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Hawai‘i
Community
College
This publication is available in alternate format upon request.
UH Hilo/Hawai‘i Community College are Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Institutions.
A JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC WRITING
VOLUME 4
Hohonu
2 0 0 6
Academic Journal
University of Hawai‘i at Hilo • Hawai‘i Community College
dddddddddddddddddddddd
Table of Contents
Bycatch: The Effects of Pelagic Longlining on Pacific Sea Turtle Populations . ................................................................ 1
by Frances Kinslow
Dynamic Beauty: Cultural Influences and Changing Perceptions - Becoming Prettier or Erasing
One’s Own Culture?................................................................................................................................................................... 5
by Christopher Frazier
Educating Margaret: Puritanical Rhetoric in Emerson and Hawthorne............................................................................. 9
by Jeanne L. Kroenke
Egaeus Diagnonsed.................................................................................................................................................................. 13
by Lori Beth Griffin
Enewetak: A Nuclear Atoll...................................................................................................................................................... 17
by Andrea E. Chernov
From the Melting Pot to the Tossed Salad Metaphor: Why Coercive Assimilation Lacks the
Flavors Americans Crave......................................................................................................................................................... 29
by LeAna Gloor
A Brief Look at Globalization Through Kava....................................................................................................................... 33
He Blinded Me with Science: The Effects of 19th Century Science on Melville’s Moby Dick....................................... 37
by Jason Foxworthy
i am the other............................................................................................................................................................................. 41
by kelly m. woods
Ka Mana o ke Känäwai a me ka Mana o ke Kanaka............................................................................................................ 45
by Hulilau Wilson
Literary Dysfunction: Finding Truth Where There is No Meaning................................................................................... 47
Pehea e Ho’oikaika Hou ‘Ia Ai Ka Papahana Kaiapuni ‘Ölelo Hawaiÿi?.......................................................................... 51
by Lehua Wilson
Renter Beware............................................................................................................................................................................ 53
by Raphael D. Chenault
Riding Tourism’s New Wave: Evaluating the Cruise Industry’s Impact in Hilo............................................................ 57
by LeAna B. Gloor
Some Styles of Thought in Science: Examples Applied to the History of Evolution...................................................... 61
by Erik Rau
iii
The Diesel Engine: An Answer to the Rising Prices and Shrinking Supply of Gas........................................................ 63
by William L. Todd
The Lion of Keanakolu............................................................................................................................................................. 67
by Elizabeth Leina`ala Kahahane
The Original British Invasion.................................................................................................................................................. 75
by Jessica Anne Gard
“There’s Nothing So Bad for a Cough as Coughing!”: An Insight into the World of Quackery,
Nostrum, and Patent Medicine............................................................................................................................................... 81
by Dane Olson
Thermoregulation in Montane and Coastal Species of Native Hawaiian Damselflies from May 31,2005 to August 5, 2005...................................................................................................................................... 93
by Shauna Tom, David Foote and Sharon Ziegler-Chong
Thought vs. Life........................................................................................................................................................................ 97
To Veil or Not To Veil?............................................................................................................................................................ 101
by Aletha Dale McCullough
Weight Discrimination: The Effects of Obesity on Employment and Promotion.......................................................... 107
Women’s Role in Combat: Is Ground Combat the Next Front?....................................................................................... 115
by Sylvia Wan
Worms Go to School............................................................................................................................................................... 121
by Piper Selden
iv
HOHONU
Aloha and welcome to the fourth edition of Hohonu, A Journal of Academic Writing. We are proud to present
the very best of student writing which displays the quality and diversity of students on the campuses of
University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii Community College.
Hohonu, which means “deep, profound” in Hawaiian, celebrated its inaugural issue in the fall of 2003. The
publication reaches out to faculty and students, as well as to the community at large. Our new website extends
our reach to the rest of the world, allowing us to more fully share our mission: To encourage academic discourse and
enhance the educational experience at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii Community College.
Hohonu features non-fiction academic writing in any format and on any subject. The work in this journal
includes personal reaction papers, analysis, argument, review, and research papers. Among the works of great
student writing in this issue, we are pleased to include two pieces written in the Hawaiian language.
Mahalo to everyone who helped make this issue possible. A gracious thank you is extended to the student
authors for their hard work and contribution to another successful issue of Hohonu. We gratefully acknowledge
the financial assistance of the Board of Student Publications and the staff at Campus Center for their help. A big
mahalo goes to James Rubio, IT Specialist extraordinaire at UHH, for his assistance with our website. Students
wishing to submit work for consideration for future issues of Hohonu can now submit work online. Visit our
website: www.uhh.hawaii.edu/academics/hohonu/
Finally, Hohonu would like to express warm gratitude to our staff ‘ohana for making the dream a reality for
yet another year. Hohonu appreciates the efforts of Luke Bailey and John Cole, whose inspiration and energy
resulted in the creation of this journal. Luke Bailey’s support continues today as our Faculty Advisor. Hohonu
values the ongoing hard work of our dedicated student staff: Andy Gramlich (in memory), Kalyan Meola, Anela
Gramlich, Piper Selden, Teresa Stanonik, Alicia Wilson, LeAna Gloor, and Brianne Castro, our outgoing Business
Manager.
We do this for the love of it!
Aloha nui loa to all,
Piper Selden
Editor-in-Chief
v
IN MEMORIAM
Andrew Gramlich
1952-2006
A founding editor of Hohonu, colleague, and friend
Bycatch: The Effects
of Pelagic Longlining
on Pacific Sea Turtle
Populations
Such interactions can have potentially devastating
effects on species like sea turtles. Of the seven
species of sea turtles found in our oceans today, all
are considered threatened or endangered, with six
listed on the IUCN redlist of endangered species.
Two species, the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and
leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) have been identified
as being at particular risk of population decline as a
result of incidental take by longline pelagic fisheries
(Lewison et al. 2004b). In fact, incidental catch by
fisheries is considered to be one of the most important
causes of anthropogenic mortality for sea turtles
(DeFlorio et al 2005).
As with many other marine megafauna, the
life history characteristics of sea turtles make their
populations particularly vulnerable to collapse.
Turtles have a long lifespan and take years to reach
sexual maturity. There is a very high rate of mortality
among young offspring, and population stability
requires a high survival rate for those few individuals
which do reach adulthood. Therefore, turtles suffer
significant population decline when adult and
sub-adult age classes endure higher-than-average
mortality: the loss of even a few individuals can have
significant effects (Lewison et al. 2004a). Longlines are
documented to cause selective mortality among these
older age classes in sea turtles (Lewison et al. 2004b).
Like turtles, longliners are found in every ocean
in the world. With the banning of high seas driftnets
by the United Nations in 1991, many industrialized
fisheries turned their efforts to longlining. Boats
from 40 nations set approximately 3.8 million hooks
on 100,000 miles of longline every day, with more
than half of that fishing effort concentrated in the
Pacific. In the year 2000, conservative estimates put
numbers of global bycatch for loggerheads at over
200,000 and for the critically endangered leatherback
at 50,000. Nesting populations of Pacific leatherbacks
have experienced a 95% decline in just two decades
(Lewison et al. 2004b), leading scientists to speculate
that the Pacific leatherback faces imminent extinction
in the next ten years (James et al. 2005). Loggerhead
turtles showed over an 80% population decline in the
same period (Lewison et al. 2004b).
Although these numbers seem to indicate a
correlation between longlining and population
decline, the actual effects of longlining are difficult
to quantify. When analyzing the effects of fisheries
bycatch, two things are crucial: determine how many
individuals are being removed from the population,
by Frances Kinslow
Each day the world’s human population expands
to record size. The ultimate apex predator, humans
have put pressure on nearly every ecosystem in the
world to provide food and other resources. That
pressure not only affects the species that is being
hunted, but can sometimes have unintentional
effects on other species. In fishing, this type of
accidental interaction with non-target species is
called “incidental take,” with the non-target species
becoming “bycatch.”
Many populations of marine animals have been
negatively impacted as a result of fishing practices
which incur large amounts of bycatch. Generally,
bycatch species are not of economic value and
therefore bycatch incidents have been largely ignored
and under reported. However, studies of threatened
and endangered marine vertebrates have shown that
many already at-risk species face an even greater
decrease in survival rates due to incidental take from
fisheries (DeFlorio et al. 2005).
One such fishery, pelagic longlining, is
responsible for hundreds of thousands of tons of
bycatch every year (Lewison et al. 2004b). Longlines
target commercially valuable pelagic fish using
heavy duty monofilament. A surface longline will
have a mainline suspended by floats with weighted
vertical lines attached which have baited hooks hung
at regular intervals. Longlines can stretch for tens
of kilometers (several miles) and are suspended at
different depths depending on the location and type
of fish being targeted (Deflorio et al. 2005). In the
Pacific Ocean, longliners primarily target two species:
bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) and swordfish (Xiphius
gladius). However, non-target animals accidentally
caught on longlines are extensive and include
dolphins, whales, seabirds, sharks, and sea turtles,
among others (Lewison et al. 2004a).
1
fronts (Polovina et al. 2000), one indication that the
juvenile turtles are feeding at those sites. More recent
advances in technology have allowed researchers to
track turtles in the wide open ocean using satellite
transponders. Studies that tracked loggerhead turtles
and olive ridley turtles for months at a time in the
Pacific confirmed that those species did in fact migrate
along ocean fronts (Polovina et al. 2000). A single
loggerhead tracked in 2001 spent over three months
following the edge of an oceanic front (Polovina et al.
2004).
Determining the nature of the turtle’s pelagic
habitat can be crucial in finding ways to limit turtle
interactions with longlines. For instance, satellite
tracking studies that recorded the depths of turtles’
dives found that loggerheads spent 90% of their time
at depths of less than 40m (Polovina et al. 2004). This
would explain why although fishing effort for tuna in
the Pacific is up to six times greater than fishing effort
for swordfish, swordfish longliners have bycatch
ten times that of tuna (Lewison et al. 2004b). The
longlines for tuna are known as “deep-set” because
they are weighted to depths below 100m, while the
swordfish lines are “shallow-set” at less than 100m
(Polovina et al. 2004), where turtles are much more
likely to encounter them.
Another factor that needs to be considered is how
the turtles are interacting with the longlines. A study
of loggerheads in the Ionian Sea showed that of 200
turtles caught in longlines, 87% were hooked, while
13% were entangled (Deflorio et al. 2005). This is a
definite indication that the bait is a primary attractant
for the turtle, and that the turtles were caught when
trying to feed. However, this did not hold true for
all species or all areas. A study of leatherbacks off
the Atlantic Coast of Canada found that 95% of those
turtles caught by fixed gear longlines (a specific
type of longline set in shallower coastal waters and
attached to the bottom) were entangled, not hooked.
A fifth of these turtles drowned (James et al. 2005).
These are important distinctions to make when
discussing conservation efforts as type of interaction
can have major implications: snared or hooked turtles
may be discovered before they drown and released,
but often with hooks embedded deeply in their mouth
or digestive system, or with fishing line entangling a
limb which may become severed. The implications of
these post-hooking scenarios are simply not known
(James et al. 2005).
U.S. based fisheries are monitored by the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a division of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). In 2001, the Hawaiian based longline
fishery was ordered closed, based on data collected
and then determine the effects of this removal
(Lewison et. al. 2004a). Data to accurately answer
these questions in many cases is simply unavailable.
Although the existence of bycatch is acknowledged
for all fisheries, the extent and magnitude is
sporadically recorded. The most reliable data on
bycatch numbers comes from onboard observers
(Lewison et al. 2004b). However, out of 40 nations
with active longlining fisheries, only 15 have an
onboard observer program and of those, only a small
percentage of trips are actually required to have an
observer onboard (Lewison et al. 2004a). Logbooks
kept by ship’s crew commonly under-report bycatch,
and in most cases there is no reporting at all. In
addition, much longline fishing is illegal and even
the fishing itself is unreported (Lewison et al. 2004b),
making extrapolating data to draw conclusions an
even more difficult task.
In addition, relatively little is known about
the behavior of sea turtles while in their pelagic
habitat. As adults, turtles will often find foraging
grounds near land masses, and adult female turtles
will travel thousands of miles to the beaches where
they were born to lay their eggs. Hatchlings emerge
several months later and enter the sea on their own.
However, during the years in between hatchling
and adulthood, which vary depending on the turtle
species, the turtles “disappear” and their habits are
virtually unknown.
This lack of comprehensive knowledge has
hampered conservation efforts to save the sea turtles
(Lewison et al. 2004a, James et al. 2005). Recent
studies have focused on strengthening scientific data
in these areas. For instance, turtle biologists have long
hypothesized that juvenile turtles spend much of their
developmental years associating with oceanic fronts.
In the Pacific, these fronts occur when warmer water
from a subtropical ocean gyre meets cold water from
a subartic ocean gyre, causing a weak downwelling.
These fronts are characterized by rich chlorophyll
density caused by the abundance of phytoplankton
in the cold water. Predators are attracted to the rich
convergence of the phytoplankton, and a complete
pelagic food web develops at these sites. Jellyfish,
such as the wind sailor, Vellela vellela, are among
the first predators, and also among the staple foods
of loggerhead turtles (Polovina et al. 2000) and
leatherbacks (Lewison et al. 2004b), giving rise to the
theory that oceanic fronts can provided an abundance
of resources for turtles in their pelagic stages.
Studies support this theory. Stomach analyses of
55 juvenile and sub-adult loggerheads drowned in
driftnets in 1993 showed that all of the prey consumed
by the turtles were species found at these convergent
2
by the NMFS that showed that the incidental take of
endangered species by pelagic longliners exceeded
that allowed by the Endangered Species Act (NMFS
Report on Technical Gear Workshop, 2001).
Although several studies cited pelagic longline
fishing as the number one threat to leatherbacks in
the Pacific (James et al. 2005, Lewison et al. 2004b),
the longline fishery was reopened in Northern
Hawaiian waters in 2004. The fisheries management
authority, NMFS, initiated new restrictions and
guidelines intended to reduce bycatch of turtles and
other species. One of these new guidelines included
requiring trained observers on 100% of the swordfish
longliners and 25% of the tuna longliners, to carefully
monitor bycatch. Another requirement was that
swordfish longlines use only the newly developed
circle hooks, rather than the traditional “J” style hooks
(NMFS Small Entity Compliance Guide, 2004).
Some scientists question the re-opening of the
fisheries. Few studies on the effect of the circle
hook on bycatch have been completed. One study
conducted in longline fisheries around the Azores
found there was no significant difference in the
number of turtles caught by each hook type. The
circle hooks were more likely to embed in the mouths
of the turtles rather than the throat, which may help
reduce mortality after hooking (NMFS Report on
Technical Gear Workshop, 2001). However, because
of the lack of data regarding post-hooking recovery
and behavior, it is unknown if these hooks can be
considered an effective conservation tool.
Although many studies indicate that a
moratorium on pelagic longlining is the only measure
which could produce significant results in halting
declines of sea turtle populations (James et al. 2005),
this seems unlikely. Pelagic longlining accounts for
85% of the world’s swordfish and 60% of the bigeye
and albacore tunas and the high consumer demand
cannot be met by other fishing methods (Lewison et
al. 2004b).
Conservation efforts instead are focusing on ways
to reduce turtle interactions with longlines. One of
the satellite tracking studies showed that juvenile
loggerheads foraging in the Pacific traveled most
frequently along fronts with a sea surface temperature
(SST) of 17oC, and secondarily along fronts with
SST of 20oC. Further research found a correlation
between sea surface temperatures at these levels
and high incidence of accidental take with turtles.
Based on these results, the study concluded that
requiring longliners to cease fishing efforts when
surface temperature approaches these limits may
help reduce incidental take of sea turtles in the Pacific
(Polovina et al. 2000). Another study involved dying
squid, a commonly used bait. Researchers found
that green turtles (Chelonia mydas) virtually ignored
the bait when it was dyed blue, although the target
fish showed no difference in preference. Studies to
test this theory on loggerheads are underway (NMFS
Report on Technical Gear, 2004). Such studies may
lead to a better outlook for the turtles.
Still, efforts made solely by the United States
to reduce bycatch in only U.S. based fisheries may
not have a very large overall impact, as the problem
simply cannot be addressed by regional or national
efforts (James et al 2005). In fact, U.S. based fisheries
account for less than 3% of all pelagic longlining
in the Pacific (NMFS Report on Technical Gear
Workshop, 2001). Japan and Taiwan together are
responsible for more than half the Pacific longline
fishing effort, while no other nation claims more
than 7% (Lewison et al. 2004b). Because turtles travel
across oceans, through the waters and onto the shores
of many different countries, a truly international
conservation effort would be required to have lasting
consequences. Scientists are pushing the U.S. to
take a leading role in conservation efforts here, then
encourage other countries to do the same. The United
Nations has been presented with reports calling for
international regulation of longlining, as with the high
seas driftnets.
As loggerhead and leatherback populations
continue to decline in the Pacific, it remains to be seen
what effects the loss of these links in the food web
may cause to marine ecosystems. Studies to improve
scientific knowledge of the turtles’ life cycles, to find
alternative technology for fishing, and to reduce
turtle interactions with longlines are underway.
With nesting beaches being destroyed, new diseases
plaguing sea turtles, and pressure from fisheries,
much remains to be done to ensure the future of sea
turtles in our oceans.
3
Cited References
DeFlorio, M., Aprea, A., Corriero, A., Santamaria, N. and DeMetrio, G. 2005. Incidental capture of sea turtles by
swordfish and albacore longlines in the Ionian Sea. Fisheries Science 71:1010-1018.
James, M.C., Ottensmeyer A., and Myers, R.A. 2005. Identification of high-use habitat and threts to leatherback
sea turtles in northern waters: new directions for conservation. Ecology Letters 8: 195-201.
