, by Grant H. Kester
2) Image Manipulations: Then and Now, by Ronald E. Sutton
3) Mirrors Without Memories: Truth, History, and the New Documentary, by Linda Williams
4) The Use of Archival Footage In Documentary Rhetoric, by Amanda Michelle Grue
5) Documentary: Artifice in the Service of Truth, by Robert Sklar
Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
"Video and Resistance: Against Documentary"
The article "Video and Resistance: Against Documentary" critiques documentary and how they inaccurately portray history. The article starts by discussing photography and how it shows bias even though they aren’t supposed to. This idea talked about by Susan Sontag is very relevant to what is talked about in this article. The author of this article talks about how when documentary films came onto the scene, they took these pictures and used them to support their cause. The idea of the article is that someone can take pictures and alter them, or put them in a specific context in order to support a message. The main theme is bias, and how photography and documentary’s are prime in accomplishing bias. This ultimately has an affect on its viewers because they see these pictures and clips in the context that the creator wants. This subsequently leads to a possible misperception of reality by the viewer.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Superfund AND Onondaga Lake
Max Levitt
October 5, 2007
Institutions Must Pay
In America, the industrial rise has created a serious problem: hazardous waste. The arousal of new industries, such as chemical and petroleum industries, have led to these hazardous wastes being thrown away into such settings as lakes and rivers. Watching these wastes pile up due to such institutions, such as plants, mines, military bases and many others has caused the governments to set up a program called Superfund. One of the major problems with this program is that it costs a lot of money and the fund has been bankrupt for four going on five years, which means petroleum and chemical industries are no longer paying these taxes. This causes the taxes to lie squarely on the shoulders of the individual taxpayer. While many sites have been cleaned (886 sites to be exact), there are still many areas of priority to be cleaned (1203 sites), which is very difficult considering Superfund’s absence of money. While many people are outraged by this and believe the right thing to do is tax the polluters, others argue that if that happened everyone who had something to do with the pollution, would need to be taxed, and be a “nightmare.” This inability to pinpoint who is responsible for paying the taxes in order to fund Superfund causes the question of how to pay for the cleanup of these sites, because getting rid of Superfund is not an option.
Syracuse, New York is arguably home to the most polluted lake in the United States. “Nearly 100 years of contamination and several decades of municipal wastewater discharges have left their mark on the water body” (Landers 64). Due to this contamination, Lake Onondaga has been deemed unsafe to swim in, as well as unsafe to fish in, due to its unhealthy waters. This raises some concern, considering Superfund has no funds to clean these sites, and the lake is clearly in dire need of quick help, since swimming and fishing have already been forbidden. However, the recent emergence of Honeywell International Inc. has brought confidence to Syracuse that this lake will be clean in the future. Honeywell, who 1999 merged with Allied Signal, has recently become “the party held legally responsible for addressing that contamination caused by the operations of AlliedSignal” (Landers 66). Finally “on July 1. 2005, the EPA and New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation finalized a record of decision setting forth the methods to be used in remediating contamination sediments along the bottom of Onondaga Lake” (Landers 66). While there is obviously much to do, this decision has made a clean Lake Onondaga seem more possible every day. This success shows support for the idea with Superfund that the government should be obligated to continue the Superfund’s taxing of the petroleum and chemical industries to pay for this cleanup. After all, it is the industries who caused this pollution in the first place.
In 1995, the government ended its “taxes on the oil and chemical industries” (Knickerbocker 1). As a result of this cease in taxes for the “polluters,” “the portion funded by individual taxpayers has increased from 18 percent to 53 percent of the total cost” (Knickerbocker 1). Making these individuals pay for the cleanup of these Superfund sites when they had nothing to do with the site being polluted, is not only unfair, it sets a bad example for these industries causing pollution. By charging polluters for cleanup costs and by taxing the industries that are polluting these sites, Superfund would not only ensure there will be enough funding for the cleanups, but would also encourage industries to get rid of their wastes more responsibly. This is clear motivation for the government to take action and reemploy their tax of these industries. It is obviously the correct decision in order to clean these areas. As American Oil Tycoon H. L. Hunt said “each is responsible for his own actions”. This applies perfectly to this situation, because the oil industries truly need to take responsibility for their actions and fix it. They need to realize that they are tarnishing these sites, and it is affecting people such as the Onondaga tribe.
