Gabriel+Willman

4/11/12

Today's talk about the giant dust storms of the Dust Bowl reminded me of some really old stories my grandparents and great-grandparents used to tell about that period. I remember them talking about seeing an endless wall of dust sweeping down on their house. They would talk about how, no matter what they did, there was no way to seal the dust out of the house. They said that, during a dust storm, you just accepted that everything you owned would be coated in dust, even your food. I remember my grandmother saying that you could open any box in any closet, no matter how tightly sealed, and find it full of dust; she would joke that sometimes the dust was so fine that it could go through walls.

4/6/12

Since I won't be in class next Monday, I thought I'd post my two cents about TVA's issues on my journal page. One of the more interesting controversies I discovered while researching the TVA is that of the Snail Darter. A tiny fish, which happened to reside in the Little Tennessee River and also happened to be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Snail Darter almost halted the construction of the massive Tellico Dam (succeeding in delaying construction for some time. For basic info about the controversy, check out the following [|link].

Another issue which has plagued the TVA is that of frequent accusations of violating the Clean Air Act. For some time, the TVA has stood accused of extensive disregard for EPA guidelines and regulations. Last year, the TVA and EPA reached a massive settlement, in which the TVA pledged to invest 3-5 billion dollars in new pollutant controlling technology which is supposed to reduce the health risks entailed by the current conditions. Additionally, the organization is to invest about $350 million into clean energy programs and various other environmentally friendly projects. For more info on the topic, check out the following [|link].

Overall, I'd say that although the TVA has had many positive results and many of its initiatives have significantly improved quality of life in the area, it has also had its share of negative impacts. The disruption or destruction of many existing ecosystems and the accelerated proliferation of pollutants are just a couple of the major negative effects of the program. Such TVA initiatives as increased fertilizer and herbicide usage have caused extreme damage to the soil of the region and accelerated the introduction of rigorous farming methods.

4/3/12

I came across this awesome [|report] earlier today about a man in Jorhat, India who has dedicated the past 30 years of his life planting a forest. Now over 550 Hectares, Molai's Woods are home to a thriving ecosystem which has sheltered a variety of animals ranging from elephants to tigers and even a rhino. Starting with transplanted bamboo, Jadav Payeng began to slowly cultivate his forest on the remote sandbar and gradually built up the soil by personally introducing new species of flora and fauna. As a result of Payeng's dedication, not only has he created a completely new forest, but the government of India has taken notice and is now pitching in to assist the further development and maintenance of the region. It's just a remarkable success story of how a single person's efforts can make such a difference.

3/23/12

As I've been reading Scott's book, I've become increasingly dissatisfied with his inclination to ignore successful efforts at urban or agricultural planning. Considering the basic success of many local central planning efforts (i.e. the urban planning which takes place in just about every city in the U.S.) or the centralized planning of transportation systems, Scott seems to be taking a very narrow view of state/governmental planning. 

Additionally, Scott seems to be implying that the state is inherently separate from the population, existing as some kind of artificial foreign construction. However, most state structures are a direct organic result of social developments (at least in relatively democratic countries). Scott seems to, almost intentionally, omit mention of the local population's ability to influence both the systemic development and the local application of state policy. I guess that I should reserve judgment until I have finished the entire book; but as of yet, I've found his examples to be extremely one sided and his analysis to be very narrow.

3/21/12

 <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 16px;">I recently came across this really interesting initiative called Urban Forestry which fits in very well with the topics we've been talking about. The way I originally heard about was through a poster which a <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">friend of mine posted on Facebook, but it seems to be a relatively widespread idea. Basically, it's the development and maintenance of natural and artificial forests in urban areas. From what I've read, urban forestry groups have conducted a number of studies into the physical and psychological health benefits of urban forests and lobby for the intrinsic positive effects of urban forestry. In a way, it almost appears to be a tangent of the City Beautiful movement; but it also seems to have ties to more traditional forestry efforts, including conservationism. One of the major aspects of urban forestry seems to be the effort to preserve and integrate naturally existing forested areas into the urban environment, instead of destroying them to make way for city expansion. Here's the link to the Wikipedia article on [|Urban Forestry] and the also one to the [|website] of the town which created the poster.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">3/16/12