Polovina, J.J., Kobayashi, D.R. Parker, D.M., Sekii, M.P., Balazs, G.H. 2000. Turtles on the edge: movement of
loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) along oceanic fronts, spanning longline fishing grounds in the central
North Pacific, 1997-1998. Fisheries Oceanography 9:71-82.
Polovina, J.J., Balazs G.H., Howell, E.A., Parker, D., Seki, M.P., and Dutton P.H. 2004. Forage and migration
habitat of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles in the central
North Pacific Ocean. Fisheries Oceanography 13:36-51.
a Lewison, R.L., Crowder, L.B., Read, A.J., and Freeman, S.A. Nov 2004. Understanding impact of fisheries
bycatch on marine megafauna. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19: 598-604.
b Lewison, R.L., Freeman, S.A., and Crowder, L.B. 2004. Quantifying the effects of fisheries on threatened
species: the impact of pelagic longlines on loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles. Ecology Letters 7:221231.
United States Department of Commerce (US). Report of the NMFS Technical Gear Workshop to Reduce the
Incidental Capture of Sea Turtles in the Atlantic Pelagic Longline Fishery, 2001. Report on workshop.
Silver Spring (MD): National Marine Fisheries Service Highly Migratory Species Division; 2001 Jan. 11 p.
Available from: http://nmfs.noaa.gov.
United States Department of Commerce (US). Small Entity Compliance Guide for the April 2004 Changes to
the Regulations Governing the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region. Compliance guide for
regulatory changes. Honolulu (HI): National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Region; 2004 July.
36 p. Available from: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/gov/mediacenter/turtles/.
4
Dynamic Beauty:
Cultural Influences
and Changing
Perceptions Becoming Prettier or
Erasing One’s Own
Culture?
reverse ethnocentrism or internalized racism on the
subjugated populations.
This paper is divided into two major parts. In part
A, I identify trends of the phenomenon of affected
standards of beauty by Western influence. In part B, I
discuss several predominant theories as to the cause
of these trends.
Behavioral Trends of Beauty Modification
There are many examples of non-Western
standards of beauty that have been affected and
influenced by those of the West. In these non-Western
examples, a preference for Western standards has
surfaced. Here we will look at some of the most
obvious and extreme elements: skin bleaching and
plastic surgery.
The act of skin bleaching by darker-skinned
populations is the first case of interest. I first became
aware of it while living in New York City. Friends
of mine from South Asia first told me that it was
common in their communities to use “skin lightening
creams” to bleach their skin. I quickly learned that
it is not just practiced by East Indians, but by South
East Asians, and West Indians as well. Alex Haley
even makes mention of African-Americans using skin
bleach in The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
This derived interest in whiter skin can be seen
the world over. Another example can be seen in
non-Western companies which use Western and
Western-looking models to advertise their products
to non-Western populations. According to Angela
Mak’s research in China, “whiter/lighter are preferred
facial skin colors for Chinese females in magazine
advertisements” (97). In Japan, “Western celebrities
appear prominently in the Japanese advertising
media as spokespersons for various products,
especially those carrying a certain level of status
appeal, [i.e.] luxury items” (Engstrom 20). And in
Ghana, beauty salons “use light [skinned] women...
in their advertisements … [though] the majority of
these pictures don’t represent the average Ghanaian
woman” (Chisholm).
Westerners and “whiteness” are thus associated
with luxury and status. According to N. Chisholm’s
Village Voice article, “Skin Bleaching and the Rejection
of Blackness”, in West Africa, “the lighter you are, the
more attractive and financially secure you must be.”
She also contends that skin bleaching is a largescale
problem in the region despite several countries having
banned the creams.
Is there a universal standard of physical beauty?
Is it ‘White?!’ We will explore the causes of changing
ideals of beauty in terms of cross-cultural interactions.
Specifically, this paper looks at how a culture’s
concepts of beauty change as a result of influences
from other cultures. I look at the influence of Western
cultural concepts of beauty on non-Western cultures
through cultural interaction and domination and
the contemporary results that grow out of these
situations.
A culture’s ideals of physical appearance are
dynamic. Change can be induced by external cultural
contact and, particularly, domination. Do these
affected standards of beauty imply a kind of reverse
ethnocentrism?
To clarify, this paper does not go into issues of
whether or not aesthetic operations and alterations
are good or bad, but rather looks at the socio-cultural
factors that influence populations on the large scale
to perform certain behaviors in attempts to reduce or
even remove physical ethnic characteristics.
This concerns one population’s indigenous
standards of beauty changing as a result of being
subjugated by another population; specifically, that of
the West subjugating large portions of
the non-West, predominantly through means of mass
media and commercialism. How much influence
does mass media (e.g. television, internet) have on
human behavior? “We can extend advertising’s
basic assumption that messages influence behavior”
(Kottak 98). This process of long-term cultural
domination may ultimately result in societal level
5
There are several variables that point to causes
other than the cultural domination of the West that
some argue have played a part in the changing
ideas of beauty. For example, in the case of China,
researcher Angela Mak explains:
We can go beyond the media influence of
the last 40 years and look at the possibly
deeper and earlier explanations for light
skin preference: that elite people don’t need
to labor outside, thus in Southern China,
developed an association of “whiteness” with
status.
She goes on to mention that the above occurrence
coupled with the later colonization of Hong Kong by
the British Caucasians”reinforced the idea” (88-89).
In Japan, before large scale Western influence,
opinions of Caucasians were quite negative. One
scholar in 1807 even described Westerners as being
beasts that resembled human beings (Engstrom 18).
However, not long after the West was recognized as
being “technologically and economically superior
to Japan... [which began the belief by Japanese] that
Japan was inferior, not only as an economic power,
but also as a race” (Engstrom 19). This inferiority
complex developed into what Japanese call retto-kan,
or “inferior class feeling,” to the West (17,19).
Many of the arguments for surgery or bleaching
include beliefs that doing so will increase status
or improve an individual’s chances of success in
competitive societies (Kar; Chisholm).
On surgery, some people claim that the practice
has nothing to do with trying to look more Western.
They just want to look more attractive or as one
surgeon put it, “the Asian eye is beautiful and
[recipients]’re only trying to enhance it [by surgical
operation]” (quoted by Valhouli). But, as Valhouli
points out, this argument breaks down “into a game
of semantics... [in which] people say’ I want to look
prettier’ ...but how does it come to mean a Western
eye?” And this observation of semantics brings up
another example, one that I noticed. The word fair has
come to mean light complexioned; however, fair used
to mean beautiful, as in Shakespeare’s use when he
describes a fair maiden.
Skin bleaching is a little clearer cut in its origins,
especially in West Africa, since it started in the 1500s
as the Europeans came and colonized (Chisholm).
The other most extreme illustration of this trend
of non-Western populations borrowing from Western
standards of beauty can be seen in the increasing
frequency of surgical operations which altogether
alter the ethnic appearance of recipients. This is
particularly common in East Asia and East Asian
populations in places like North America.
The most commonly practiced operation is called
blepharoplasty, which is also referred to as “eyelid
surgery.” The operation “creates an indention of the
eyelid right on the top of the eyeball that makes it
stand out” giving the eyelid a double-fold (Valhouli).
Ann Shin, a filmmaker who made a movie on this
topic, said of the situation in Canada: “women will
encourage their [daughters] to think about getting
eyelid surgery in the way that parents might get
braces for a kid or have an overweight child lose some
weight” (Kar) .
In 1998, “Asian-Americans represented 7.5
percent of all patients undergoing facial cosmetic
surgery,” according to the American Academy of
Facial, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
(Valhouli). The statistics are staggering; “[In] Korea,
surgeons estimate that at least one in 10 adults have
received some form of surgical upgrade” (Cullen et
al) .
Following blepharoplasty in popularity is an
operation that makes the nose appear longer and
pointer and another operation in which “botox is
injected into wide cheeks so the muscle will atrophy
and the cheeks will shrink” (Cullen et al).
So who’s to blame? How about Michael Jackson?
Is he not the epitome of both of the above described
acts of physical alteration? Catherine Tetteh, a
beautician in Geneva points out, “by using cosmetic
surgery to make his face look more European, Michael
Jackson, was sending out the wrong signal.” Of course
we cannot place blame on one popular icon but it can
offer illumination.
Explanations and Variables
All of the above trends seem to illustrate the
growing influence of Western cultural domination.
From actual imperialism to modern cultural
colonialism via mass media, “few would argue that
under the relentless bombardment of Hollywood,
satellite TV, and Madison Avenue, Asia’s aesthetic
ideal has changed drastically”(Cullen et al). But is
all this change solely the result of Western influence?
And what role, if any, does reverse ethnocentrism
play in the adoption of Western standards and the
downplaying of indigenous ones?
6
Conclusion
This paper only scratches the surface of an
interesting area that should not be neglected.
This is an interdisciplinary field in which both
Anthropological and Mass Communication type
theories can be useful in better understanding these
cultural dynamics.
In this paper, we looked at examples of nonWestern peoples adopting Western standards of
beauty, and adjusting their appearance accordingly
through such means as skin bleaching and plastic
surgery. Also, we looked at potential causes and
effects of this phenomenon.
In conclusion, we can assume that Western
influence has played a role in these new behaviors.
However, we cannot clearly distinguish these
behaviors as indicators of a growing internalized
racism on the societal level.
Wanting to look good is natural. However, when
people adopt foreign standards of beauty and then
attempt to recreate them in their own communities,
it may have negative consequences. I have to agree
with USC anthropologist professor Soo-Young Chin
in her opinion: “I think it’s silly to think there is only
one standard of beauty. And let’s face it, most people
aren’t beautiful, they’re just mediocre” (Valhouli).
Works Cited and Related Reading
Bodley, John. Victims of Progress. Mountain View,
California: Mayfield Publishing Company,
1999.
Chisholm, N. “Skin Bleaching and the Rejection of
Blackness.” Village Voice 22-28 Jan. 2001. 16
Oct. 2004.
<http://villagevoice.com/issues/0204/
chisholm.php>
Cullen, Lisa, et al. “Changing Faces” Times Asia. 5
Aug. 2002. Oct. 2004
<http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/
ll0l020805/story.htm>
Engstrom, Erika. “Retto-kan: Japan’s Inferiority
Complex with the West in Contemporary
Media and Culture.” Human Communication:
a Journal of the Pacific and Asian
Communication Association 1.1(1997): 17-23.
Hovland, Carl, Irving Janis and Harold Kelly.
Communication and Persuasion:
Psychological Studies of Opinion Change.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.
Kar, Rima. “The Eyes Have It.” Maclean’s 28 May
2001: 40.
Klapper, Joseph. The Effects of Mass Communication.
New York: Free Press, 1960.
Lester, Paul, ed. Images That Injure: Pictorial
Stereotypes in the Media. Westport,
Connecticut: Praeger, 1996.
Lutz, Catherine and Jane Collins. Reading National
Geographic. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1993.
Mak, Angela. “Facial Skin Color Preferences for
Chinese Women in Hong Kong Magazine
Advertisements.” Human Communication:
a Journal of the Pacific and Asian
Communication Association 2.1 (1998-1999):
87-97.
Poblete, Patio “The price to pay for an ‘American’
nose and eyes is more than the $2,500” San
Francisco Chronicle 24 Feb.2002. Oct. 2004
<http://modelminority.com/modules.php?n
ame=News&file=articl e&sid=430>
Valhouli, Christina. “’Fixing’ the Asian Eye- Racist
or no Big Deal?” Talk Surgery, Inc. 2001-2004.
Oct. 2004 <http://www.talksurgery.com/
consumer/new/newOOOOO085_4.htm>
7
Educating Margaret:
Puritanical Rhetoric
in Emerson and
Hawthorne
clear lines between a man’s place and a woman’s have
become blurred.
Women were not only entering the workplace,
but the sphere of education. This new behavior was
generating a conflict in the status quo. In her article
“The Woman Question: A Multi-Faceted Debate,”
Theresa DeFrances argues: “Knowledge, many men
and women believed, defeminized women. Many
ministers likened it to forbidden fruit because it
opened the world to women at the expense of
closing off heaven” (170). By associating women’s
education to forbidden fruit and the Garden of Eden,
the educated woman becomes the new Eve, and her
knowledge and assertion of rights become evil, and
something we must protect society against.
Knowledge, education, and evil are all issues
addressed in Norton Juster’s A Woman’s Place:
Yesterday’s Women in Rural America. This
compilation of magazine articles, letters, and pithy
sayings sheds light on the rhetoric used in the early
to mid-nineteenth century. The knowledge of evil
is addressed in an article from “Scribner’s” titled “A
Mother’s Duty to her Girls.” The author writes that
women absolutely should be educated: “Purity means
spotlessness, not mere ignorance. It is a mental poise
– that attitude toward evil which can only be taken
and maintained where a knowledge of evil exists. It
is not what one knows that constitutes impurity, but
what one loves,” ( S.B.H. 72). This article suggests
that women must be educated insofar as they learn
what evil is in order to avoid it. Education and
woman’s role in the home is also underscored in an
article from “The Household” which makes the claim
that the home is: “The domestic circle, the cherished
home of the affections, and the dwelling place of
every social virtue, was transplanted from Eden,”
(59) and that it is woman’s “holy mission,” (60) to
protect and nurture the future generations. Woman
must not give in to temptation again, and while she
must be educated, it is only to “secure that degree
of refinement necessary to fit them to move with
grace and dignity in good society,” (60). While these
articles suggest that women should indeed have some
access to education, it is the rhetoric of Eden and evil
carefully woven throughout, that warn women of
the dangers of knowledge, reminding them of their
original failure.
This fear of knowledge can be seen in Emerson’s
description of Fuller. In his “Memoirs,” he writes: “I,
slow and cold, had come fully to admire her genius,
According to the Garden of Eden myth, women
played a crucial role in the downfall of man, and
because of this have been distrusted throughout
history and literature. It is not uncommon for this
duality to play itself out textually. The struggle
against this concept can be seen in Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s The Blithedale Romance, and Ralph
Waldo Emerson’s “From the Memoirs of Margaret Fuller
Ossoli.” Both men feel an attraction to, and at the
same time, are repelled by this woman who combines
both aspects of the sinner and the saint. The rhetoric
Hawthorne and Emerson use to describe women
expose their hidden beliefs in good and evil, and
women’s role in the downfall of man. In addition,
each man attempts to eulogize a woman who, because
of their religious bias, embodies strong characteristics
which they fear and are unable to deal with.
The binary of the female good and evil is seen
throughout literature, and is discussed in Tracy
Fessenden’s “The Convent, the Brothel, and the
Protestant Women’s Sphere.” In her article, Fessenden
writes:
As sites for probing boundaries of private and
public spaces, behaviors, and roles, the figures
of the nun and prostitute both vex and bolster
nineteenth-century constructions of legitimate
femininity as domestic, maternal, pious, and
separate from the workings of the market.
The emergence of this discourse of woman’s
sphere marks a reversal in Anglo-American
representations of women’s sexuality since
the seventeenth century: where Puritan
theology had attributed greater carnality to
women than to men. (453)
One of the reasons for the confusion writers such as
Emerson and Hawthorne feel results from women
entering new spheres. They are finding themselves
in the workplace due to the Industrial Revolution; the
9
(816) in their essay, “The Madwoman in the Attic.”
It is Zenobia’s lack of the feminine that makes her
so dangerous. They write: “social historians have
fully explored its part in the creation of those ‘eternal
feminine’ virtues of modesty, gracefulness, purity,
delicacy, civility, compliancy, reticence, chastity,
affability, politeness …” (816). Priscilla is the eternal
feminine while Zenobia is the antithesis of the
feminine. Hawthorne writes: “As for Zenobia, I saw
no occasion to give myself any trouble. With her
native strength, and her experiences of the world, she
could not be supposed to need any help of mine” (74).
Zenobia has strength and experience, what many
consider to be masculine traits as opposed to Priscilla
who has more feminine qualities. Therefore, Zenobia
is one to beware of, while Priscilla is innocent and
must be cared for.
These views have been reinforced, not just in the
literature of the time, but in the scientific world as
well. DeFrancis argues:
Biological sexual difference contributed to
arguments about women and education. The
education question shifted from could girls be
educated to should they be (Hubbard xvi). A
contradiction existed: nature, heredity, and
biology dictated that women must be wives
and mothers, yet society contended they must
be taught how to perform these roles. (169)
This type of argument reveals that men felt even
if women could be educated, they should not be.
DeFrancis continues: “Even though women made
strides by enrolling in colleges and universities, the
curriculum was not only gender specific but also
“sphere” specific. Women’s colleges trained women
for two roles: teaching and motherhood” (170).
Therefore, in an effort to keep women dependent on
the patriarchy, it was decided they should only be
taught subjects that would keep them in their place. If
knowledge other than what was deemed acceptable
for women was encouraged, it would only lead to the
further downfall of man.
There are some women, however, who did not
capitulate to these ideas, and that is where the conflict
can be seen. At the time Emerson and Hawthorne
were writing, women were beginning to demand
equality, and one of the leaders of this movement was
Emerson and Hawthorne’s close friend, Margaret
Fuller. In her essay “The Great Lawsuit,” Fuller
writes:
And as to men’s representing women
fairly, at present, while we hear from men
who owe to their wives not only all that is
comfortable and graceful, but all that is wise
in the arrangement of their lives, the frequent
and was congratulating myself on the solid good
understanding that subsisted between us, I was
surprised with hearing it taxed by her superficiality
and halfness” (389). While Emerson appears to
be complimenting Fuller, his use of the words
‘superficiality,’ and ‘halfness,’ express his inability
to deal with her complexities and differences. While
he claims to respect her intelligence, his suppressed
beliefs actually cause him to find fault in her
knowledge.