The Onondaga tribe has recently been in talks with the state of New York over gaining more influence in what happens with the cleanup of Onondaga Lake. They claim that this land belongs to them, and they therefore should be in charge of how the lake is cleaned. This supports the idea of responsibility. The Onondaga people feel that they should have the responsibility to decide how the lake is cleaned, because the lake belongs to them. In the same context, the Honeywell Inc. needs to take responsibility for their waste that they dumped in the lake. This emphasis on responsibility should provoke the government to realize that they should implement taxes on the petroleum and chemical industries in order to fund the cleanups of these sites.
Onondaga Lake is a perfect example demonstrating why industries should be held responsible for cleaning these “sites of interest.” Since Honeywell International Inc. was forced into cleaning the lake, there has been plans announced showing signs that this lake will be clean in the future. For example there has been plans for “an advanced water treatment plant will be constructed to treat water collected in dredging and handling sediments” (Landers 66-67). Promising signs such as this water treatment plan have caused “both private and public interests are looking toward the future of a clean Onondaga Lake” (Williamson & Hessler 14). They have even begun plans for “expanding existing recreational uses such as hiking, biking, fishing and boating” (Williamson & Hessler 14).
Some people have argued that these taxes on the institutions is a “legal nightmare and should be done away with” (Knickerbocker 2). Jerry Taylor, for example, is the director of natural resources and says “typically, the EPA tires to hunt down one or two deep-pocket corporations that cans somehow be linked to the site and then hits them with the full cost of cleanup. Those companies then go about finding any party that might conceivably have had anything to do with the site and then sue that party under the joint and several liabilities standard to pay the bill” (Knickerbocker 2). While this argument is not completely invalid, it still does not provide a solution to this major pollution problem. Opposing this school of thought are a small contingency of Senate Democrats who believe in the idea discussed by Jilie Wolk, and environmental health advocate for PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), that “unfortunately the president and congress have continually failed to reinstate Superfund’s ‘polluter pays’ fees, leaving regular taxpayers to foot the bill. At the same time that taxpayers are paying more and polluters are paying less, the number of Superfund sites getting cleaned up [each year] has dropped by more than half “ (Knickerbocker 2).
I believe that the point made by Wolk along with the clear evidence exemplified by Honeywell International Inc. and Lake Onondaga show that forcing these institutions, who are responsible for the contamination of these polluted areas, to pay for the cleanup is clearly the most productive way no matter how many legal problems it causes. This issue of pollution is too serious for America to be disregarded because of a couple lawsuits. The government needs to implement Superfund’s “polluter pays” fees if we are going to defeat the pollution problem in this country.
Works Cited
Landers, Jay. “New Life for Onondaga Lake.” Civil Engineering (American Society of
Civil Engineers) 76.5 (2006): 64-71,86. Applied Science & Technology. H.W.
Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 1 Oct. 2007
Williamson, Karen. “Return To Glory: The resurgence of Onondaga Lake.” New York
State Conservationists 61.1 (2006): 7-14. Wilson Omnifile Full Text, Mega
Edition. W.H. Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 1 Oct. 2007.
Knickerbocker, Brad. “Superfund Program: A Smaller Cleanup Rag.” The Christian
Science Monitor. (14 Nov 2003). 1 Oct 2007.
