I now have 32 people that have taken my survey. The results are still similar to
what they were in the first post with most students not knowing about the issue
of driving on the beach, but now that they are aware, many think it should be
illegal. The answers to the rest of the questions are spread out. Nearly
everyone who took the survey is a college student, most of them being freshmen.
Here is a link to my survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K26CS3X.
Kristin's Blog
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Survey
I
have posted my survey on Survey Monkey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K26CS3X.
I am writing Essay 4 on the environmental impact of driving vehicles on the
beach and whether or not it should be legal. From the results I have so far, it
seems that most students did not know about the issue, but now that they are
aware, they think it should be illegal. The theory I am writing about is the Tragedy of the Commons.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Synthesis of Marker’s “Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling on the Borders of Empires: Coast Salish Cultural Survival”
Since
the arrival of the Europeans, Native Americans have struggled to maintain there
land and cultural identities as the white man tries to either force them away
or integrate them western culture. This racism is still present today, a
notable example being the schooling conflict of the Coast Salish people.
The
government in Washington state and British Columbia used education as means to
assimilate the youth of the Coast Salish people. The school taught history and
beliefs that clashed with those of the Coast Salish people in addition to
practicing racism and cultural suppression, provoking resistance from them.
Many of the Coast Salish people took their children out of the public school
system and placed them into boarding schools instead, that allowed them to
practice their beliefs without fear of persecution.
It is
disheartening that even today, the Native Americans still face discrimination
and oppression. I’m glad that they were able to find a way around the
government’s forced integration, however, they shouldn’t have to take their
children out of public into private schools just to practice their beliefs.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Food & Sustainability in the US Virgin Islands
For my place, I
chose the US Virgin Islands. Due to insufficient agricultural area on the islands, most of the
food is imported. When slavery was popular in the 17th and 18th
centuries, the US Virgin Islands profited from cash crops, but since then,
tourism has become the main basis for the economy, resulting in imported food. Most
food is also imported due to the insufficient agricultural land on the islands.
Sustainability of
the US Virgin Islands has been an issue in recent years due to the increasing
amount of tourism in the area. Of the three major islands, Saint John has done
the most to sustain its environment and resources by protecting over 65% of the
island as part of the Virgin Islands National Park. Additionally, the underwater Virgin Islands Coral Reef
National Monument safeguards the submerged lands and marine ecosystem within a
three-mile belt off the island of Saint John. The island of Saint Croix
features a Green Globe certified Sustainable Farm Institute with a 200-acre conservation
forest farm. Saint Croix’s Salt River Bay National Historical Park and
Ecological Preserve provides a safe haven for threatened or endangered species.
North of Saint Croix is the Buck Island Reef National Monument, a small,
uninhabited island teaming with marine flora and fauna. Saint Thomas, the third
island, is in the process of building a gas-to-energy facility that will
convert the collected methane gas into electricity. Additionally, Saint Thomas is
home to the Mangrove Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary and Marine Preserve, a healthy
nursery habitat for endangered brown pelicans, nesting egrets, and herons. The
nearby small, uninhabited island of Cas Cay holds a 15-acre wildlife preserve,
home to numerous tropical birds.
However, even with all these measures
taken to sustain the bioregion, there are also many practices taking place that
counteract these actions. Human consumerism took a toll on the environment of
the US Virgin Islands after colonization, much of which is still evident today.
The impacts of human consumerism include afflictions such as toxic fertilizers and pesticides, mining pollution, sewage and solid waste disposal, and oil spill
contamination. Disposal of the high volume of waste materials generated as a
result of tourism traffic continues to pose serious problems. The Susannaberg
Landfill on Saint John was closed after prolonged fires in the nineties and is
now a transfer station, transporting the waste off of the island. The Anguilla
Landfill on Saint Croix was forced to temporarily close earlier this summer
after a dump fire released toxic fumes. Landfill fires can occur when methane
gas accumulates deep beneath the landfill's surface causing the disposed waste
to spontaneously combust. The Anguilla Landfill is estimated to exceed its threshold
capacity in only a year, and the Bovoni Landfill on Saint Thomas is expected to
reach its carrying capacity within the next few years. Constant tourism
continues to add to the coastal degradation.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Environmental Ethics
My
representation of environmental ethics is an image of the earth being recycled.
The picture is pretty straightforward, basically saying that we need to reuse
our resources and treat the earth kindly. Environmental ethics is a philosophy
in which we should carefully make decisions involving the environment so that they
impact the environment in a positive way. Society should still use the
resources given to them by nature, but learn to coexist with the environment
rather than taking advantage of it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)