This confusion Emerson feels toward the feminine
is not only directed at Fuller – his aversion is also
expressed in his views on Nature. Emerson gives
nature female qualities, even going so far as to refer to
it as “she.” Emerson explains:
Nature stretcheth out her arms to embrace
man, only let his thoughts be of equal
greatness. Willingly does she follow his steps
with the rose and the violet, and bend her
lines of grandeur and grace to the decoration
of her darling child. Only let his thoughts
be of equal scope, and the frame will suit the
picture. A virtuous man is in unison with her
works, and makes the central figure of the
visible sphere. (33)
Through his description of nature, Emerson reveals
his opinions of what a woman should be. She follows
and is submissive, graceful, and allows a man to be
the best he can be. She is the epitome of the saying
“Behind every great man, there is a great woman.”
This is the role society has historically given to
women, and while Emerson never explicitly claims he
believes women should be subordinate, his rhetoric in
many ways suggests this.
If one looks at the rhetoric Emerson applies to
women and nature, his opinions become clear. When
Emerson applies the feminine to nature, she is the
“rose and the violet,” she is “grace,” and “grandeur.”
With the exception of the above quote, Emerson
generally refers to nature as “it,” and has strong
opinions about the purpose of nature. Emerson
writes: “Nature is thoroughly mediate. It is made
to serve. It receives the dominion of man as meekly
as the ass on which the Savior rode. It offers all its
kingdoms to man as the raw material which he may
mould into what is useful” (40). Emerson believes
nature is to serve man, and by applying the feminine
to nature, he has revealed a similar belief for women.
Woman is made to serve and be subordinate to men.
This belief in women’s roles can also be seen in
the female character’s of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
The Blithedale Romance. The delicacy Hawthorne
attributes to Priscilla is part of what Sandra Gilbert
and Susan Gubar attribute to the “eternal feminine”
10
living are to learn from the example of the deceased
and follow in her path” (493). What do you do
when the woman who has died is so far from the
ideal? How do you eulogize her? You hold her up
as a warning, like Hawthorne does with Zenobia, as
opposed to an example of the ideal. Henderson also
writes: “This glistening goddess stands as a warning
to the audience, the horror of an impious woman.
And what befalls such a woman? She dies a terrible
death and goes unmourned….She dies repenting
her short-sighted life.” (494-95). In order to teach a
lesson about what the “ideal” woman is, she must be
punished insome way.
The character of Zenobia is used by Hawthorne
as a way to eulogize Margaret Fuller, and also, as a
warning to other women like her. Hawthorne makes
Zenobia’s death unattractive:
Of all modes of death, methinks it is the
ugliest. Her wet garments swathed limbs
of terrible inflexibility. She was the marble
image of a death agony. Her arms had grown
rigid in the act of struggling, and were bent
before her, with clenched hands; her knees,
too, were bent, and – thank God for it! – in the
attitude of prayer!...She knelt, as if in prayer.
With the last, choking consciousness, her soul,
bubbling out through her lips, it may be, had
given itself up to the Father, reconciled and
penitent. (216-17)
Zenobia, the antithesis of the “eternal feminine,” has
not only died in this horrible manner, she has finally
repented. As Henderson argues:
“The death of a fallen woman is understood
as a deserved punishment, rather than a
tragic loss. The consequence is that funeral
oratory for women, especially in the colonial
and early national periods, is devoted
to constructing an ideal image of female
identity” (487-88).
Therefore, while Zenobia is not the “ideal,” by asking
repentance, she can be properly mourned while she is
also punished.
Often, when one opens a book, one does not
think about the impact the words might have upon
society, or how the language might influence theirs
as well as future generations. While Emerson and
Hawthorne undoubtedly felt themselves enlightened
men, a thorough study of their rhetoric shows us
that the vein of Puritanism runs deep and is hard to
escape. Women struggle against this rhetoric even
today as they continuously break down and beat
against the barriers thrown up against them. Emerson
and Hawthorne, no doubt, had a deep respect for
Margaret Fuller, yet were unable to negotiate the
remark, ‘You cannot reason with a woman,’
when from those of delicacy, nobleness, and
poetic culture, the contemptuous phrase,
‘Women and children,’ and that in no light
sally of the hour, but in works intended
to give a permanent statement of the best
experiences, when not one man in a million,
shall I say, no, not in the hundred million, can
rise above the view that woman was made for
man, when such traits as these are daily forced
upon the attention, can we feel that man will
always do justice to the interests of a woman?
(868)
Fuller has identified the rhetoric men are using in
their efforts to keep women in their roles, and she
argues against it in her essay. When Fuller argues
that men view women as made ‘for man,’ and can
therefore make no unbiased decision regarding
women, she is in direct opposition to Emerson’s
argument that women and nature are meant to serve
man, and this is what repels Emerson.
In Emerson’s poem “The Sphinx,” there is some
interesting rhetoric that reflects Emerson’s confusion
of and fear toward strong women. Textually, Emerson
uses a good deal of paradox, suggesting his confusion
at the various roles of women. Some of these
paradoxes are “Out of sleeping a waking, / Out of
waking a sleep” (13-14); “Life death overtaking” (15)
and “Under pain, pleasure -- / Under pleasure, pain
lies” (99-100). But he also suggests blame towards
the female for the fall of man in the lines “The fate of
the man-child; / The meaning of man; / Known fruit
of the unknown;” (9-11). He suggests that this type
of mysterious woman is his muse: “I am thee me to
name? / I am thy spirit, yoke-fellow, / Of thine eye
I am eyebeam.” (110-112), and he suggests that her
riddle can never be answered because she won’t allow
it:
Thou art the unanswered question;
Couldst see thy proper eye,
Always it asketh, asketh;
And each answer is a lie. (113-16)
The language Emerson uses here suggests his
perplexity at women like Margaret Fuller who go
against everything he believes in, yet is so attractive
to him.
While Emerson deals with his confusion and fear
of strong women, Hawthorne finds a way to mourn
them and at the same time warn them. According to
Henderson, the Puritans, because they believed the
“God’s election,” saw death as more of a lesson to
the living, not associating good deeds with salvation.
In the declining days of Puritanism, however, they
rejected this. In this period, it was believed that “the
11
conflict between what they had been taught and
what they must have felt instinctually for this strong
woman.
Works Cited
DeFrancis, Theresa M. “The Woman Question: A
Multi-Faceted Debate.” ATQ. 19.3 (2005):16585. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOHost.
U of Hawaii Hilo Lib., Hilo. 20 Nov 2005.
<http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=
true&db=aph&an=18461627&site=ehost>.
Gilbert, Sandra and Susan Gubar. “The Madwoman
in the Attic.” Literary Theory: An Anthology.
Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. 2nd ed.
Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004. 812-25.
Henderson, Desiree. “The Imperfect Dead: Mourning
Women in Eighteenth Century Oratory and
Fiction.” Early American Literature. 39.3
(2004):487-508. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCOHost. U of Hawaii Hilo Lib., Hilo. 5
Dec 2005. < http://search.epnet.com/login.
aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=15207278&sit
e=ehost>.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Nature.” Emerson’s Prose
and Poetry. Ed. Joel Porte and Saundra
Morris. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2001.
27-55.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “From Memoirs of Margaret
Fuller Ossoli.” Emerson’s Prose and Poetry.
Ed. Joel Porte and Saundra Morris. New York:
W.W. Norton & Co., 2001. 372-98.
“Ready Reference Files.” Santa Cruz Public Libraries.
Ed. Gail Mason, Carmen Morones, Deborah
Stephens, Sharon Yamanake and Rechs
Ann Pederson. 20 Oct 2005. <http://www.
santacruzpl.org/readyref/about.shtml>.
Fessendon, Tracy. “The Convent, the Brothel, and the
Protestant Woman’s Sphere.” Signs: Journal of
Women in Culture & Society. 25.5 (2000): 451478. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOHost.
U of Hawaii Hilo Lib., Hilo. 5 Dec 2005. <
http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=tr
ue&db=aph&an=3164066&site=ehost>.
S.B.H. “A Mother’s Duty to Her Girls.” Scribner’s. A
Woman’s Place: Yesterday’s Women in Rural
America. Comp. Norton Juster. Golden, CO:
Fulcrum, 1996. 72-3.
Fuller, Margaret. “From The Great Lawsuit.” American
Literature. Vol. 1. Ed. William E. Cain. New
York: Pearson Education, 2004. 863-69.
“Woman as Educator.” The Household. Vol. I, 1868. A
Woman’s Place: Yesterday’s Women in Rural
America. Comp. Norton Juster. Golden, CO:
Fulcrum, 1996. 59-61.
12
Egaeus Diagnosed
schizophrenia, including delusions in his reasoning.
Delusions are, according to Schizophrenia.com,
“firmly held erroneous beliefs due to distortions or
exaggerations of reasoning and/or misinterpretations
of perceptions or experience.” Poe juxtaposes
Egaeus with Berenice in look, health, and the way in
which each of them carries themselves. Egaeus says:
“How is it that from beauty I have derived a type
of unloveliness” (Poe 141). He is already setting up
a binary between good and himself. He goes on to
say that “evil is a consequence of good” (Poe 141). It
is because of his later comparison between himself
and Berenice that it comes to light that he is meant
to represent the bad that has sprung from Berenice’s
good. In this way, he justifies his brutal behavior
toward Berenice’s supposed corpse, a justification
which is delusional because he is using his flawed
reasoning. One cannot have a one-sided binary, so he
justifies his “evil” as being a “consequence of [her]
good.”
Poe shows Egaeus hallucinating several times
within the narrative, which further supports the
analysis of his having schizophrenia. When Egaeus
views Berenice he says: “the peculiar smell of the
coffin sickened me; and I fancied a deleterious odor
was already exhaling from the body” (Poe 146). This
olfactory insight is a hallucination because we find out
later in the tale that Berenice is not dead and therefore
could emit no “deleterious odor.” In addition, he is
haunted by the teeth of Berenice while sitting in his
solitary room. He says: “the phantasma of the teeth
maintained its terrible ascendancy as, with the most
vivid and hideous distinctness, it floated about amid
the changing lights and shadows of the chamber”
(Poe 146). The visual hallucination of the teeth stems
from his obsession. This particular hallucination
underlines his self-professed monomania and gives
him motivation for his final act. He also has an
auditory illusion, which the W.H.O.’s website says is
the most common form of hallucination in schizoids.
The remnant of his victim stays with him and haunts
him “like the spirit of a departed sound, the shrill
and piercing shriek of a female voice seemed to be
ringing” (Poe 147). It is evident that his shriek is being
disclosed to the reader in the aftermath, rather than
when the extraction of the teeth took place and is
therefore an aberration of the character’s mind.
The one time that Egaeus passes off an event as an
hallucination or delusion is when he sees Berenice’s
body in the coffin. He discounts the movement of her
by Lori Beth Griffin
Thy soul shall find itself alone
Mid dark thoughts of the gray tomb-stone—
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy
Edgar Allan Poe from “Spirits of the Dead”
There are many aspects of Edgar Allan Poe’s
work that often leave the reader feeling disturbed.
These works often focus on themes of insanity and
other mental disorders today, diagnosable and
usually treatable. However, in Poe’s time mental
illnesses were not so understood and much stigma
and superstition surrounded those afflicted with
such disorders. Schizophrenia, one such disorder,
is displayed by many of his characters in his short
stories. Poe’s Egaeus in “Berenice” displays every
sign of schizophrenia and therefore is proof of Poe’s
particular insight into this realm of psychology.
Schizophrenia is not a “split personality”
disorder, as many believe. Rather, this disorder
has several severe symptoms which, according to
the World Health Organization’s website, include
“delusions, hallucinations (visual or auditory),
disorganized speech (derailment of speech or
incoherence), disorganized or catatonic behavior,
or negative symptoms such as flattening of affect or
lack of motivation.” In order to be diagnosed with
Schizophrenia, one must display two of the five
symptoms listed above for an extended period of
time, usually about 5 months (Johnston 300). The
disorder is named “schizo,” Greek for split, and
“phrenum,” Greek for mind, and is therefore often
confused with split personality disorder (Johnston
299). These two disorders differ greatly, but mostly
because schizophrenia has “impaired reality
testing,” which means that “the person is unable
to tell the difference between fact . . . and fantasy,”
(Johnston 298). Those affected by split personality, in
comparison, are perfectly aware of the surrounding
reality but have two or more distinct personalities
perceiving and reacting to the reality (Johnston 29899).
Poe writes Egaeus in “Berenice” as exhibiting
behavior consistent with the diagnosis of
13
Poe exhibits evidence of Egaeus having memory
deficiencies, specifically episodic ones, which is
consistent with negative symptoms. Episodic memory
is “memory for episodes in your own life” according
to Princeton’s website. Schizophrenia.com cites
memory problems as one of the major symptoms
that lead people to be diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Poe exposes Egaeus’ memory problems by writing
him as being unable to recall the event of pulling out
Berenice’s teeth. He becomes confused about the box
which we find out contains her teeth, why would it
make “the hairs of [his] head erect themselves on end,
and the blood of [his] body become congealed within
[his] veins” (Poe 147). He also cannot remember
what it is he has done, though he realizes that he has
done something, saying, “I asked myself the question
aloud, and the whispering echoes of my chamber
answered me, ‘what was it’”(Poe 147). In testing done
recently on schizophrenics, “episodic memory
impairment was found to be prevalent, and in some
cases, severe” as suggested by National Library of
Medicine website. This would explain why Egaeus
could not remember what he had done to Berenice.
Our protagonist admits to, and displays
symptoms of, a disorder that plagues him, but
he identifies it with a dated term: monomania,
“a pathological obsession with one idea; a fixed
idea associated with paranoia” (Poe 142). It is an
eighteenth century term with striking parallels to
the modern diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia.
Catatonic schizophrenia is “a form of schizophrenia
characterized by a tendency to remain in a fixed
stuporous state for long periods; the catatonia may
give way to short periods of extreme excitement”
suggests the Princeton University website. This
behavior can be seen in Egaeus’ description of his
monomania:
to become absorbed for the better part of a
summer’s day in a quaint shadow falling
aslant upon the tapestry, or upon the floor; to
lose myself for an entire night in watching the
steady flame of a lamp or the ember of a fire.
(Poe 142-143)
The idleness of these actions is indicative of someone
without goals and implies that Egaeus was in a
“stuporous state.” Egaeus also says that one of his
symptoms is “los[ing] all sense of motion or physical
existence” (Poe 143). This directly coincides with
one symptom of catatonic schizophrenics which is
“characterized by a tendency to remain in a fixed
stuporous state for long periods” as Princeton
University’s website suggested. The main character
exhibits catatonic schizophrenia, rather than only
having monomania, as suggested by Princeton
finger and jaw:
Is it my brain that reeled—or was it indeed
the finger of the enshrouded dead that stirred
in the white cerement that bound it . . . There
had been a band around the jaws, but, I know
not how, it was broken asunder. The livid lips
were wreathed in a species of smile. (Poe 146)
and considers them figments of his imagination
rather than being able to distinguish reality from
the happenings of his mind and thus realize that
his betrothed is not dead. Egaeus’ condition is
underscored by his hallucinations and his inability
to differentiate between reality and imagination
(Johnston 300).
His behavior also includes negative symptoms.
Negative symptoms in schizophrenia include low
energy, lack of interest in life, and social isolation
according to W.H.O. Egaeus says, “I loitered away
my boyhood in books...as years rolled away, and the
noon of manhood found me still in the mansions of
my fathers- it is wonderful what stagnation there fell
upon the springs of my life” (Poe 141), describing
depression and negative behavior. Egaeus isolates
himself from the world and closes himself up
within the confines of his family home. He neither
participates in social relationships nor feels that he is
missing out, which outlines his lack of interest. The
very fact that he remains within his parents’ home is
evidence of his reclusive attitude and lack of
interest in both the outside world and in meaningful
human relationships.
Egaeus begins to show signs of another symptom:
the negative symptom of alogia, “poverty of speech,
is the lessening of speech fluency and productivity,
thought to reflect slowing or blocked thoughts, and
often manifested as short, empty replies to questions”
(Schizophrenia.com). Egaeus is approached by a
“tenant of the tomb” (Poe 147) who told of Berenice’s
“violated grave— a disfigured body enshrouded, yet
still breathing, still palpitation, still alive” (Poe 147).
When presented with this information Egaeus says
“I spoke not, and he took me by the hand gently”
(Poe, 147), which is an example of alogia. Rather than
shouting in disbelief or horror, he remains silent.
His preceding and subsequent narrations reflect his
“blocked thoughts” as he slowly realizes that he has
“done a deed” (Poe 147); his words are disjointed and
reflect excitement uncharacteristic to his previous
narrations. Finally, the only thing he uttered was “a
shriek [as he] bounded to the table” (Poe 147) which
displays a poverty of speech, not in the shriek alone,
but in the fact that it is the only thing he can verbally
express.
14
In addition to the obvious diagnosis of
schizophrenia, Egaeus was also afflicted with
depression. Depression is an underlying theme, and
therefore a symptom, of the main character. Egaeus
contrasts himself, of “ill health and buried in gloom”
(Poe 141), against his “agile, graceful, and [energetic]”
(Poe 141) cousin, bringing out the differences between
the two, and by connotation, leaving him with being
gloomy, unenergetic, and of ill health. The rhetoric
in his description of his family home as being
“gloomy [and] gray” further calls forth the feelings
of depression and denotes unhappiness. He says that
“evil is a consequence of good, so, in fact, out of joy
is sorrow born” (Poe 141). It is this attitude which
reflects the morbid and desolate ideals Egaeus holds
about life.
Egaeus shows every sign of schizophrenia known
today in the medical world. However, the term
“schizophrenia” was not coined until 1887 by Dr.