October 5, 2007
Institutions Must Pay
In America, the industrial rise has created a serious problem: hazardous waste. The arousal of new industries, such as chemical and petroleum industries, have led to these hazardous wastes being thrown away into such settings as lakes and rivers. Watching these wastes pile up due to such institutions, such as plants, mines, military bases and many others has caused the governments to set up a program called Superfund. One of the major problems with this program is that it costs a lot of money and the fund has been bankrupt for four going on five years, which means petroleum and chemical industries are no longer paying these taxes. This causes the taxes to lie squarely on the shoulders of the individual taxpayer. While many sites have been cleaned (886 sites to be exact), there are still many areas of priority to be cleaned (1203 sites), which is very difficult considering Superfund’s absence of money. While many people are outraged by this and believe the right thing to do is tax the polluters, others argue that if that happened everyone who had something to do with the pollution, would need to be taxed, and be a “nightmare.” This inability to pinpoint who is responsible for paying the taxes in order to fund Superfund causes the question of how to pay for the cleanup of these sites, because getting rid of Superfund is not an option.
Syracuse, New York is arguably home to the most polluted lake in the United States. “Nearly 100 years of contamination and several decades of municipal wastewater discharges have left their mark on the water body” (Landers 64). Due to this contamination, Lake Onondaga has been deemed unsafe to swim in, as well as unsafe to fish in, due to its unhealthy waters. This raises some concern, considering Superfund has no funds to clean these sites, and the lake is clearly in dire need of quick help, since swimming and fishing have already been forbidden. However, the recent emergence of Honeywell International Inc. has brought confidence to Syracuse that this lake will be clean in the future. Honeywell, who 1999 merged with Allied Signal, has recently become “the party held legally responsible for addressing that contamination caused by the operations of AlliedSignal” (Landers 66). Finally “on July 1. 2005, the EPA and New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation finalized a record of decision setting forth the methods to be used in remediating contamination sediments along the bottom of Onondaga Lake” (Landers 66). While there is obviously much to do, this decision has made a clean Lake Onondaga seem more possible every day. This success shows support for the idea with Superfund that the government should be obligated to continue the Superfund’s taxing of the petroleum and chemical industries to pay for this cleanup. After all, it is the industries who caused this pollution in the first place.
In 1995, the government ended its “taxes on the oil and chemical industries” (Knickerbocker 1). As a result of this cease in taxes for the “polluters,” “the portion funded by individual taxpayers has increased from 18 percent to 53 percent of the total cost” (Knickerbocker 1). Making these individuals pay for the cleanup of these Superfund sites when they had nothing to do with the site being polluted, is not only unfair, it sets a bad example for these industries causing pollution. By charging polluters for cleanup costs and by taxing the industries that are polluting these sites, Superfund would not only ensure there will be enough funding for the cleanups, but would also encourage industries to get rid of their wastes more responsibly. This is clear motivation for the government to take action and reemploy their tax of these industries. It is obviously the correct decision in order to clean these areas. As American Oil Tycoon H. L. Hunt said “each is responsible for his own actions”. This applies perfectly to this situation, because the oil industries truly need to take responsibility for their actions and fix it. They need to realize that they are tarnishing these sites, and it is affecting people such as the Onondaga tribe.
The Onondaga tribe has recently been in talks with the state of New York over gaining more influence in what happens with the cleanup of Onondaga Lake. They claim that this land belongs to them, and they therefore should be in charge of how the lake is cleaned. This supports the idea of responsibility. The Onondaga people feel that they should have the responsibility to decide how the lake is cleaned, because the lake belongs to them. In the same context, the Honeywell Inc. needs to take responsibility for their waste that they dumped in the lake. This emphasis on responsibility should provoke the government to realize that they should implement taxes on the petroleum and chemical industries in order to fund the cleanups of these sites.
Onondaga Lake is a perfect example demonstrating why industries should be held responsible for cleaning these “sites of interest.” Since Honeywell International Inc. was forced into cleaning the lake, there has been plans announced showing signs that this lake will be clean in the future. For example there has been plans for “an advanced water treatment plant will be constructed to treat water collected in dredging and handling sediments” (Landers 66-67). Promising signs such as this water treatment plan have caused “both private and public interests are looking toward the future of a clean Onondaga Lake” (Williamson & Hessler 14). They have even begun plans for “expanding existing recreational uses such as hiking, biking, fishing and boating” (Williamson & Hessler 14).