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our discussion of the Hudson River Painters reminded me of a book I came across a couple years ago called In the Way of Nature: Ecology and Westward Expansion in the Poetry of Anne Bradstreet, Elizabeth Bishop and Amy Clampitt, by Robert Boschman. In the book, Boschman examines the work of three American poets, specifically looking at their ways of viewing and describing nature and their relationship to it. Boschman discusses the differing definitions of nature and touches upon the issue of human inclusion in nature. If I remember correctly, he talks about the problem of viewing nature as the "untouched" or "pristine", thereby excluding humanity from the natural world. On the other hand, I believe that he also presents the perceived disconnect as an integral element of humanity's drive to protect the natural world. Overall, it is an extremely interesting work; I don't believe that the UCF library has a copy, but it is available on [|Amazon] and partially on [|Google Books].

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 3/2/12

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I came across a really interesting [|video] yesterday which I felt directly related to a discussion we had a few days ago. We discussed the growth of City Beautiful movements and also the implications of the creation of artificial pockets of nature within the on urban structure. This video takes the concept of encapsulating nature to a whole new level. Essentially the project proposed is the creation of a completely artificial version of "nature" in an environment which could not normally sustain it, for the sole purpose of human enjoyment. See you on the other side of Spring Break!

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"> media type="custom" key="12764338" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"> <span class="TextRun SCX191052597" style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 11pt;">2/27/12 <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCX191052597" style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I actually had a relatively hard time with this week's homework assignment. I began by finding an image I'd seen before which had always represented the untouched pristine ideal of nature to me. I have always loved pictures of the Andes because the mountains seem to be almost formidable in their beauty, <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCX191052597" style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 16px;">an immovable force essentially opposed to alteration. <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">But as the weekend progressed, I began to think about the deeper implications of the word "nature" and what that represents to me. I realized that humans are not only a part of nature but a very prominent one. With this in mind, I knew that I had to reconsider my choice of image. I had to search for a completely new picture which represented my revised concept of ideal nature. I eventually chose the below image of the Amazon, to me it represents a great and majestic force which can absorb and incorporate certain amounts of alteration, but it is also fragile and susceptible to careless violence. <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCX191052597" style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 11pt;">

<span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">2/15/12

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I very much appreciated today's discussion of the relevance of agency in our interpretation of history. It directly relates to the ways in which we can displace a contextual view of historical events in favor of extrapolating the implications of a localized event onto a broader context. The issue is often one of perspective, we tend to see the past through the restrictive lenses of both our personal experiences and the limitations of the historical materials available. By viewing an entire period of history via a potentially distorted snapshot of a single event, we constantly run the risk of generalization. In addition, we must also be aware that our very ability to interpret historical information is skewed by our own temporal physical placement. Even our categorization of "historical events" into historical periods is an arbitrary attempt to order a continuum of interconnected and often interdependent actions which are inextricably tied to past or parallel actions and may even have been tied to period predictions of future actions. I've personally found the necessity of constantly examining the nature of my own perspective to be one of my greatest challenges as a student of history.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 1/23/12 <span style="display: block; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The history of nearly violent differences between academic theories and their contrast with the existing evidence is an extremely interesting concept to me. The ability of powerful individuals in the scientific community to suppress theories contrary to their own appears to have had a significant impact upon the development and expansion of scientific thought.I was especially interested in the Ales Hrdlicka period and the eventual conversion to the Clovis First mentality. I did a bit of external research and came across this article [|Monte Verde Excavation: or Clovis Police Beat a Retreat]. It describes the latest developments in conflict of academic theories, specifically the perceived defeat of the "Clovis Police" and the dominant academic theory.