Emile Kraepelin as Schizophrenia.com noted. Poe
has masterfully created a character who has every
symptom of schizophrenia as doctors diagnose it
today. The unusual thing about this is that “No single
characteristic is present in all types of schizophrenia”
(Kalyanam). This means that Poe put together all
the symptoms of an illness into one man, when in
actuality no one person shows all these signs. Poe’s
remarkable insight into psychology shows through in
his schizophrenic creation—Egaeus.
University’s website, which identifies a patient as
sometimes “giv[ing in] to short periods of extreme
excitement.” This, in and of itself, seems harmless
enough, but when coupled with the description of
those affected by the disease possibly “hurt[ing]
themselves, attempt[ing] suicide, or becom[ing]
violent toward others” (Komaroff 410), it becomes
evident that the final outcome of Berenice is directly
linked to Egaeus’ mental state. While Poe does say
that monomania is “a pathological obsession with one
idea” (Poe 142), no part of the definition Poe provides
of monomania accounts for the protagonist’s final
perverse behavior toward the teeth of the presumed
deceased.
Egaeus also shows the onset of schizophrenia at
the right age. Egaeus says that he spent his boyhood
brooding and that as he became a man, he had
become the person he is today. That being said, it
can be assumed that at about the age of 17 or 18 he
was showing all the symptoms of schizophrenia.
According to Naqvi et al schizophrenia “can begin
at any age but commonly manifest itself in late
teens through early to mid 20s.” With this fact, it
can be assumed that Egaeus was a textbook case
of schizophrenia. Not only does he show all the
symptoms of the disorder, but his age was also quite
unremarkable at the onset of this disorder.
15
Works Cited
Bernheim, Kayla F. Schizophrenia : symptoms,
causes, treatments . New York: Norton, 1979.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “Berenice.” Selected Writing of
Edgar Allan Poe. 1835. Ed. G. R. Thompson.
New York: W. W. Norton and Company Inc.,
2004. 140‑47.
-- “Spirits of the Dead.” Selected Writing of
Edgar Allan Poe. 1835. Ed. G. R. Thompson.
New York: W. W. Norton and Company Inc.,
2004. 16.
Davidson, Ronald H, and Richard Day. Symbolism
and Realization: A Contribution to the Study
of Magic and Healing. Berkeley: Center for
South and Southeast Asia Studies University
of Berkeley, 1974.
Grant, Brian W. Schizophrenia, a source of social
insight. Philadelphia: Westminster Press,
1975.
Princeton University. World Net Search. Vers. 2.1.
Princeton University Cognitive Science
Laboratory. 1 Nov. 2005 <http://wordnet.
princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=catatonic%20s
chizophrenia>.
Johnston Psy.D., Joni E. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to
Psychology. New York: Penguin, 2003.
Schizophrenia.com. Schizophrenia Symptoms and
Diagnosis of Schizophrenia. 2004. 1 Nov. 2005
<http://www.schizophrenia.com/diag.php>.
Kalyanam, Ram Chandran, M.D. 2004. Medline Plus.
3 Dec. 2005 <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
medlineplus/ency/article/000928.htm>
Schizophrenia Symptoms and Diagnosis of
Schizophrenia. 2004. 1 Nov. 2005 <http://
www.schizophrenia.com/diag.php>.
Komaroff M.D., Anthony L. Harvard Medical School
Family Health Guide New York: Free Press,
2005.
World Health Organization. Schizophrenia. 2005. Get
Mental Help Inc. 1 Nov. 2005 <http://www.
mental‑health‑matters.com/disorders/dis_
details.php?disID=84>
Naqvi, Haider et al. Gender Differences in Age
at Onset of Schizophrenia. 2005. 2 Dec.
2005 <http://www.cpsp.edu.pk/JCPSP/
ARCHIEVE/June2005/Article8.pdf# search=’
age%20of%20onset%20of%20schizophrenia’>
National Library of Medicine. Memory impairment
in schizophrenia--a comparison with
that observed in the Alcoholic Korsakoff
syndrome. 1994. NCBI. 1 Nov. 2005 <http://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cm
d=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8208881
&dopt=Citation>
16
Enewetak: A Nuclear
Atoll
Entrance current. This current has a speed of 80 cm/s
and reverses during the tidal change. During the
spring tide, the calculated volume transport is 3.0 x
108 m3/half tidal cycle of water each direction. No net
transport of water goes through the Deep Entrance.
Water continuously flows from the South Channel at
a speed from 8 to 30 cm/s with a steady outward flow
of 6.9 x 108 m3/tidal cycle. The tides reverse out of the
South Channel like in the Deep Entrance, though it is
minimal because of the outflow (Atkinson et al., 1981).
Atkinson et al. (1981) divided the lagoon currents
of Enewetak into three categories: surface currents,
middepth currents, and deep currents. Each current is
distinguishable from the other by speed and direction.
The surface currents respond to wind direction
with current speed at 2% of the wind speed. Dye
traces demonstrate that the middepth current flows
northeast, opposite of surface currents, between 10
and 30 feet below the surface with speeds of 2 to 4
cm/s, transporting 8.6 x 10 m3/tide cycle of water.
The final current is the deep current, running south
below 30 meters at 1 to 2 cm/s. The deep current
flows around lagoon pinnacles every 6 to 12 hours
with a volume transport of 2.2 x 108 m3/tide cycle
(Atkinson et al., 1981).
by Andrea Chernov
Introduction
World War II has just ended. The United States
wants to test out their nuclear weapons on Japanese
war ships. Where do these nuclear weapons get
tested? In the late 1940’s, Enewetak Atoll seems to be
the easiest answer.
Enewetak lies in the Pacific Ocean nestled within
the Marshall Islands, lying at 11º30’N longitude,
162º15’E latitude (Robison et al., 1999; Web et al.,
1975). The atoll is between 50 to 60 million years old,
originating during the Eocene era (Reese, 1987), with a
major transformation in its coastline during a change
in sea level in the Holocene (Nunn, 1990). 39 islets
with a land area of 2.5 mi2 (Reese, 1987) compromise
the majority of dry land of Enewetak. Enewetak Atoll
brings an amazing view of the oceanic environment of
an atoll lagoon with its unique oceanography, geology,
biology, and history with nuclear weapons.
Water Budget and Residence Time
The water budget and water residence time
have unique distinctions. Water enters the lagoon
primarily through the windward reef because it does
not reverse directions and carries twice the amount of
water of the other passages (Atkinson et al., 1981). For
the most part, water exits through the Deep Entrance,
the leeward reef, the South Channel and Southwest
Passage (Atkinson et al. 1981). Figure 3, taken from
Atkinson et al. (1981), presents the water budget of the
Enewetak Atoll lagoon.
To calculate residence time, divide the volume
of the lagoon by the water input rate. Atkinson et al.
(1981) found that the input rate total is the input from
the windward reef added to the 30% from the Deep
Entrance. Using this number, the average residence
time of the lagoon water equals 28 days. However,
the actual residence time varies in different parts of
the lagoon due to the windward reef water input
and South Channel water exit. A north to south
recirculation does not exist within Enewetak: water
entering from the northern end has a longer residence
time than water entering from the southern end
(Atkinson et al., 1981).
Oceanography
The von Arx’s model of circulation, using primary
circulation and secondary circulation to explain the
oceanography, describes several atolls well, especially
Bikini atoll (Atkinson et al., 1981). However, the
von Arx model does not hold up within the lagoon
of Enewetak, though both are situated in the North
Equatorial Current (Atkinson et al., 1981).
Currents
Atkinson et al. (1981) first looked at Enewetak’s
cross-currents. Shallow currents flow across the
atoll’s windward reef margins and into the lagoon,
having a large water exchange between the open
ocean and Enewetak lagoon. The average speed of
these currents is 10 to 150 cm/s; the average volume
transport equals 0.05 m3/s at low tide and 1.5 m3/s
at high tide. The leeward cross-reef currents have no
particular pattern, generally flowing along the reef.
These currents have a net drift towards the ocean and
a net outflow of .4 x 108 m3/tidal cycle (Atkinson et al.,
1981).
Channel currents affect the waters of Enewetak
Atoll. Atkinson et al. (1981) first described the Deep
17
Current
Windward cross‐reef
Leeward cross‐reef
Deep Entrance
South Channel
Southwest Passage
Surface
Middepth
Deep
Volume transport mean and
(range) 108m2 per 12.4 h
Comments
+6.6 (+2.2 to + 19.8)
‐0.4 (slightly plus to –0.8)
Net = 0 (‐1.0 to +1.0)
(3.0 x 108 m3 transport each way
‐6.9 (‐4.5 to –8.5)
Continuous inflow
Variable Speed and direction
Reversing; typical tidal currents
0 – 80 cm•s‐1
Continuous outflow; pulsing
with the tide
Reversing; typical tidal currents
Net = 0 (‐2 to +2)
(0.8 x 108 m3 transport each way)
9.2 (3 to 30)
8.6 (unknown, but probably
about the same as surface)
2.2 (unknown)
Variable; function of wind speed
Variable; function of wind speed
Variable; function of wind speed and
windward cross‐reef input
Figure 3 The water budget. The + represents water going into the lagoon and the – represents water going out of the
lagoon. Taken from: Atkinson, M., S.V. Smith, and E.D. Stroup. 1981. Circulation in Enewetak Atoll Lagoon. Limnology
and Oceanography 26(6):1074-1083.
Surf, Wind Stress, and Tides
Atkinson et al. (1981) also depicted surf, wind
stress, and tides. The surf comes as breaking waves
over the windward reef, putting water into the
lagoon. Thus the cross-current reefs depend on the
surf height and reef water depth. The net transport
of the water is southward and increases as it moves
south to hold the water coming over the windward
side (Atkinson et al., 1981).
Wind stress comes from the winds generating
downwind drift of surface currents and upwind
drift of middepth currents that, when mixed with a
shallow current moving spirally, appears to be the
Ekman spiral pattern (Atkinson et al., 1981). The
wind-driven currents overlay the net flow of water
towards the South Channel, having speeds between
5 and 20 cm/s, or 2% of the wind speed (Atkinson et
al., 1981). If vertical mixing were absent, the lagoon
surface water would turn-over in 5 to 10 days because
of the wind driven currents. Finally are the tides
and the tidal currents as described by Atkinson et al.
(1981). Tidal currents completely influence waterflow
within kilometers of the passes. These currents can
be stronger than the wind-driven circulation, causing
a left directed spiral one kilometer north of Enewetak
island (Atkinson et al., 1981).
convection was part of the machinery behind
dolotomization at Enewetak Atoll. Two holes were
drilled through the carbonate cap over the volcanic
island, finding two dolotomized intervals at 1300
meters, with sediments dating back to the Eocene age.
The dolotomization is almost finished, but for some
reason severely declines right above and below a 2
meter interval (Wilson et al., 2000).
Wilson et al. (2000) first noticed that
dolotomization may be transport-controlled. This
transport-control comes in two reactions. One
is the thermal gradient reactions, which move
forward because of the equilibrium change from
pore fluids streaming over temperature gradients.
The thermal gradient reaction pattern is probably
dispersed because of small thermal gradient sizes.
Dolotomization moves forward on carbonate
platforms because of a reaction front, meaning that
seawater is supersaturated in reference to dolomite
as it enters the platform. The water moves toward
equilibrium along a flow path on the platform.
Reaction fronts appear to produce a more solid
reaction area than thermal gradients (Wilson et al.,
2000).
Wilson et al. (2000) produced reactive-transport
simulations to attempt to determine other effects
of reactions and transport on dolotomization. The
dolomite precipitation rate has a large scale influence
on dolotomization. Dolotomization occurs at the
boundary of coarse and fine sediments because higher
temperatures, which support dolotomization, happen
at the lower areas of this zone. The simulations
established dolotomization to occur at 45-60°C, which
Geothermal Convection and Dolotomization
The process of geothermal convection appears
to be related to dolotomization at Enewetak Atoll
(Wilson et al., 2000; Jones et al., 2000). Dolotomization,
according to Jones et al. (2000), is the process of
creating the mineral dolomite. Wilson et al. (2000)
attempted to determine whether geothermal
18
three other atolls. Yamano et al. (2002) found that
other sediment constituents are coralline algae and
molluscs.
is above the typically estimated dolotomization
temperature. Calcium-rich waters where water influx
was weak occur along side of dolotomization (Wilson
et al., 2000).
Jones et al. (2000) describes dolotomization
as it relates to geothermal and reflux circulation.
Geothermal circulation occurs when the water
temperature of the Pacific Ocean differs from the
atoll ground water. Thermal convection dictates the
transport of heat; however, a cooler strip of water
exists between the atoll margin to the center of the
atoll (Jones et al., 2000). Reflux circulation is defined
as circulation that happens when “lagoon waters,
concentrated by evaporation, flow downward,
displacing less dense groundwaters of near seawater
salinity at depth” (Jones et al., 2000). Lagoon brines
reflux down up to 600 meters in a zone at the center
of the lagoon, stretching for 10 km. At this point,
geothermal circulation counteracts reflux circulation
and groundwaters are pushed up and out through
two places: the lagoon and upper slope (Jones et al.,
2000).
According to Jones et al. (2000), seawater causes
dolotomization from high magnesium concentrations.
To dolomitize 1 m3 of limestone, 320 kg of seawater
is needed. However, seawater contains only 1.34
kg/m3 of magnesium. The 2 meter thick dolomitized
interval (also described by Wilson et al., 2000) could
be produced if there was a flow velocity of 4x10-4 m/a.
This would have to happen over the 5 Ma available in
the area. So the amount of magnesium needed can be
obtained from both geothermal and reflux circulation
(Jones et al., 2000).
Three types of lagoonal facies were identified
Table 1 Sedimentary Constituents in four atolls, including
Enewetak. Taken from Wiens, H.J. 1962. Lagoon terraces
to lagoon sediments. In: Atoll Ecology. Yale University
Press
Sedimentary Constituents in an Atoll
Percent occupied by
Atoll
Foraminifera
Fine
Halimeda
debris
debris
Bikini
5
30
56
Rongelap
3
53
36
Enewetak
9
52
26
Rongerik
3
36
27
Coral
9
8
13
34
within Enewetak, Majuro, and Kayangel: Calcarina
facies, Calcarina-Heterostegina facies, and Heterostegina
facies (Yamano et al., 2002). The discussion here forth
focuses on the facies within the lagoon. Calcarina
gaudichaudii, a foraminifera species, characterizes
the Calcarina facies along the reef flat, making it reef
based. The sea-level change during the Holocene
epoch may have contributed to the amount of
Calcarina on the reef flat (Yamano et al., 2002).
The Calcarina-Heterostegina facies, a mix of
Calcarina and Heterostegina tests, tend to be located on
the windward side of the reef (Yamano et al., 2002).
The Calcarina-Heterostegina facies form from reefbased materials (C. gaudichaudii) and organisms from
deep-lagoon areas (Heterostegina) (Yamano et al., 2002).
Since Enewetak is subject to NE tradewinds, currents
and wind-driven waves may be responsible for taking
C. gaudichaudii to the deep-lagoon (Yamano et al.,
2002).
The final facies, the Heterostegnia facies, is
completely composed of Heterostegina sp. and
distinctly lacking in Calcarina (Yamano et al., 2002).
The Heterostegina facies make up the sediments in
the deep lagoon, the main components of which are
Halimeda and several foraminifera species, including
Amphistegina and Heterostegina (Yamano et al., 2002).
Since these facies are below 40 meters, bioturbation,
or the modification of the sediments by burrowing
organisms, may affect them more than typhoons,
hurricanes or deep water currents (Yamano et al., 2002;
Duxbury et al., 2000).
The Lagoon Floor
Weins (1962) described various parts of the
lagoon floor for several atolls, including Enewetak
Atoll. Enewetak is one of the northern Marshall atolls
with a lagoon terrace extending a maximum of two
miles in width in some areas. Extensive soundings
at Enewetak Atoll show 2,293 patch reefs. Within
these patch reefs, there are coral knolls that are nonobservable from the air (Weins, 1962).
According to Weins (1962), these coral knolls are
an important part of the smoothness of the lagoon
floor. The lagoon floor characteristics form because
of sedimentation processes as well as coral knoll
formation. The topography can be influenced by
these two processes. The lagoon floor of Enewetak
has a quite rough topography with an average
smoothness coefficient of is 43% (Wiens, 1962).
The atoll’s sediments contain four major
constituents: foraminifera, fine debris, Halimeda
debris, and coral (Wiens, 1962). Table 1 shows the
percentage of these constituents at Enewetak and
19
Marine Biological Factors
Nitrogen Cycling
It is thought that nitrogen is a limiting factor
within the tropical Pacific (Webb et al., 1975). The
atomic ratio between nitrogen and phosphorous was
2:1- the Redfield Ratio states the required ratio of
nitrogen to phosphorous be 16:1 (Webb et al., 1975).
Webb et al. (1975) suggest that this low amount of
nitrogen may be an indicator of nitrogen deficiency,
especially upstream of the windward reefs. This
deficiency is not due to a decrease in biomass,
otherwise the entire community would disappear in
2 to 6 months (Webb et al., 1975). The next question,
therefore, is how the coral reef community gets
nitrogen. The most plausible explanation is nitrogen
fixation: blue-green algae may have significant
nitrogen-fixation abilities, and the blue-green algae C.
crustacea has a broad distribution at Enewetak Atoll
(Webb et al., 1975).
Webb et al. (1975) calculated the nitrogen fixation
rate, using the acetylene technique, as 100 nM N/m2/
sec. Using nitrogen export data, daytime nitrogen
fixation was calculated as 190 nM N/m2/sec. Also
dissolved organic matter, ammonium and the total
nitrogen exported were higher between 12:00 pm and
12:00 am (Webb et al., 1975).