Some people have argued that these taxes on the institutions is a “legal nightmare and should be done away with” (Knickerbocker 2). Jerry Taylor, for example, is the director of natural resources and says “typically, the EPA tires to hunt down one or two deep-pocket corporations that cans somehow be linked to the site and then hits them with the full cost of cleanup. Those companies then go about finding any party that might conceivably have had anything to do with the site and then sue that party under the joint and several liabilities standard to pay the bill” (Knickerbocker 2). While this argument is not completely invalid, it still does not provide a solution to this major pollution problem. Opposing this school of thought are a small contingency of Senate Democrats who believe in the idea discussed by Jilie Wolk, and environmental health advocate for PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), that “unfortunately the president and congress have continually failed to reinstate Superfund’s ‘polluter pays’ fees, leaving regular taxpayers to foot the bill. At the same time that taxpayers are paying more and polluters are paying less, the number of Superfund sites getting cleaned up [each year] has dropped by more than half “ (Knickerbocker 2).
I believe that the point made by Wolk along with the clear evidence exemplified by Honeywell International Inc. and Lake Onondaga show that forcing these institutions, who are responsible for the contamination of these polluted areas, to pay for the cleanup is clearly the most productive way no matter how many legal problems it causes. This issue of pollution is too serious for America to be disregarded because of a couple lawsuits. The government needs to implement Superfund’s “polluter pays” fees if we are going to defeat the pollution problem in this country.
Works Cited
Landers, Jay. “New Life for Onondaga Lake.” Civil Engineering (American Society of
Civil Engineers) 76.5 (2006): 64-71,86. Applied Science & Technology. H.W.
Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 1 Oct. 2007
Williamson, Karen. “Return To Glory: The resurgence of Onondaga Lake.” New York
State Conservationists 61.1 (2006): 7-14. Wilson Omnifile Full Text, Mega
Edition. W.H. Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 1 Oct. 2007.
Knickerbocker, Brad. “Superfund Program: A Smaller Cleanup Rag.” The Christian
Science Monitor. (14 Nov 2003). 1 Oct 2007.
Superfund AND Onondaga Lake
Max Levitt
October 5, 2007
Institutions Must Pay
In America, the industrial rise has created a serious problem: hazardous waste. The arousal of new industries, such as chemical and petroleum industries, have led to these hazardous wastes being thrown away into such settings as lakes and rivers. Watching these wastes pile up due to such institutions, such as plants, mines, military bases and many others has caused the governments to set up a program called Superfund. One of the major problems with this program is that it costs a lot of money and the fund has been bankrupt for four going on five years, which means petroleum and chemical industries are no longer paying these taxes. This causes the taxes to lie squarely on the shoulders of the individual taxpayer. While many sites have been cleaned (886 sites to be exact), there are still many areas of priority to be cleaned (1203 sites), which is very difficult considering Superfund’s absence of money. While many people are outraged by this and believe the right thing to do is tax the polluters, others argue that if that happened everyone who had something to do with the pollution, would need to be taxed, and be a “nightmare.” This inability to pinpoint who is responsible for paying the taxes in order to fund Superfund causes the question of how to pay for the cleanup of these sites, because getting rid of Superfund is not an option.
Syracuse, New York is arguably home to the most polluted lake in the United States. “Nearly 100 years of contamination and several decades of municipal wastewater discharges have left their mark on the water body” (Landers 64). Due to this contamination, Lake Onondaga has been deemed unsafe to swim in, as well as unsafe to fish in, due to its unhealthy waters. This raises some concern, considering Superfund has no funds to clean these sites, and the lake is clearly in dire need of quick help, since swimming and fishing have already been forbidden. However, the recent emergence of Honeywell International Inc. has brought confidence to Syracuse that this lake will be clean in the future. Honeywell, who 1999 merged with Allied Signal, has recently become “the party held legally responsible for addressing that contamination caused by the operations of AlliedSignal” (Landers 66). Finally “on July 1. 2005, the EPA and New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation finalized a record of decision setting forth the methods to be used in remediating contamination sediments along the bottom of Onondaga Lake” (Landers 66). While there is obviously much to do, this decision has made a clean Lake Onondaga seem more possible every day. This success shows support for the idea with Superfund that the government should be obligated to continue the Superfund’s taxing of the petroleum and chemical industries to pay for this cleanup. After all, it is the industries who caused this pollution in the first place.
In 1995, the government ended its “taxes on the oil and chemical industries” (Knickerbocker 1). As a result of this cease in taxes for the “polluters,” “the portion funded by individual taxpayers has increased from 18 percent to 53 percent of the total cost” (Knickerbocker 1). Making these individuals pay for the cleanup of these Superfund sites when they had nothing to do with the site being polluted, is not only unfair, it sets a bad example for these industries causing pollution. By charging polluters for cleanup costs and by taxing the industries that are polluting these sites, Superfund would not only ensure there will be enough funding for the cleanups, but would also encourage industries to get rid of their wastes more responsibly. This is clear motivation for the government to take action and reemploy their tax of these industries. It is obviously the correct decision in order to clean these areas. As American Oil Tycoon H. L. Hunt said “each is responsible for his own actions”. This applies perfectly to this situation, because the oil industries truly need to take responsibility for their actions and fix it. They need to realize that they are tarnishing these sites, and it is affecting people such as the Onondaga tribe.
The Onondaga tribe has recently been in talks with the state of New York over gaining more influence in what happens with the cleanup of Onondaga Lake. They claim that this land belongs to them, and they therefore should be in charge of how the lake is cleaned. This supports the idea of responsibility. The Onondaga people feel that they should have the responsibility to decide how the lake is cleaned, because the lake belongs to them. In the same context, the Honeywell Inc. needs to take responsibility for their waste that they dumped in the lake. This emphasis on responsibility should provoke the government to realize that they should implement taxes on the petroleum and chemical industries in order to fund the cleanups of these sites.
Onondaga Lake is a perfect example demonstrating why industries should be held responsible for cleaning these “sites of interest.” Since Honeywell International Inc. was forced into cleaning the lake, there has been plans announced showing signs that this lake will be clean in the future. For example there has been plans for “an advanced water treatment plant will be constructed to treat water collected in dredging and handling sediments” (Landers 66-67). Promising signs such as this water treatment plan have caused “both private and public interests are looking toward the future of a clean Onondaga Lake” (Williamson & Hessler 14). They have even begun plans for “expanding existing recreational uses such as hiking, biking, fishing and boating” (Williamson & Hessler 14).
Some people have argued that these taxes on the institutions is a “legal nightmare and should be done away with” (Knickerbocker 2). Jerry Taylor, for example, is the director of natural resources and says “typically, the EPA tires to hunt down one or two deep-pocket corporations that cans somehow be linked to the site and then hits them with the full cost of cleanup. Those companies then go about finding any party that might conceivably have had anything to do with the site and then sue that party under the joint and several liabilities standard to pay the bill” (Knickerbocker 2). While this argument is not completely invalid, it still does not provide a solution to this major pollution problem. Opposing this school of thought are a small contingency of Senate Democrats who believe in the idea discussed by Jilie Wolk, and environmental health advocate for PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), that “unfortunately the president and congress have continually failed to reinstate Superfund’s ‘polluter pays’ fees, leaving regular taxpayers to foot the bill. At the same time that taxpayers are paying more and polluters are paying less, the number of Superfund sites getting cleaned up [each year] has dropped by more than half “ (Knickerbocker 2).