The Calothrix community needs to be in either
light or dark for a certain amount of time before it
started nitrogen fixation, so nitrogen fixation and
photosynthesis are slackly tied to each other (Webb
et al., 1975). Dissolved Organic Nitrogen (DON) was
seen during the day and used at night, indicating that
nitrogen fixation is dependent on light and DON as
the major source of nitrogen (Webb et al., 1975). Nonnitrogen fixing organisms are nitrogen limited and the
nitrogen fixers are phosphorous limited because of the
low N:P ratio (Webb et al., 1975).
90 meters (Colin et al., 1986). Halimeda was the most
easily seen macroalgae at or below 100 meters with
algal films and smaller macroalgae below 140 meters
(Colin et al., 1986). Below 100 m, the substratum was
covered by gorgonians and alcyonaceans (Colin et al.,
1986). Colin et al. (1986) observed dents and caverns
at depths of 120-160 meters and discovered sponges,
antipatharians, what may have been sclerosponges,
and more invertebrates that were sessile. At 220
meters, seapens are abundant along a sand slope
(Colin et al., 1986).
Miller (1986) studied the hermit crabs and
gastropods at Enewetak. The hermit crab and
gastropod populations live within the middle/upper
intertidal zones on the reef flat that looks toward
the ocean. Apparently, population sizes of hermit
crabs and gastropods oscillated more in areas with
greater topographic relief and a larger amount of
algae. However, algae that covers the bottom adds to
the topography and is prone to the effects of strong
waves, e.g. shortening and displacement (Miller,
1986).
50 species of invertebrates classified into 7
phyla live within the lagoon sediments, along with
15 families of fish, participate in the bioturbation,
(Suchanek et al., 1986). The amount of sediments
disturbed have been calculated for Callianassids and
Enteropneusts, as can be seen in Table 2. Bioturbation
in Enewetak Atoll lagoon can have a major
consequence: radionuclides buried deep in the lagoon
sediments can be put back into the water (Suchanek
et al., 1986). The re-entry of radionuclides via deep
bioturbation into the water can be a re-entry for those
radionuclides into higher levels of the food chain
(Suchanek et al., 1986).
Table 2 Organisms and sediment production due to
bioturbation for two organisms. Adapted from: Suchanek,
T.H., and P.L. Colin. 1986. Rates and effects of
bioturbation by invertebrates and fishes at Enewetak and
Bikini atolls. Abstract. Bulletin of Marine Science
38(1):25-34.
Lagoon Biology and Ecology
Enewetak Atoll has the most marine benthic
algae species out of all the atolls in the Indo-Pacific
(Tsuda, 1987). There are 238 species in 106 genera of
marine benthic algae with the following breakdown:
16 species of Cyanophyta, 89 species of Chlrophyta, 24
species of Phaeophyta, and 109 species of Rhodophyta
(Tsuda, 1987). No seagrasses exist at Enewetak
(Tsuda, 1987). The dispersal mechanisms have not
allowed seagrasses to reach the atoll, though it could
survive in the lagoon environment (Colin, 1987). This
is also the reason why mangroves are also absent from
Enewetak (Colin, 1987).
Branched stony coral grows as deep as 60 meters;
between 60 and 112 meters, the stony corals become
flat (Colin et al., 1986). However, the substratum
consisted of less than 1% of stony corals at a depth of
Organism
Sediment
production,
cc/day
Mean estimates
per m2
cc/m2/day
Callianassids
Enteropneusts
1,300
700
800
600
There are 800 known species of fish at Enewetak
Atoll (Colin, 1987). Several of the fish are herbivores,
living on the reef flat or on patch reefs (Colin, 1987).
Predatory fish are also important, the Carangidae
family (species Cranx melampygus, Carnax ignobilis,
and Elagatis bipinnulatus) having a major role
20
Shark movement was divided into two categories.
One, C. amblyrhynchos tagged along reefs near the
ocean appear nomadic, moving an extended length
along the reefs (McKibben et al., 1986).
Two, sharks tagged at either lagoon reefs or
lagoon pinnacles had a home range, going off to a
different area at night and returning to the tagging
sight during the day (McKibben et al., 1986). During
the day, C. amblyrhynchos groupings can be divided
into three groups:
1. Polarized schools: schools that stay near the
bottom of flat areas
2. Loose aggregations: groups that congregate
around the drop-off between the ocean and
reef
3. Single sharks: individuals that stay over
shallow reefs and pinnacles (McKibben et al.,
1986).
The silvertip shark, or Carcharhinus albimarginatus,
is found at a depth between 20 and 30 meters along
the seaward slope (Colin, 1987). The silvertip
shark can be seen in Picture 1. C. galapagensis (the
Galapagos Shark) is large and dangerous but is not
typically seen in Enewetak lagoon (Colin, 1987).
The biggest shark that is dangerous at Enewetak is
Galecerdo cuvier, the tiger shark (Colin, 1987).
(Colin, 1987). Some fishes are detritivores, or those
organisms that eat decaying organic material- the
mullet species Crenimugil crenilabis has been seen
to expel sand through the gills after feeding (Colin,
1987).
Several species are coralivores (coral eaters), with
some being obligate coralivores (Colin, 1987). The
coralivores include the Chaetodontidae family and
the species Oxymonocanthus longirostris, Labrichthys
unilineata, and the Labropsis spp.; the only known
species to feed on sponges is the puffer Arothron
mappa (Colin, 1987). Ciguatera is the most common
fish toxin, with the fish following the typical form
of toxicity: large, roaming predators that are mostly
piscivorous (fish eating) (Colin, 1987).
Gladfelter et al. (1980) compared coral reef fish
communities of Enewetak Atoll and St. Croix. Diurnal
planktivores, which point toward the larger amount of
daytime plankton within the water column, nocturnal
plankton feeders, and piscivores were found to be
slightly higher at Enewetak (Gladfelter et al., 1980).
Most significant about the Enewetak patch reefs is the
low numbers of nocturnal feeders, mostly because the
low amount of nocturnal foraging grounds (Gladfelter
et al., 1980).
Labroides dimidatus, a cleaning fish, may have
a significant effect on the ectoparasite infecting the
damselfish Pomacentrus vaiuli (Gorlick et al., 1987).
L. dimidiatus tend to eat larger ectoparasite copepod
Dissonus sp., reducing numbers on P. vaiuli hosts
(Gorlick et al., 1987). The ectoparasite reduction seen
by Gorlick et al. (1987) may be an immune system
response post-infection. However, Gorlick et al. (1987)
reminds that any symbiosis, like the one between
L. dimidatus and P. vaiuli, are not that simple. L.
dimidatus removes larger members of the ectoparasite,
allowing for smaller members to grow on the host.
This ensures the cleaner a constant supply of food and
reduces the ectoparasite biomass on P. vaiuli (Gorlick
et al., 1987).
Sharks are a major part of the lagoon community.
The blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) can
be found on the reef flats while the whitetip reef shark
(Triaenodon obesus) can be found on the main reefs
and sandy areas on the marginal areas (Colin, 1987).
Negaprion brevirostris, the lemon shark, is a large shark
that is able to travel into shallower lagoon waters
(Colin, 1987).
Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, the gray shark, can be
typically found in the lagoon but is more abundant
on the seaward reef and is considered the most
dangerous (Colin, 1987). Gray reef shark movement
was studied at Enewetak using ultrasonic telemetry
and direct observation by McKibben et al. (1986).
21
Table 3 Marine Mammals anticipated at Enewetak Atoll. All have dorsal fins. Taken from: Reese, E.S. (b). 1987.
Mammals of Enewetak Atoll. In: Devaney et al. The natural history of Enewetak Atoll. 2:348
Large whales
Medium whales
Small Cetaceans
Blue Whale
Minke Whale
Spotted Dolphins
Fin Whale
Bottlenose Whale
Spinner Dolphin
Sei Whale
Cuvier’s Beaked Whale
Striped Dolphin
Bryde’s Whale
Beaked whales, genus
Common Dolphin
Mesoplodan
Humpback Whale
Killer Whale
Fraser’s Dolphin
Sperm Whale
False Killer Whale
Bottlenose Dolphin
Short-finned Pilot Whale
Rough-toothed Dolphin
Risso’s Dolphin
Pygmy Killer Whale
Melon-headed Whale
Pygmy Sperm Whale
Dwarf Sperm Whale
up for the difference in nutrients (especially carbon
and nitrogen) due to their increased numbers in the
summer.
Marine mammals are only seen occasionally
at Enewetak (Reese (b), 1987). Two dolphins have
been positively identified: the spinner dolphin from
photographs and the striped dolphin, seen in Picture
2, from skeletal remains (Reese (b), 1987). It is not
known if any Pinnipeds (walruses, seals, sea lions,
otters, etc.) occur at Enewetak (Reese (b), 1987). Table
3 is of those marine mammals that can be anticipated
at Enewetak and is taken from Reese (b) (1987).
Land-based factors
The People of Enewetak: Before World War II
Enewetak Atoll is isolated, even among the
Marshall Islands, and has been so for thousands of
years (Kiste, 1987). The people of Enewetak mastered
the sailing art and built outrigger canoes 55 feet long
with 30 foot tall masts into the 1960’s (Kiste, 1987).
Their natural resources included coconuts, pandanus,
papaya, bananas, and arrowroot; domestic animals
included pigs and chickens, though these were only
eaten on holidays (Kiste, 1987).
The Enewetak people were divided into two
groups: those who lived on Enewetak Island and
those who lived on Enjebi Island (Kiste, 1987).
These groups, nevertheless, did intermarry and
cooperate during many activities (Kiste, 1987). The
Enjebi islanders and the Enewetak islanders, called
riEnjebi and riEnewetak respectively, are headed by
a patrilineal chief but are divided into matrilineal
clans (Kiste, 1987). The clans practiced exogamy, or
marrying outside the clan; clan members consider
each other family, so sex within the clan equates to
incest (Kiste, 1987). The couple lived with the male’s
family after marriage, so having a patrilocal extended
family was quite common (Kiste, 1987). Children
inherit lands bilaterally (from both parents), and
most people can trace their land back almost six
generations (Kiste, 1987).
Lagoon Trophic Relationships
There are three major trophically linked sections in
Enewetak atoll lagoon - the coral reefs and knolls, the
open lagoon, and the lagoon floor environment that
excludes the coral knolls (Marshall et al., 1987). The
reef and the lagoon are linked, as seen by the fact that
there are plenty of fish within the lagoon, possibly
because of matter like detritus, mucus flakes and algal
fragments that are coming off the reef (Marshall et al.,
1987). For example, two zooplankton species in the
lagoon had detrital material in their gut (Marshall et
al., 1987).
Marshall et al. (1987) point out that the copepods
and larvaceans eat phytoplankton as well as detritus
and had particulate organic carbon (POC) in their
guts. In the lagoonal water column, fishes had
stomachs filled with copepods and larvaceans, thus
taking up the detritus and POC (Marshall et al.,
1987). Based on data from Atkinson et al. (1981),
Marshall et al. (1987) calculated the productivity of
Enewetak lagoon: 1.07 mgC/m3/day in summer
and 3.21 mgC/m3/day in the winter. Marshall et al.
(1987) believe that phytoplankton may be making
22
Soils
The soils are calcareous, with constituents of
limestone, rubble, sand, organic litter, and humus, and
tend to have poor water retention abilities (Reese (a),
1987). Reese ((a), 1987), describes five different types
of soil. First is a buildup of coral rubble about the size
of stones. Second is soil made of coral sand/gravel
that is unaffected. Third are weak A horizon soils that
are slightly darker than the sand above and have no
obvious structure. Fourth are strong A horizon soils,
which are below and darker than the weak A horizon
soils. Fifth are raw humus soils that have a deep A
horizon (Reese (a), 1987).
species were placed in a small-mesh bag, a large
mesh bag, or the control basket at three areas: the
beach, the fringe scrub, and the central forest. In the
control baskets, which were open, all four species
disappeared at significant levels. Survival in the open
was found to be a factor of two things: perseverance
of the fruit and the amount of fruit and seeds that
remained undamaged. (Louda et al., 1985).
Part of the experiment excluded predators: fruit
species perseverance went up and predator-induced
damage went down with predator exclusion (Louda
et al., 1985). Though finding that survivorship related
to predation pressures were species specific, Louda
et al. (1985) discovered three points in their study.
One, M. argentea and T. catappa recruitment capability
was diminished by insect predation. Two, S. taccada
was missing in the forest because of land crabs and
possibly birds. Third, land crabs were the biggest
predator of fruit and seed post-dispersal, especially
for T. catappa (Louda et al., 1985). Overall, postdispersal survival depends on “predation intensity…,
by generalized omnivorous predators,…” (Louda et
al., 1985).
Weather and Climate
Enewetak Atoll lies within the NE tradewind
zone, though it is not considered part of the typhoon
belt (Yamano et al., 2002). The tradwinds blow around
95% of the year (Reese (a), 1987). Enewetak has
two seasons: the dry season (December-March) and
the wet season (April-November) (Reese (a), 1987;
Merrill et al., 1987). The atoll has a 1470 mm average
annual rainfall with 85% falling during the wet season
(Reese (a), 1987; Merrill et al., 1987); in spite of that
Enewetak is considered one of the driest atolls within
the Marshall Islands (Reese (a), 1987). The average
minimum and maximum temperatures can be seen in
Table 4.
Land Biology: Animals
Land crabs are one of the major animals depicted
by Reese (a, 1987). One of the species found was the
land hermit crab Coenobita perlatus that are bright
Table 4 The minimum and maximum average temperatures, °C. Taken from Merrill, J.T., and R.A. Duce. 1987.
Meteorology and Atmospheric Chemistry of Enewetak Atoll. In: Devaney et al. The natural history of Enewetak Atoll.
1:228 pp
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
Jun.
Jul.
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec
Min.
23.5
23.4
23.6
23.8
23.5
24.0
23.6
23.6
23.8
23.4
23.7
23.8
Max.
30.4
30.5
30.6
31.1
31.4
31.6
31.8
32.3
32.3
32.1
31.7
30.9
to brownish red (Reese (a), 1987). Birgus latro, as
described by Reese ((a), 1987), is the coconut crab, a
scavenger that is the largest invertebrate known. It is
nocturnal and typically lives in dense vegetation on
the southwest islands ranging between and including
the islands of Ikuren and Biken (Reese (a), 1987).
Coconut crab mating happens on land and the male
transfers the spermatophore to the female. Though
it is not known when fertilization happens, the
female carries the eggs on the plepods for a period
of three weeks, typically between the months of
April and August. After three weeks, the female
can be seen walking out into the water, flexing her
abdomen several times, and releasing the eggs as freeswimming zoeae larvae (Reese (a), 1987). This larval
stage turns into the postlarval stage of the glaucothoe,
Tropical storms, the severest called typhoons,
happen without warning (Reese (a), 1987). Tropical
storms typically form during the wet season, more
specifically between the months of July and October
(Merrill et al., 1987). Eight tropical storms have hit
Enewetak between 1959 and 1979, and only Alice in
1979 gained enough strength to be labeled Typhoon
(Reese (a), 1987).
Land Plant Post-Dispersal Survival
Louda et al. (1985) looked at the predation that
occurred on seeds and fruits post-dispersal. During
the experiment, the main predator observed was
hermit crabs and the plant species used were M.
argentea, G. speciosa, T. catappa, and S. taccada. The
initial hypothesis: seeds have higher survival rates
within the forest over the beach area. Seeds for each
23
which lives in a mollusc shell for two to three years
(Reese (a), 1987).
There are a total of seven species of land
lizards and one species of blind snake on Enewetak
(Lamberson, 1987). None of the reptile species are
endemic to Enewetak or even Micronesia. The House
Gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus, may have come from
tropical areas in Asia, Africa, and India and can
be frequently found in places where humans live
(Lamberson, 1987). The House Gecko can be seen in
Picture 3.
A second lizard found on Enewetak is the
mourning gecko, Lepidodactylus lugubris, that also tend
be found in areas of human habitation (Lamberson,
1987). It is a parthogenic species and the eggs are
highly adhesive, so can be carried easily to other
places by boat (Lamberson, 1987). A third species of
lizard is Hemiphyllodactylus typus, the tree gecko; the
tree gecko is quick to escape and is an agile species
so may be more common than previously thought
(Lamberson, 1987).
There is also Gehyra oceanica (the Polynesian
gecko), which can be found on the trunks and leaves
under several trees; Emoia cyanura (blue-tailed skink)
tends to be found under plant debris and scrub
vegetation (Lamberson, 1987). The last two lizards
found on Enewetak are the moth skink (Lipinia noctua)
and the monitor lizard (Varanus indicus), the latter of
which is the largest found on Enewetak (Lamberson,
1987).
The blind snake is the Brahminy blind snake,
Ramphotyphlops bramina, and was introduced from the
Philippines and Southeast Asia (Lamberson, 1987).
The blind snake tends to be a secretive, nocturnal
reptile that is parthogenic (Lamberson, 1987). Blind
snakes eat termites, soft-bodied bugs, and bug larvae,
so benefit those who live on the atoll (Lamberson,
1987). The Brahminy blind snake is presented in
Picture 4.
Sea birds whose main breeding range is to the
North use Enewetak as a nesting ground (Berger,
1987). Enewetak has one enduring species, the reef
heron (Egretta sacra), but it has a wide range that
includes places such as Korea, Japan, Australia, and
Polynesia (Berger, 1987). Eudynamis taitensis, the longtailed cuckoo seen in Picture 5, nests in New Zealand
but spends the non-breeding season on Enewetak
(Berger, 1987).
The main land mammal of Enewetak is man,
bringing with him the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans)
and the domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) (Reese (b), 1987).
The Polynesian rats tend to eat primarily plant
detritus but will eat some animal detritus, mainly
insects (Reese (a), 1987). They aerate the soil through
burrow digging and eat the carrion, thereby reducing
fly reproduction (Reese (a), 1987). 19th century
Europeans are believed to have brought the domestic
24
dog, Canis familiaris, and the domestic cat, Felix catus
(Reese (b), 1987).