I believe that the point made by Wolk along with the clear evidence exemplified by Honeywell International Inc. and Lake Onondaga show that forcing these institutions, who are responsible for the contamination of these polluted areas, to pay for the cleanup is clearly the most productive way no matter how many legal problems it causes. This issue of pollution is too serious for America to be disregarded because of a couple lawsuits. The government needs to implement Superfund’s “polluter pays” fees if we are going to defeat the pollution problem in this country.
Works Cited
1) Landers, Jay. “New Life for Onondaga Lake.” Civil Engineering (American Society of
Civil Engineers) 76.5 (2006): 64-71,86. Applied Science & Technology. H.W.
Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 1 Oct. 2007
2) Williamson, Karen. “Return To Glory: The resurgence of Onondaga Lake.” New York
State Conservationists 61.1 (2006): 7-14. Wilson Omnifile Full Text, Mega
Edition. W.H. Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 1 Oct. 2007.
3) Knickerbocker, Brad. “Superfund Program: A Smaller Cleanup Rag.” The Christian
Science Monitor. (14 Nov 2003). 1 Oct 2007.
October 5, 2007
Institutions Must Pay
In America, the industrial rise has created a serious problem: hazardous waste. The arousal of new industries, such as chemical and petroleum industries, have led to these hazardous wastes being thrown away into such settings as lakes and rivers. Watching these wastes pile up due to such institutions, such as plants, mines, military bases and many others has caused the governments to set up a program called Superfund. One of the major problems with this program is that it costs a lot of money and the fund has been bankrupt for four going on five years, which means petroleum and chemical industries are no longer paying these taxes. This causes the taxes to lie squarely on the shoulders of the individual taxpayer. While many sites have been cleaned (886 sites to be exact), there are still many areas of priority to be cleaned (1203 sites), which is very difficult considering Superfund’s absence of money. While many people are outraged by this and believe the right thing to do is tax the polluters, others argue that if that happened everyone who had something to do with the pollution, would need to be taxed, and be a “nightmare.” This inability to pinpoint who is responsible for paying the taxes in order to fund Superfund causes the question of how to pay for the cleanup of these sites, because getting rid of Superfund is not an option.
Syracuse, New York is arguably home to the most polluted lake in the United States. “Nearly 100 years of contamination and several decades of municipal wastewater discharges have left their mark on the water body” (Landers 64). Due to this contamination, Lake Onondaga has been deemed unsafe to swim in, as well as unsafe to fish in, due to its unhealthy waters. This raises some concern, considering Superfund has no funds to clean these sites, and the lake is clearly in dire need of quick help, since swimming and fishing have already been forbidden. However, the recent emergence of Honeywell International Inc. has brought confidence to Syracuse that this lake will be clean in the future. Honeywell, who 1999 merged with Allied Signal, has recently become “the party held legally responsible for addressing that contamination caused by the operations of AlliedSignal” (Landers 66). Finally “on July 1. 2005, the EPA and New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation finalized a record of decision setting forth the methods to be used in remediating contamination sediments along the bottom of Onondaga Lake” (Landers 66). While there is obviously much to do, this decision has made a clean Lake Onondaga seem more possible every day. This success shows support for the idea with Superfund that the government should be obligated to continue the Superfund’s taxing of the petroleum and chemical industries to pay for this cleanup. After all, it is the industries who caused this pollution in the first place.
In 1995, the government ended its “taxes on the oil and chemical industries” (Knickerbocker 1). As a result of this cease in taxes for the “polluters,” “the portion funded by individual taxpayers has increased from 18 percent to 53 percent of the total cost” (Knickerbocker 1). Making these individuals pay for the cleanup of these Superfund sites when they had nothing to do with the site being polluted, is not only unfair, it sets a bad example for these industries causing pollution. By charging polluters for cleanup costs and by taxing the industries that are polluting these sites, Superfund would not only ensure there will be enough funding for the cleanups, but would also encourage industries to get rid of their wastes more responsibly. This is clear motivation for the government to take action and reemploy their tax of these industries. It is obviously the correct decision in order to clean these areas. As American Oil Tycoon H. L. Hunt said “each is responsible for his own actions”. This applies perfectly to this situation, because the oil industries truly need to take responsibility for their actions and fix it. They need to realize that they are tarnishing these sites, and it is affecting people such as the Onondaga tribe.