Enewetak and Bikini Atoll. The following discussion
of these radionuclides comes from Robison et al.
(1999). 241Am was found to be more widespread at
Enewetak, especially in surface sediments on the
lagoons west side. There is also ten times more 207Bi at
Enewetak.
The radionuclide concentration in different
reef fish was looked at by Robison et al. (1999) as
well. At Enewetak, the highest levels of 137Cs were
found in fish that reside in the northern part of the
atoll. Most of this radionuclide can be found in the
flesh over the bones, viscera, or liver. In goat fish,
there was a significant value of 207Bu concentration
within the muscle tissue: goat fish use 70% of their
muscle tissue for whole body movement (Robison
et al., 1999). But why look at these concentrations?
It is to see the dosage of these radionuclides based
on the consumption of these fish. Yet the dose of
radionuclides from the nuclear tests only measure
0.1 to 0.3% of the total dose, perhaps because the
concentrations some radionuclides are found within
parts not eaten e.g., the bone, viscera, and organs
(Robison et al., 1999).
Halimeda sp. is the major macroalgae within
the Enewetak lagoon (Spies et al., 1981). One of the
species Spies et al. (l981) looked at in conjunction with
radionuclides was Halimeda incrassate by transplanting
several plants from Runit Island to Enewetak
Island. Within twenty days, those plants had lost six
radionuclides.
Halimeda tends to uptake 241Am, 155Eu, and
239+240
Pu all at the same rate, which suggest that all the
radionuclides had similar preliminary accumulation
within the macroalgae (Spies et al., 1981). 239+240Pu
tends to accumulate within the coencytic filaments of
Halimeda, which may be due to the large surface area:
volume ratio (Spies et al., 1981).
Past and Present Issues
World War II
Laurence Marshall Carucci (1997) describes the
events of World War II that caused devastation at
Enewetak Atoll. Between the years 1885 and 1915,
Germany used the Enewetak islet of Wūjlan as a
place for copra (dried coconut meat) production.
After Germany exited, the Japanese established a
colony with missionaries trained in Kosrae coming to
Enewetak afterwards. In the 1930’s, the first trading
post was opened with two more opening later that
decade. In the early 1940’s Japan decided to build a
military installation on the islet of Enewetak as part
of the plan to expand in the West Pacific. (Carucci,
1997).
On February 17 1944, Enewetak Atoll was taken
from Japan by the United States during Project
CATCHPOLE; over 3,200 Japanese people were
killed in the attack (Carucci, 1997). After Project
CATCHPOLE, the U.S. decided to use the atoll
for bomb testing, so the people of Enewetak were
relocated (Carucci, 1997).
According to Carucci (1997), the Enewetak people
believed their relocation would be short lived; they
lived away from their native home for 33 years.
When they came back to their home islet, they found
their home in ruins. By 1958, over 45 nuclear tests
had been conducted and the atoll became a target for
ballistic missiles that were launched all the way from
California (Carucci, 1997). The nuclear tests were
performed on the surface of or beneath the lagoon
waters and above or on the land surface (Robison
et al., 1999). In the 1970’s, the US tried to recreate
the outcomes of the nuclear weapons by detonating
from 5 to 500 tons of explosive, but this practice was
stopped in 1974 via court injunction (Carucci, 1974).
Anti-Cancer Drugs
Allen et al. (1986) sampled 137 species of
marine invertebrates from different environments
on Enewetak atoll. Some of the invertebrates were
screened for an ability to inhibit the growth of L1210
mouse leukemia cells in culture. Of all the samples,
35 species had extensive action against L1210
cancer cells. These 35 species were collected again
with another 10 species (previously uncollected).
Researchers took aqueous and ethanolic extracts of
33 of the recollected organisms and were screened for
the capability to increase the survival rate of mice that
have P388 leukemia. Extracts of 14 species were able
to increase the survival time by 20% or more (Allen et
al., 1986).
Radionuclides
The nuclear tests during World War II left several
radionuclides at Enewetak Atoll; over the years
several have decayed out of the environment (Robison
et al., 1999). Currently, the sediments of Enewetak
atoll act as holdings for 239+240Pu, 241Am, and 238Pu, as
well as various fission and activation products like
90
Sr, 137Cs, and 207Bi (Robison et al., 1999). Robison et
al. (1999) point out that radionuclides do not remain
in the fine sediments they originally deposit in;
radionuclides have been found in biogenic materials
such as Forams, coral, Halimeda bits, and mollusc
shells.
Robison et al. (1999) compares the amounts of
the previously mentioned radionuclides between
25
Conclusion
Enewetak has an amazing history, especially in
relation to man. The Atoll has amazing biology both
on land and in the lagoon. The lagoon itself brings
unique features to the environment of Enewetak.
The future holds boundless opportunities, if only the
present can be healed.
Potential Lobster Fisheries
Ebert et al. (1986) studied the fishery potential
of Panulirus penicillatus, the spiny lobster, between
1978 and 1979. 791 lobsters were caught in order to
study this, with more being caught on the north reefs
over the south reefs and more females being caught
then males (Ebert et al., 1986). The lobsters had a 25%
mortality rate, with a natural mortality rate coefficient
of 0.284/yr for male lobsters and 0.244/yr for female
lobsters (Ebert et al., 1986). The maximum yield
weight/lobster is 450 grams, which was used to assess
the yield characteristics to the possible intensity of
fishing (Ebert et al., 1986).
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27
From the Melting Pot
to the Tossed Salad
Metaphor:
Why Coercive
Assimilation Lacks
the Flavors Americans
Crave
in 1908, a time when American immigration was
booming from North-western Europe (Booth). This
theory later appropriately came under fire when it
became apparent that the mainstream public had
no intention of “melting” with certain “other” races
and cultures. Subsequently, American immigration
policies became restrictive based on race, an example
of state sponsored racism intended towards reducing
the diversity of the melting pot (Laubeová). Much
has been written about the so-called “myth” of the
melting pot theory (Frey; Booth). However, the
metaphor has persisted and epitomizes what some
Americans see as an ideal model for this country.
The melting pot theory, also referred to as cultural
assimilation, revolves around the analogy that “the
ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures
and religions) are combined so as to lose their discrete
identities and yield a final product of uniform
consistency and flavor, which is quite different
from the original inputs” (“Melting Pot”). This idea
differs from other analogies, particularly the salad
bowl analogy where the ingredients are encouraged
to retain their cultural identities, thus retaining their
“integrity and flavor” while contributing to a tasty
and nutritious salad (“Melting Pot”). Yet another
food analogy is that of the ethnic stew, where there is a
level of compromise between integration and cultural
distinctiveness (Laubeová).
What these food analogies have in common is
an appreciation that each of these ethnicities has
something to contribute to the society as a whole.
By comparing ethnic/cultural groups to ingredients
in a recipe, we start with the assumption that each
ingredient is important and the final product would
not be the same if some distinct ingredient were
missing. However, in the melting pot analogy, this
premise is the least apparent and can be criticized
for its dismissively simplistic social theories. This is
one appropriate evaluation of the weaknesses of the
melting pot and the tossed salad analogies:
In the case of the melting pot the aim is that
all cultures become reflected in one common
culture, however this is generally the culture
of the dominant group - I thought this was
mixed vegetable soup but I can only taste tomato.
In the case of the salad bowl, cultural groups
should exist separately and maintain their
practices and institutions, however, Where is
the dressing to cover it all? (Laubeová).
by LeAna B. Gloor
Americans love pizza, Thai food, burritos, and
sushi. Our collective taste buds reflect a culinary
appreciation for various cultures’ foods, and by
extension, the cultures that bring us these foods.
However, a heightened philosophy of patriotism is
currently being promoted that threatens to change
our views on ethnicity, culture, and homogenize our
tastes. Meanwhile, multiculturalism, where we were
asked to celebrate the cultures that brought us every
delicacy from samosas to goulash, is waning and
being replaced by ever-conservative assimilationoriented thinking. If this trend away from
multiculturalism continues and coercive assimilation
views become mainstream in America, I believe we
will stifle our creative power and squelch the civil
liberties that this country is built upon.
Amalgamation of materials is the process by
which metals are exposed to extremely high heat until
they meld into a new compound. With people, this
metaphor of a melting pot has long been applied to
cultural integration, especially in the case in forming
the American nation. A look into the background of
this social theory will help us orient ourselves in this
debate. The foundation of this theory was perhaps
first explained in 1782 by a French immigrant named
J. Hector de Crevecoeur, who envisioned America
becoming a nation comprised of a completely new
race that would eventually affect changes to the world
scene through its labour force and its subsequent
posterity (Laubeová). The metaphor was specifically
popularized in a play by Israel Zangwill, entitled
“The Melting Pot,” which opened in Washington
29
assimilation theories often take on a decidedly
racist overtone (Laubeová), with many assimilation
proponents urging Americentric policies such as
English-only education, strict immigration policies,
stipulations of nationalistic criteria for citizenship,
and eliminating programs aimed at helping minorities
(Booth; Hayworth). This issue over terminology
and social metaphors is vitally important because
America stands at a critical ideological turning point.
Cultural geographers describe our current society
as experiencing a “multicultural backlash” that
will drastically affect immigration legislation and
ethnic studies and possibly lead us towards a more
restrictive and intolerant nation (Mitchell 641). The
current discourse about cultural assimilation seeks
to relegate incongruent cultural attributes to the
private arena so as not to disturb the dominant society
(Mitchell 642), and instead of promoting a tolerance
of diversity, we see the modern-day assimilation
proponents urging strict deportation and increasingly
restrictive immigration policies in order to protect socalled American values (Hayworth).
Some proponents, such as Arizona Congressman
J.D. Hayworth, are calling for a return of the same
type of assimilation policies that others refer to as
the “humiliating Americanization programs of the
1910’s and 1920’s” (Rodriguez). Those programs
occurred during another time of heightened national
concern, namely WWI and the subsequent “Red
Scare,” where coercive education and employment
policies were enacted that compelled immigrants
to assimilate. This assimilation process was
structured to produce citizens that conformed,
not just to American democratic ideals, but also to
Americanized private habits, American English,
and basic political and social ideologies intended to
create a pliable work force and ensure certain political
leanings (“Americanization” [1]). During the war,
immigrants experienced oppression, xenophobia, and
propaganda designed to strip them of their native
cultures and loyalties. The public school system
“instructed the children of immigrants in “proper”
Anglo-Saxon values and traditions and strongly
encouraged them to take their lessons home to their
families (“Americanization” [2]) Meanwhile, ethnic
presses were scrutinized and inspected by the U.S.
government and higher financial burdens were
place upon them from the U.S. Postal Service, who
demanded to analyze translations, effectively limiting
their freedom of speech and eventually resulting in
many presses closing (“Americanization” [2]).
After the war, the leftover social strains and
extreme patriotism gave vent for new obsessions,
including the Red Scare over suspected communists,
This criticism that the melting pot produces a society
that primarily reflects the dominant culture instead
of fusing into a completely new entity is reiterated
by other sociologists, anthropologists, and cultural
geographers as “Anglo-conformity” (Kivisto 151).
This type of assimilation was seen as working like
a one-way street and it was viewed as something
that depended primarily on the cooperativeness of
immigrants to be reoriented towards the dominant
culture. The idea that the dominant culture would
be infused with new energy through the influences
of ethnic groups retaining their distinctive cultural
attributes and thereby forging a new, stronger
America due to their divergent cultural contributions
was not given much weight by early researchers
(Kivisto 152-154).
It should be noted in this discussion that earlier
in American sociology history, some of these terms
took on distinctly different flavours. This ambiguity
of terminology contributes to confusion in the current
discourse. For instance, in 1901, Sarah Simons is
quoted as making this conclusion with regards to
assimilation:
In brief, the function of assimilation is
the establishment of homogeneity within
the group; but this does not mean that
all variation shall be crushed out. In
vital matters, such as language, ideals of
government, law, and education, uniformity
shall prevail; in personal matters of religion
and habits of life, however, individuality
shall be allowed free play. Thus, the
spread of “consciousness of kind” must be
accompanied by the spread of consciousness
of individuality (qtd. in Kivsito 153).
Furthermore, according to Peter Kivisto’s
interpretation of Chicago School sociologist Robert E.
Park’s writings on the subject, theories on assimilation
originally differed from the melting pot fusion theory
in that assimilation “signals the proliferation of
diversity. Rather than enforced conformity, it makes
possible a greater degree of individual autonomy”
and creates “a cultural climate that is predicated
by pluralism” whereby this “cultural pluralism (or
multiculturalism) can coexist with assimilation”
(156-157). The idea that a multiethnic society could
attain an interdependent cohesion based on national
solidarity while maintaining distinct cultural histories
not dependent on like-minded homogeneity was thus
proposed back in the early 1900’s (Kivisto 161).
However, it is vital to recognize that coercive
assimilation theorists often do not support the idea
that immigrants should maintain distinct cultural
attributes. In the modern-day discussion, coercive
30
On the other hand, multiculturalism has its
own set of weak points that need further evaluation
and revision. The melting pot and the tossed salad
metaphors are both inherently flawed, at least sofar in their practical application. On this, there
are many social theorists who are writing about a
compromise between the melting pot approach and
the tossed salad analogy. One such new theory is the
aforementioned “ethnic stew” from Laura Laubeová,
who hopes that such an analogy can help bridge the
gap between the two concepts to create “a sort of
pan-Hungarian goulash where the pieces of different
kinds of meat still keep their solid structure.” Indeed,
some sort of compromise between full assimilation
and multiculturalism will be necessary to retain our
multiethnic flavour while building a cohesive society.
The bottom line is that people are people, not
food. Despite the variety of food metaphors at our
disposal, the power of this rhetoric is limited and
wears thin during pragmatic application. Food
metaphors can be useful, but we do not need more
vague metaphors that lead to interpretive disparities.
What we need is an entirely new dialogue on the
subject, one that completely and clearly redefines
America’s objective for a multiethnic society that
allows for diversity, not just in the private realm, but
also in the public sphere. We do not need a coercive
assimilation program that reverts back to outdated
nationalistic paranoia. We need an inclusive working
social theory that unites the disparate enclaves of
this society into a manageable entity moving in
the same collective direction. Whether Americans
will ever eventually be reformed into what Israel
Zangwill called “a fusion of all races” remains to be
seen (Zangwill). Right now, what America needs
is a definitive social direction that leans away from
coercive assimilation dogma and towards a truly
inclusive national identity. True American dreamers
should not settle for anything less.
resurgence in the white supremacist organizations
such as the Ku Klux Klan, religiously based
fundamentalism, labor strikes, and the prohibition
of alcohol (“Americanization” [2]). Certainly, civil
liberties were being cast aside, and minority groups
bore the brunt of this assault under the guise of
becoming more “American” and less “foreign.” Now
we are seeing a similar leaning towards coercive
assimilation spreading across America due to the
heightened concern over terrorism and the cultural/
religious differences that are perceived to be behind
that ideological discord. If this assimilation thinking
proceeds toward its logical conclusion, America will
move backwards socially and become a truly bland
melted pot of cultures that is willing to sacrifice
everything under a misplaced paradigm of patriotism.
The stance of many coercive assimilation
proponents smacks of racist overtones and is based on
apprehension of “others” and exclusionary thinking
more than it is based on preservation of core values.
For example, in the case of the political debate over
designating English as America’s official language,
Thomas Ricento makes this point:
The English language has often been used as
a marker of one’s “American-ness”, and the
use of non-English languages as a marker to
one’s “foreign-ness.” Penalizing non-English
speakers by limiting their access to public
services, voting and education is illogical,
for it would further stigmatize non-English
speakers, rather than help them acquire the
language. . . Restricting access of citizens and
non-citizens alike because of a language
barrier is not only bad public policy, but an
insult and a calculated provocation, the initial
step would certainly be a pro-tracted conflict
between English and non-English speakers
(7).
The implications of this type of proposed legislation
drives fear into minority groups seeking to preserve
their cultural heritage against a tide of Americentric
propaganda. Ultimately, those seeking to enact
coercive assimilation policies threaten to fracture the
common ground of the American dream that they
claim to be focused on protecting. Minority groups
are nearing such numbers in this country that it is
projected that the word “minority” will soon become
obsolete. Enacting exclusionary policies will only
fracture an already delicate social framework and
potentially further disenfranchise the very groups
America needs for inclusive unity.
31
Works Cited
“Americanization.” 25 February 2006. <http://
migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/cir/95Report7/
pages175 200/pages175.htm>.
Kivisto, Peter. “What is the Canonical Theory of
Assimilation?” Journal of the History of the
Behavioral Sciences 40.2. (2004): 149-163.
“Americanization” [2]. American History Study
Guide. 6 February 2006. <http://www.
book-rags.com/history/americanhistory/
americanization-aaw-03/>.
Laubeová, Laura. “Melting Pot vs. Ethnic Stew.”
Encyclopedia of the World’s Minorities.
2000. http://www.tolerance.cz/courses/
texts/melting.htm.
Booth, William. “One Nation, Indivisible: Is
It History?” Washingtonpost com. 22
February 1998. 23 February 2006. <www.
washingtonpost.com Myth of the Melting Pot
America’s Racial and Ethnic Divides.htm>.
Mitchell, Katharyne. “Geographies of Identity:
Multiculturalism Unplugged.” Progress in
Human Geography 28.5 (2004): 641-651.
Ricento, Thomas. “A Brief History of Language
Restrictionism in the United States.”
Official English? No! A Brief History of
Language Restrictionism. 27 November
2002. 5 March 2006. <http://www.usc.
edu/dept/education/CMMR/PolicyPDF/
OfficialEnglish-Ricento.pdf>.
“Melting Pot.” Wikipedia. Feb. 20, 2006. http://
en.wikipidea.org/wiki/Melting_pot.
Frey, Bill. “A Closer Look at the Melting-Pot Myth.”
Editorial. Newsday. 16 March 01. <http://
www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/
publications.taf?function=detail&ID=110&
cat=Arts>.
Rodriguez, Gregory. “Assimilation Happens –Deal
With It” Los Angeles Times 10 Oct. 2004. 1
February 2006 <http://www.newamerica.
net/index.cfm?pg=article&DocID=2003>.
Hayworth, J.D. “Immigrants Need to Embrace U.S.
Culture.” 1 February 2006. <http://www.
azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/
articles/0129hayworth0129html>.
Zangwill, Israel. 26 February 2006. <http://
en.thinkexist.com/quotes/israel_zangwill>.
32
A Brief Look at
G1oba1ization
through Kava
culturally. It was a drink that held “sacred overtones”
(Marshall 2004:201). Kava’s consumption was
generally restricted to adult men (Marshall 2004:201;
Brunton 1989:64). Only a few exceptions existed to
whom this restriction did not apply conventionally
(i.e. before European influence). Brunton points
them out as being “women of high rank in stratified
societies, [...elderly] women, [and...] women who used
it illicitly” (1989:64).
One of the traditions that revolved around kava
consumption in many places included the idea that it
was forbidden to wash the cup from which kava had
been consumed (Brunton 1989:62). Furthermore, these
cups should never come in contact with the ground;
instead, they would either be suspended by cord or
placed on posts (Brunton 1989:65). Also, in some
places, “there were tight restrictions on the kinds of
movements allowed with the hands and the strainer
when preparing the kava” (Brunton 1989:71).
In places such as Pohnpei, kava--locally known as
sakau--is given, along with other traditional gifts, as
an offering at funerals (Hezel 2001:105-106).
This paper will address various aspects of the
psychotropic and culturally significant medicinal
plant, Piper methysticum, also known as kava, or ‘awa
in Hawai’i. Kava is a plant that has gone through
many different relationships with humanity - as
human history with the plant has unfolded. Here,
we will look at (1) its traditional use throughout
Oceania, (2) its commercial introduction into
international markets for medicinal uses by profitdriven, pharmaceutical companies, and attempts to
patent the plant by such companies, (3) its decline in
international popularity due to health related issues
that resulted from the improper use of the plant,
(4) the future of kava, and, finally, (5) my first-hand
experiences with kava.
Kava is traditionally consumed as an elixir
made from soaking the ground roots of the Piper
methysticum plant. According to Mac Marshall (2004),
kava contains several potent alkaloids that, when
consumed in a traditional manner, induce “a range
of physical effects, notably analgesia and muscle
relaxation, and it leads to a sense of sociability and
tranquility [; ...while] the mental facilities are left clear
(201).
Internationa1 Popu1arity and Patenting
In recent times, kava has undergone a tremendous
growth in international popularity as an over-thecounter herbal supplement used to treat anxiety.
According to ETC Group, “[i]n Europe alone, .t
kava extracts [were] being sold by at least 14 drug
companies” (ETC Group 1997). Contributing
to kava’s popularity outside of Oceania was its
reputation as an effective and safe alternative to
alcohol and other drugs associated with relieving
anxiety. “Kava bars” have sprung up all over the place
that serve it as if it were an alcohol drink - but often
out of a coconut shell to maintain the “Pacific island
feel.”
According to the supervising pharmacist at
Manhattan Plaza Pharmacy, Steve Kaufman, kava
has been shown to be as effective in treating anxiety
as the benzodiazine class of drugs; and, furthermore,
shown to be effective in reducing several menopausal
symptoms (Kaufman 1999).
Kava has decidedly become an appealing plant
globally due to its medicinal applicability. Needless
to say, pharmaceutical companies have been keen to
market the plant. The development, or patenting of
naturally occurring biological materials, like plants
and other forms of life, including human genes,
is an act referred to as biopiracy, a term originally
History of Kava
In the Pacific, there are over 100 varieties of
kava (ETC Group 1997). Serious cultivation of kava
most likely began in Vanuatu about three thousand
years ago; this is the conclusion of most scientists,
which is based upon studies that indicate Vanuatu as
being the location with the greatest genetic variety
(Kava History). From Vanuatu it spread and could
be found “in most major Polynesian islands, in Fiji,
[...] in scattered coastal and island locations of PNG
and west Papua [otherwise known as Irian-Jaya of
Indonesia], and on the island of Pohnpei” (Marshall
2004:201).
Kava was traditionally associated with elaborate
ceremonial customs, and was extremely significant
33
Hea1th Scare and Dec1ine in Popu1arity
All of these developments and fears of
exploitation took a back seat when, in 2002, Germany
banned the plant citing health reasons - that kava
use can cause liver toxicity. Soon, other countries
followed by banning or restricting sales of kava,
including Australia, the UK, Switzerland, Singapore,
France and Canada. This ban has had a serious impact
on the production of kava. The American FDA has
also issued an advisory on the potential risk of kava
consumption (http://_w_.cfsan_da.gov/%7Edms/
addskava.html).
This of course has damaged the market for
kava production. According to Hawaii Agricultural
Statistics, kava manufacture in Hawaii has declined
since use of the plant has been associated with liver
damage. However, HAS also indicates that despite
the drop in production of Kava, the revenues have
increased - a result, they note, of marginal farmers
ceasing operations (National Agricultural Statistics
Service).
Pacific Business News (2005) explains that
kava remains an important Hawaiian crop both
economically and culturally, despite its decline in
peak production since 2001 (Noni Revenue Up; Kava
Still Sells). In Fiji and Vanauatu, the other major
producers of kava, the decline in production has been
similar.
coined by ETC Group. Yet, this is exactly what large
pharmaceutical corporations have been aspiring to
do. In fact, the French company L’Oreal has already
patented or is seeking to patent kava as a means of
treating hair loss in the US, Canada, Japan, China,
Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Spain, Hungary, and
Poland (ETC Group 1997). There is a long list of other
examples of multinational companies--including
Willmar Schwabe GmbH, American Home Products,
Merck, Pfizer, Rhone Poulenc, SmithKline Beecham,
Boehringer Ingelheim, and Monsanto--endeavoring
to identify unique aspects and uses of kava to which
they can claim exclusive ownership. These qualities
range from how the powder is prepared from the root
to a whole variety of specific applications.
Kava is perceived as a prospective money-maker,
a plant especially well suited for marketing in the
herbal remedies niche. The idea of patenting kava
is that a company can obtain exclusive rights to the
plant, thereby demanding full profits associated
with usage and ultimately creating a monopoly of
ownership.
According to a 1997 Biopiracy Update from ETC
Group, this could eventually lead to reducing farmers
to mere “cheap labor” for the ETC Group which is an
organization involved in protecting indigenous rights
and knowledge; (previously known as the Rural
Advancement Foundation International) companies
making Western, kava-based pharmaceuticals.” It
also explains that there is concern that kava could
be monocropped elsewhere in places outside of the
Pacific all together (e.g. Mexico or Australia), which
would hurt the market value for the indigenous
populations of the plant’s origin.
The indigenous groups should fight back.
However, in the first chapter of IPR for Indigenous
Peoples, Tom Greaves (1999) points out three reasons
why it is difficult for indigenous groups to patent
their own cultural property. First of all, “copyrights
and patents are for new knowledge, not knowledge
that already exists” (8). Secondly, patents and
copyrights can only be awarded to individuals, or
legal entities that act as individuals (i.e. corporations).
The last problem is that copyrights and patents are
temporary; they expire after a duration of time (8)
Additionally, intellectual property rights is an
alien concept to many indigenous populations around
the world; they do not have the knowledge or the
resources to pursue such options (10).
A Brighter Future for Kava
An encouraging study was conducted in 2003
which shook the kava world with its fascinating
results. The University of Hawaii at Manoa
discovered that quite likely the real liver damaging
culprits are the leaves, stems and bark of the kava
plant. Traditionally, only the root was used in the
making of the elixir. It was not until the boom in
production that companies would start
manufacturing kava products containing what
otherwise would have been considered waste. This
seemed like a good hypothesis in “explain [ing] how a
plant used in island cultures for 2,000 years,
could suddenly be so toxic” (Dayton 2003).
With this and other encouraging news, the market
seems as if it will be headed for more changes once
again. In other news, it is suggested that Germany,
formerly the largest importer of Pacific island kava,
is in the process of lifting its ban on the plant, and
kava farmers are anxious that other European
countries will likely follow (Fiji takes 2005). Also, as
the Kava Council of Fiji notes, the kava industry has
the support of the World Health Organization on the
safety of kava (Fiji takes 2005).
34
Conclusion
Kava has a long, turbulent history and has been
approached differently through time. Originally, it
was a plant revered as sacred and instrumental in
ceremonial situations. It was highly regulated by the
societies which used it traditionally; restrictions were
placed on who could consume it, when it could be
consumed, and how it was prepared and consumed.
These restrictions have changed rapidly in recent
times, first with colonization of the Pacific, and then
with economic globalization and the spread of kava
in popularity in places outside of Oceania. This
large-scale growth in consumption and disregard
for traditional knowledge has coincided with the
growth of kava’s noted health threats. If, in fact,
there is something to be learned from this, it is that
rapid change without time for adjustment can lead to
negative consequences and that traditional knowledge
should be respected and understood in full, not just in
part in hopes of making a profit.
Kava is a plant that should be carefully harvested
so that only the root is consumed. Stricter regulations
and control measures could be applied in order to
ensure its quality. This author has high expectations
for the future of this Oceanic plant and believes that
its popularity will continue to increase, especially
once the bad image of liver toxicity passes. It is a safer
alternative to alcohol and in my opinion, can lead to
more interpersonal communication and less violence
among recreational users.
First-Hand Experience
I first partook in kava consumption a couple of
years ago. I tried several times, never really knowing
what to expect or how to react. Actually, I never really
consumed it in quantity enough to experience any
more effect than simply a numb feeling in my mouth.
The first time I actually partook in kava was not
until about two months ago. I had begun work on
data gathering for the topic of kava and realized the
importance of getting first-hand experience. A friend
of mine from Kiribati came over with the kava that he
procured from a friend of his. He explained to me that
he picked up kava drinking while working in Pohnpei
over the last several years. Also, he noted that it was
Tongan kava that we would begin drinking.
He prepared the kava and he and I, along with my
roommate and another friend, proceeded to consume
the beverage. We drank it out of coconut shells and
clapped in the Fijian style, twice before and three
times after someone or yourself takes a drink. In all,
we drank about four medium, gallon-sized bowls. As,
the night progressed, the conversation became slower
and eventually nearly extinguished completely. When
another friend entered the apartment to visit, he noted
how quiet we were.
Physically, I felt relaxed and tranquil. I did not
feel confused mentally, but my body felt drunk. I
particularly enjoyed the kava and, especially after
having minimal side effects the next day-- contrasted
with an alcohol related hangover--I was very satisfied.
I have become a fan of kava and have since consumed
it on several more occasions and promoted its use
to my friends as an alternative to illicit drugs and
alcohol. Unfortunately, it is a controlled substance in
Korea, where I plan to live for the next year, so I will
not be able to enjoy it over there.
35
References Cited
Brunton, Ron
1989 The abandoned narcotic: Kava and
cultural instability in Melanesia. Cambridge
University Press.
Kava History
1999 Antelope Internet Systems Inc,
[Online]. Available: http://kavaroot.com/
History?History.htm. Accessed: Oct 26, 2005.
Dayton, Kevin
2003 UH scientists may have solved
kava mystery. The Honolulu Advertiser,
April 7, [Online]. Available: <http://the.
honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2QQ3LA_
r/07/ln /lnO3a.html> Accessed: Oct 22, 2005.
Lalakato,Aqela
2005 Kava market opens up. Fiji Times.
May 27, [Online]. http://www.fijitimes.
com/story.aspx?id=22073> Cache available:
<http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:
yKGIYzTM7tEJ:www.fiji times.com/story.
aspx%3Fid%3D22073+%22Kava+market+ope
ns+up %22&hl=en> Accessed: Oct 29, 2005.
ETC Group
1997 Biopiracy update: The inequitable
sharing of benefits: Pacific plunder. Sept 30,
[Online]. Available: <http://www.etcgroup.
org/article.asp?newsid=191> Accessed: Oct
29, 2005.
Marshall, Mac
2004 Market highs: alcohol, drugs, and the
global economy in oceania. In Globalization
and Culture Change in the Pacific Islands.
Lockwood, Victoria, ed. Pp. 200-221. Pearson
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey.
Fiji takes kava ban fight to World Trade Organisation.
The Fiji Times 2005, July 20, [Online].
Available cached: http://66.102.7.104/
search?q=cache:OT62 91N8sJ:jonathanyee.
com/nativeplantsiorum/post.asp%3Fmethod
% 30TopicQuot e% 2 6TOP I C I O_) 303
81 ¥, 2 6F__lLf’1 10% 308+% 22Kava +Cou
ncil+of+Fiji%22+world+healt})+organisation
&hl=en Original location: http://jonathanyee.
com/IldtiveplantsLorurn/post.asp?method=
TopicQuote&TOP1C 10=381&FORUM 10=8
Accessed: Nov 12, 2005.
Mead, Aroha Te Pareake
1997 Resisting the gene raiders: Aroha Te
Pareake Mead on the genetic exploitation
of indigenous peoples - and how they are
fighting back. New Internationalist Magazine,
issue 293, August: [Online]. Available:
<http://www.newint.org/issue293/
resistir!.9.htm> Accessed: Oct 25, 2005.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
2004 Hawaii Agricultural Statistics, kava,
[Online]. Available: <http://www.nass.usda.
gov/hi/speccrop/kava.htm> Accessed: Oct
28, 2005.
Greaves, Torn
1999 IPR, a current survey. In Intellectual
Property Rights for Indigenous Peoples: A
Sourcebook. Greaves, Tom, ed. Pp. 00-00.
Society for Applied Anthropology, Oklahoma
City.
Pacific Business News
2005 Noni Revenue Up; Kava still sells,
[Online]. Available: <http://pacific.
bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2005/08/2
2/daily45.html> Accessed: Oct 26, 2005.
Hezel, Francis
2001 The new shape of old island cultures:
a half century of social change in Micronesia.
University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
Kaufman, Steve.
1999 New York City Voices: A consumer
journal for mental health Advocacy. Ask
the pharmacist: Relaxing with kava kdva.
Sept/Oct: [Online]. Available:... http://www.
Newyorkcityvoices.org/sept99p.html>
Accessed Nov 09, 2005.
36
He Blinded Me
with Science: The
Effects of 19th
Century Science on
Melville’s MobyDick
mention of science seemed only to be used
descriptively to promote a fuller picture of nature.
However, a closer look reveals science and reason
are deeply integrated into Melville’s narrative and
he employs his familiarity with science in important
turning points of the novel.
To begin, I must address what was happening in
science from the middle of the 18th century up to the
publication of Moby-Dick in 1852. Science between
these two centuries was influenced by radical changes
in the beliefs about the consistency of species found
in nature; this change in belief resulted from the
empirical classification of plants by Linnaeus around
1750 (Amundson 37, 40). These observations led
to the theory of species fixism, meaning that new
species do not spontaneously generate but are the
same they were thousands of years ago; species fixism
was a necessary requirement for taxonomy to begin.
The field of taxonomy is a good example of what
arose from 18th and 19th century science as a result
of studying species from both a structuralist and
functionalist perspective.
A year before Moby-Dick was published there
was an important shift toward the structuralists in
the structuralist/functionalist debate. This debate
centered on an explanation of traits and parts in
individual species and between different species
(Amundson 57). Structuralists rejected the common
belief that function or purpose was inherent and
a necessary requisite for observation to be fact.
Functionalists conformed to the common belief
about function being the only non-abstract way to
observe and classify nature. The debate took place
in 1830, approximately twenty years prior to the
publication of Moby-Dick, between Baron Georges
Cuvier, a functionalist, and Etienne Geoffroy, a
structuralist (Waggoner). Cuvier had two advantages:
functionalism was the dominant view, and he was
one of the most influential scientists of his time. On
the structuralist side of the debate, Etienne Geoffroy
argued avidly against Cuvier’s position by coming
up with counter evidence to Cuvier’s evidence; his
evidence supported that there were unities within
structure that were not related to the function, for
example a bone thought necessary for the flight
of birds was found to be in a fish near the gills
(Amundson 56). The debate was important because
it was very influential to the field of taxonomy over
the next few decades. Despite the popularity of
functionalism, structuralism became the mainstream
view in 1850, a few years before the publication of
Moby-Dick (Amundson 57-58).
The science of the day relates to the literature in
that nature is examined and empiricism is broadened
by Jason Foxworthy
During the time that Melville wrote Moby-Dick,
there was a profound shift in the way that scientists
observed nature; especially with respect to what
counted as observation. Some of the terminology
discussed in this essay is from a very specialized
area of philosophy: the history and philosophy
of science. I will provide definitions in the text to
eliminate confusion. This debate occurred between
structuralists and functionalists. The former held the
position that considers observation free from purpose;
in the case of corresponding bones between species, a
structuralist would maintain that all vertebrates come
from one archetypal vertebrate. The latter, conformed
to the mainstream view that for observation to be
scientific it must contain function, otherwise it would
be abstract or metaphysical. This shift resulted from a
reevaluation of what counts as empirical observation
for science and provided the conditions necessary
for the field of taxonomy to arise. Effects of this
debate are strongly evident in Moby-Dick. In Chapter
32, “Cetology,” Ishmael briefly mentions some of
the influential scientists and their theories about
whales, primarily dating about one hundred years
before Moby-Dick was published. After examining
the scientific beliefs of this period, it is evident
that Melville was indeed influenced by scientific
empiricism. However, he expands his empirical
insights of nature to include the nature of man.