The Onondaga tribe has recently been in talks with the state of New York over gaining more influence in what happens with the cleanup of Onondaga Lake. They claim that this land belongs to them, and they therefore should be in charge of how the lake is cleaned. This supports the idea of responsibility. The Onondaga people feel that they should have the responsibility to decide how the lake is cleaned, because the lake belongs to them. In the same context, the Honeywell Inc. needs to take responsibility for their waste that they dumped in the lake. This emphasis on responsibility should provoke the government to realize that they should implement taxes on the petroleum and chemical industries in order to fund the cleanups of these sites.
Onondaga Lake is a perfect example demonstrating why industries should be held responsible for cleaning these “sites of interest.” Since Honeywell International Inc. was forced into cleaning the lake, there has been plans announced showing signs that this lake will be clean in the future. For example there has been plans for “an advanced water treatment plant will be constructed to treat water collected in dredging and handling sediments” (Landers 66-67). Promising signs such as this water treatment plan have caused “both private and public interests are looking toward the future of a clean Onondaga Lake” (Williamson & Hessler 14). They have even begun plans for “expanding existing recreational uses such as hiking, biking, fishing and boating” (Williamson & Hessler 14).
Some people have argued that these taxes on the institutions is a “legal nightmare and should be done away with” (Knickerbocker 2). Jerry Taylor, for example, is the director of natural resources and says “typically, the EPA tires to hunt down one or two deep-pocket corporations that cans somehow be linked to the site and then hits them with the full cost of cleanup. Those companies then go about finding any party that might conceivably have had anything to do with the site and then sue that party under the joint and several liabilities standard to pay the bill” (Knickerbocker 2). While this argument is not completely invalid, it still does not provide a solution to this major pollution problem. Opposing this school of thought are a small contingency of Senate Democrats who believe in the idea discussed by Jilie Wolk, and environmental health advocate for PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), that “unfortunately the president and congress have continually failed to reinstate Superfund’s ‘polluter pays’ fees, leaving regular taxpayers to foot the bill. At the same time that taxpayers are paying more and polluters are paying less, the number of Superfund sites getting cleaned up [each year] has dropped by more than half “ (Knickerbocker 2).
I believe that the point made by Wolk along with the clear evidence exemplified by Honeywell International Inc. and Lake Onondaga show that forcing these institutions, who are responsible for the contamination of these polluted areas, to pay for the cleanup is clearly the most productive way no matter how many legal problems it causes. This issue of pollution is too serious for America to be disregarded because of a couple lawsuits. The government needs to implement Superfund’s “polluter pays” fees if we are going to defeat the pollution problem in this country.
Works Cited
1) Landers, Jay. “New Life for Onondaga Lake.” Civil Engineering (American Society of
Civil Engineers) 76.5 (2006): 64-71,86. Applied Science & Technology. H.W.
Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 1 Oct. 2007
2) Williamson, Karen. “Return To Glory: The resurgence of Onondaga Lake.” New York
State Conservationists 61.1 (2006): 7-14. Wilson Omnifile Full Text, Mega
Edition. W.H. Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 1 Oct. 2007.
3) Knickerbocker, Brad. “Superfund Program: A Smaller Cleanup Rag.” The Christian
Science Monitor. (14 Nov 2003). 1 Oct 2007.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Onandaga Lake AND Pollution
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THE POLLUTION IN ONONDAGA LAKE :
http://www.ourlake.org/html/onondaga_lake1.html
http://www.ourlake.org/html/onondaga_lake1.html
SUPERFUND
In America, Industry has created a serious problem, hazardous waste. Watching these wastes pile up due to such institutions such as plants, mines, military bases and many others has caused the governments to set up a program called Superfund. The problem with this program, is that costs a lot of money and is currently bankrupt. While many sites have been cleaned (886 sites to be exact), there are still many areas of priority to be cleaned (1203 to be exact), which is very difficult considering their lack of money. Another contributor to the downfall of superfund is that the oil and chemical industries that were causing this waste are no longer paying taxes for superfund, instead it is not on the shoulders of the individual taxpayers. While many people are outraged by this and believe the right thing to do is tax the polluters, others argue that if that happened everyone who had something to do with the pollution would need to be taxed, which they call a “nightmare”. This inability to pinpoint who is responsible to pay for superfund, causes the question of how to pay for this, because getting rid of it is not an option.
In America, Industry has created a serious problem, hazardous waste. Watching these wastes pile up due to such institutions such as plants, mines, military bases and many others has caused the governments to set up a program called Superfund. The problem with this program, is that costs a lot of money and is currently bankrupt. While many sites have been cleaned (886 sites to be exact), there are still many areas of priority to be cleaned (1203 to be exact), which is very difficult considering their lack of money. Another contributor to the downfall of superfund is that the oil and chemical industries that were causing this waste are no longer paying taxes for superfund, instead it is not on the shoulders of the individual taxpayers. While many people are outraged by this and believe the right thing to do is tax the polluters, others argue that if that happened everyone who had something to do with the pollution would need to be taxed, which they call a “nightmare”. This inability to pinpoint who is responsible to pay for superfund, causes the question of how to pay for this, because getting rid of it is not an option.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
FEAR
Fear, a very prevalent emotion in every person in this world, can either be valid or invalid. Some fears people have are very realistic, while other fears, which most people have, are unrealistic. Sean Quimby, Syracuse University librarian, discussed this idea in his lecture on American Phobia: Collecting the history of Fear.
Quimby describes fear as a phobic feeling of something that one believes to be dangerous or simply unfavorable. He then cites sociologist Barry Glassner, who said that the culture of fearing such things as road rage, teen shootings, African-American men, and teen mothers. He discusses how these fears are unrealistic and we really should not fear them. He says that the more realistic things to fear are such things as poor healthcare. He also cites Joanne Barke who says that we should fear. By pointing these examples out, Quimby is showing the unrealistic nature of fear in our country. We are a very paranoid country. Quimby talked about a fictional radio broadcast called War of the Worlds, where the hosts announced that there was an alien invasion. Approximately six million Americans, who began to call for an evacuation due to this supposed invasion, took this fictional broadcast very seriously. These people lacked the ability to distinguish between reality and fiction. This shows how paranoid and fearful our country is. In conclusion of this idea, Quimby quoted John Vassos who said “phobias fear is psychotic”.
As Quimby exemplified, America is a very fearful country. We unrealistically fear many things that will probably never happen. The example of the alien invasion truly clinches that fact that we really are unrealistically paranoid.
Quimby describes fear as a phobic feeling of something that one believes to be dangerous or simply unfavorable. He then cites sociologist Barry Glassner, who said that the culture of fearing such things as road rage, teen shootings, African-American men, and teen mothers. He discusses how these fears are unrealistic and we really should not fear them. He says that the more realistic things to fear are such things as poor healthcare. He also cites Joanne Barke who says that we should fear. By pointing these examples out, Quimby is showing the unrealistic nature of fear in our country. We are a very paranoid country. Quimby talked about a fictional radio broadcast called War of the Worlds, where the hosts announced that there was an alien invasion. Approximately six million Americans, who began to call for an evacuation due to this supposed invasion, took this fictional broadcast very seriously. These people lacked the ability to distinguish between reality and fiction. This shows how paranoid and fearful our country is. In conclusion of this idea, Quimby quoted John Vassos who said “phobias fear is psychotic”.
As Quimby exemplified, America is a very fearful country. We unrealistically fear many things that will probably never happen. The example of the alien invasion truly clinches that fact that we really are unrealistically paranoid.
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