In the chapter Cetology, which is the branch
of zoology that studies whales, Melville mocks
the scientific approach of observing nature. Yet,
throughout the book, Ishmael employs scientific
methods of analyzing his observations of religion,
culture, and nature. On the surface, Melville’s
37
beyond its focus on purpose. The role of scientific
influence in Moby-Dick has not been given its due.
Melville was at least familiar with Baron Cuvier and
some of his works, since his name was mentioned
in the article “Whales” published in the Penny
Cyclopedia, which Melville heavily drew upon for
scientific reference of the whale (Melville 115). Thus
some of the greatest and most influential scientists of
his time have indirectly shaped the creation of MobyDick.
In “Cetology” Melville attributes structuralism to
the scientists of his day and functionalism to common
sailors. Leon Howard, author of Herman Melville: A
Biography writes:
A careful study of the sources of the finished
work bears out this conclusion,
showing that he interpolated one distinctive
chapter, “The Advocate,” in his early
sourceless narrative and did not begin to
draw regularly upon Beale and his other
sources of [scientific and technical]
information until he reached chapter thirtytwo, entitled “Cetology.” (162)
This scientifically saturated chapter is used as a
transition between Melville’s first and second types
of narratives. Whereas the first narrative focuses
on Ishmael and Queequeg, the second narrative
after “Cetology” diminishes their role as it takes an
explicitly functionalist turn. Melville uses Ishmael to
examine two opposing world views in “Cetology;”
Ishmael begins by defining the whale structurally
(Linnaeus’s view) and goes on to compare this now
trendy scientific view with the more traditional
functional view. To validate his preference for the
functionalist meaning of what a whale is, Ishmael
states: “down to the year 1850, sharks and shad,
alewives and herring…were still found dividing
the possession of the same seas with the [whale]”
(117). Ishmael favors the functionalist method for
determining the status of a whale:
The grounds upon which Linnaeus would
fain have banished the whales from the
waters, he states as follows: ‘On account of
their warm Binocular heart, their lungs, their
movable eye-lids, their hollow ears, [a penis
which enters the female, whose breasts lactate
and justly and deservedly because of the laws
of nature]’. (Melville 117)
Ishmael derides the structuralist assertion that whales
are not fish based on correspondences with other
animals not found in the water. Rather than agreeing
with the scientists about whales, Ishmael agrees with
his messmates who accept the place where a whale
resides as being sufficient enough to end the fish/
mammal debate; the mainstream functionalist view
appeals to our common sense because it would be
absurd to question that a whale is not a fish, after all,
it lives in the ocean.
Yet, his position is not strictly functionalist. He
shifts between favoring functionlist and structuralist
assertions. Ishmael goes on to make structuralist
assertions about human nature. Ishmael also
blatantly mocks religious authority by questioning
the Christian/Pagan binary. Ishmael subverts
authoritative figures with whom he can not reconcile
his own beliefs. He makes an appeal to reason when
authority tries to refute his common sense view of
nature. His friendship with Queequeg allows him
intimacy enough to measure Queequeg beyond
Captain Bildad’s demand that Queequeg demonstrate
himself as a Christian. Captain Bildad’s demand
judges Queequeg functionally because he determines
Queequeg’s worth by the way in which he worships,
rather than recognizing in Queequeg as good enough
as a human being. Captain Bildad’s religious views
subordinate all heathens on the fundamental assertion
of Christian superiority. Ishmael retorts:
I mean sir, the same ancient Catholic Church
to which you and I, and Captain Peleg there,
and Queequeg here, and all of us, and every
mother’s son and soul of us belong; the great
and everlasting First congregation of this
whole worshipping world; we all belong
to that; only some of us cherish some queer
crochets noways touching the grand belief; in
all that we join hands. (84)
When Ishmael refuses to permit Queequeg’s
worth to be determined merely on a functional
level, it is the same refusal he made with regard to
favoring scientist’s reasoning over common sailors.
Ishmael consistently empathizes with the humanist
perspective and, like structuralists, invests his time in
an analysis of human character rather than whether or
not people conform to established forms of theology
or ethnocentrism. Melville’s ability to utilize elements
of both the structural and functional arguments shows
that he is a product of his time, since both views
were influential. His versatility is implanted into his
creation of Ishmael, who continually uses scientific
judgment before arguing his case. He does not allow
his own values to be compromised with respect to
oppressive institutions. With respect to these societal
constructs he does not see the need to create a
hierarchy from the function or location of individuals,
so thus far, Ishmael has not behaved out of character.
If Melville wrote Moby-Dick to accurately
describe the career of whaling to the masses, then it
would make sense for him to use Ishmael to glorify
the career of the whaler; this is made possible by
rejecting the status of a whale being anything more
than a fish since it is the task of a whaler to slay these
creatures. Also the great magnitude of the whale
makes its death a noble victory. Another reason
that follows this logic is the desire Melville had
to maintain the image that Ishmael was a realistic
sailor. How typical is it for fishermen to go about
38
philosophizing about the humanistic qualities of a
sea creature that he intends to kill? Though Melville’s
description of whales comes from both personal
encounters and other accounts of whaling, Ishmael’s
understanding comes only after a scientific account
has been given. While there are a variety of aweinspired human thoughts ascribed to the whale
sightings in the novel, the manner in which whales
are described utilizes both functional and structural
characteristics to more fully develop the image of
whale that Melville presents throughout Moby-Dick.
Melville’s rejection of the structuralist assertion
that whales are unlike the other sea creatures
because of their functional role in their sea lacks the
transcendentalist attitude he exhibits regularly in
relation to human dignity, such as his elevation of
Queequeg’s character or his appreciation of whalers
as opposed to other sailors. According to Milton R.
Stern who wrote an essay titled, “Melville, Society,
and Language” in A Companion to Melville studies:
The transformation, which Melville was to
inherit from the religious liberalism of his
father, was a social and political translation
of the benevolently rational science derived
from the fixed and perfect laws of nature
and of nature’s God. The good society now
becomes in effect, a fully secular type of
absolute divine rationality and toleration.
(Stern 435)
This rationalistic approach to nature allowed Melville
to escape the tyrannical oppression of Puritanical
thought, opening the door for conceptions of
universal unity. This universal unity can be observed
by the way Ishmael views religion after coming to
know Queequeg.
The placement of scientific information in the
novel indicates a significant role that transcends mere
description of nature. Like the shift discussed earlier
in “Cetology,” this shift occurs in another adequately
named scientific chapter, “The Fossil Whale.” In this
chapter a prominent British scientist, Richard Owen,
renowned for his ability to piece together fossils
reconstructed a prehistoric whale skeleton (350).
“The Fossil Whale” leads to the question “Does the
Whale’s Magnitude Diminish?—Will he perish?”
(351). Melville continues to employ science in order
to gain understanding of nature. However, something
dark and sinister replaces science. The chapters that
follow range from “Ahab’s Leg” wherein the greedy
monomaniac seeks to replace a lost limb to “Ahab and
Starbuck in the Cabin” where Ahab loses control and
grabbed a musket “and pointing it towards Starbuck
exclaimed: “There is one God that is Lord over the
earth, and one Captain that is lord over the Pequod.—
On deck!” (362). Perhaps this could be taken for a
coincidence if it were the sole instance of science
appearing right before Ahab’s fit of rage, but it is not.
Curiously, Ishmael lightheartedly criticizes
science, but only after he at least considers it,
whereas Ahab who is clearly aligned with evil and
selfishness throughout the novel takes his defiance to
a completely different level. In “The Quadrant” there
is a description in which Ahab provokes his crew
into behaving in opposition to science, that is he gets
them to follower him after mesmerizing them, action
devoid of a rational reason. When Ahab mutters to
himself briefly before giving his sermon he says,
“Science! Curse thee, thou vain toy; and cursed be all
things that cast man’s eyes aloft to that heaven, whose
live vividness but scorches him, as these old eyes
are even now scorched with thy light” (378). It is no
accident that Melville aligns evil with the opposition
of science. Especially since throughout the novel he
uses very rational reasoning that science validates to
make his grounded points about his insights on unjust
mainstream views like western ethnocentrism and
religious superiority.
Melville is truly a product of his time. His
writing style reflects the tumultuous structure/
function debate which was an important argument
for scientists during his life. His writing reflects the
struggle that scientists had during this period. He
suffered much anguish like the structuralist Geoffroy,
who received many criticisms for his controversial
position when he went against and attacked the
mainstream view of functionalism. Moby-Dick’s
structural elements were vehemently attacked by
Melville’s critics. He used this style of thinking to
subversively mock religion and ethnocentrism.
Even more unfortunate for Melville was the fact
that his controversial examination of religion and
western superiority alienated people from his works
and resulted in the loss of numerous future texts
which most likely would have been realized had he
experienced the success that Moby-Dick experiences
to this day. He paid a heavy toll for critically
examining mainstream values. Yet, although the
quality of his remaining years diminished, he has
given the world an amazing work of open-minded
literature which not only provides its readers with
incredibly keen insights about the nature of man but
of critical thinking as well. He has left the world a
better place for having his novel.
39
Works Cited
Amundson, Ronald. The Changing Role of the
Embryo in Evolutionary Thought: Structure
and Synthesis. New York: Cambridge UP,
2005.
Bickman, Martin., John Bryant, Milton R. Stern et al. A
Companion to Melville Studies. Ed.
John Bryant. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1986. 515-541,
xvii-xxvii, and 433-479.
Howard, Leon. Herman Melville: A Biography. Los
Angeles: California UP, 1967.
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick: A Norton Critical
Edition. Eds. Harrison Hayford and Hershel
Parker. ed. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2002.
Wagonner, Ben. “Etienne Geoffroy St. Hilaire (17721844). University of California, Berkeley,
Museum of Paleontology. Feb 23 1996. 5 Dec
2005. <http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/
history/hilaire.html>.
40
i am the other
strongly. It is this lack of physical barriers that often
blinds the “non-others” to the painfully strong
boundaries that still do exist. Nowadays, “overt
racist discrimination is not as fashionable as it once
was and that is why everyone can pretend racism
does not exist” (killing rage 5). Our country all too
often promotes a Political Correctness that does not
condone discrimination but that also does nothing to
change the current racial tensions that do exist. These
ignored issues that are swept under the rug are then
assumed to have been solved. This lack of addressing
and dealing with racism in general society is then
mirrored in the higher education institutions. And
even as the demographics of today’s colleges continue
to transform into more racially diverse communities,
they still remain a predominantly White forum
that harbors societal ideas of a blatantly dangerous
ignoring of racial problems.
One such setting of this is Colby College, a small
campus in Waterville, Maine. This school’s website
represents itself as being dedicated to “engaged
persons prepared to respond to the challenges of
an increasingly diverse and global society and to
the issues of justice that arise therein” (“Colby”).
However, in 1999 a white male student wrote an
editorial in response to increased police patrolling
of campus parking meters. The student suggested
the police could better spend their time fighting real
crime, like that found in Compton. His editorial
then compared the small town of Waterville to that
of Compton. In this comparison Waterville was
personified as being full of law abiding White citizens
whereas Compton was portrayed stereotypically as
full of crime committing, Jeri-curl wearing Blacks.
After African-Americans students on campus took
clear offense to his editorial, he wrote a defensive
response in which he said that when writing his
article he “wasn’t thinking about race, [he] was
thinking about Jeri-Curls” (Gordon 421). Jeri-curls? I
am bewildered. This student’s attempt to claim artistic
license in his works then allows many to overlook the
underlying racist thought and ideas that are presented
in the work and regard them as merely satirical.
While brushing off these transparently obvious racist
statements as jokes, the overall seriousness of the
African-American struggle not only gets severely
demeaned but is being redefined by the very group
of oppressors that have created the struggle. Gordon
notes this fact by stating that “the white monopoly,
by having the privilege to name the problem… also
by kelly woods
“Things are pretty much equal for blacks and
whites now in America.” I sat astonished by those
words. I was in a classroom much like those found
on college campuses all across this country; one
engaged in conversation, a free sharing of ideas and
thoughts. These rooms are assumed to be filled with
intellectuals in progress; minds open and willing
to learn. Rarely does one expect these classrooms
to be exuding with ignorance. But in that moment I
realized I was in the latter. There was as much racially
ignorant thought here in Hilo as there was in any
town in the Deep South. In that moment the ignorance
was intolerable for me, my hands shook as did my
voice as my anger bubbled up inside me and I tried
to defend my place as the other. Eyes of white faces
were all suddenly focused upon me, the lone black
girl in the class was about to speak and the weight of
bell hooks lay on my plate to explain. In that moment,
my assumed assignment expanded itself to so much
more than merely reading an article by bell hooks and
discussing it; it became a study of America’s modern
day race relations.
bell hooks, a product of quite tempestuous times
in American history, is now a renowned AfricanAmerican scholar whose works severely divide
audiences in their opinion of her. She is as highly
revered as she is attacked for her views of race and
feminism, and so was the case for this particular
discussion. hooks’ commonly used phrase, “white
supremacist capitalist patriarchy” is surely where
many draw the line against her ideas. Primarily it is
those who are privileged and in positions of power in
society that are often offended by her four powerful
and carefully chosen words. It is from this phrase that
the racial tensions between the other and “non-other”
members of society emerge. hooks’ ploy here is quite
useful. Her ability to so easily conjure up emotions by
using this phrase simply shows the amount to which
racial ignorance and its displays are still dividing our
society into two quite distinct groups.
In the 1960’s, society was more visually divided
into black and white. And while most of these
physical separations have dissipated, the oppressive
constructs of society still continue to hold quite
41
you will sadly encounter these forms of belittlement
in your lifetime. It is in these first hand experiences
that one cannot deny the presence of racism today.
These all too common events are the very ones that
hooks so poignantly explores and utilizes in her
writings.
But the validity of hooks’ writings are still
questioned, as they were in our classroom. One peer
wondered what place hooks’ argument had among
scholars like Chomsky, Burke and others, who
through no coincidence all happen to be white males.
The validity of their work was not heavily questioned,
for they fit the description of those who sit atop
our culture’s power structures. hooks courageously
forces us to step outside the boundaries setup by
her white counterparts. Her compelling experiences
are so eloquently put that they empower the people
who share her voice- like me! By doing this, hooks’
writings attempt to adjust the imbalances of power
not only within her field but in the unfair structures
of society as well. While most of my peers were up in
arms, hooks’ place seemed quite exact to me- to part
the sea of white rhetors and create a place for the all
too forgotten other. Her words build a platform on
which we can stand and proclaim that the realm of
academia should be open to and take seriously the
words and actions of the other. This platform hopes
to create an open forum for people whose voices are
not normally represented in the words of her more
welcomed colleagues.
The American hegemony surely makes a
contribution to how these rhetorical exchanges are
read. Although hooks would surely disapprove of the
way she may have been presented as the lone other,
she is a one of a kind writer in the field of rhetoric.
It may have been easy for my peers to question her
merely because her voice was so different from her
contemporaries. One student claimed that it was
“the blatant crudeness of [hooks’] writing and her
somewhat militant feminist assumptions that didn’t
sit right with me” (Hunter). Though each theorist
had made assumptions, only hooks’ were deemed
as such. hooks’ works contain as much sophisticated
information as her male white contemporaries, but I
feel that it is not as widely accepted because it doesn’t
capture the idealized nature of what White-America
sees as a happily ever after, it is instead completely
raw much like the country’s racist situations.
And with the privileged behind the forces of the
hegemony, I would not deny that this situation may
be quite purposefully set up in this way as to have
hooks misconstrued. But what the hegemony has yet
to take into account are the people like me, who in
many situations sit as the lone example. The other that
determine de facto what the problem is not” (422).
In these situations, the oppressors have the power to
change and dismiss what they will.
These incidents are also increasingly becoming
more than just a dichotomous Black and White
problem. Racists are becoming equal opportunity
offenders. On the larger campus of Washington
State University, we encounter yet another blatant
display. Beginning in the fall 2004 semester, two
white male basketball players began harassing AsianAmerican female students while they worked at
the Multicultural Center. Acts reported to the police
stated that the two males were “mimicking her as if
she was a monkey; [they] made a motion to indicate
that Kim [one of the accusers] had chinky eyes, and
commenting, Asians take all the jobs.” (Matsudaira).
Despite these accounts that included other eyewitnesses, police found no criminal activities had
taken place and the University conduct board found
that no harassing behaviors had taken place either.
When asked about the accusations, the two students
could only recall one attention grabbing incident in
which they were dancing in front of the center. They
claimed that it was a dance from the movie Dumb and
Dumber, “however, the complainant and at least one
other witness perceived this same dance as a racially
motivated ‘minstrel’ dance” (Tinney/Strenge). Again,
the acts of racism are quickly excused by declaring
them a joke. Gordon and Johnson note that it is not
likely that these racially discriminated communities
“will find hope in the law, at least not without
significant changes in its structures and practice”
(417). By having control over the law, oppressors
again are able to redefine these compromising
situations so as to not confront or condemn the actions
of anyone who is a part of their inclusive privileged
group.
The lapse of time since the Civil Rights movement
also seems to pose a problem for many. Unlike other
movements, time has not held the promise and
success for racial equality; instead, time has allowed
for the morphing of a new generation of racists.
A form whose underlying ideas are the very ones
that were being challenged during the Civil Rights
Movement. In the book Living with Racism, authors
Feagin and Sikes note that most white Americans
“look at serious racism as the prejudices and actions
of extreme bigots not considered to be representative
of the white majority” (3). The ability to distance
oneself from these serious issues is an ignorant luxury
that I, hooks, and those who share our voice do not
have. Instead these distant memories for today’s
White America are the ever present realities of the
lives of the other. If you are distinguished as other then
42
hooks so powerfully connects with and empowers
acts as a counter to some of the resistance that has
come up against her works.
The acknowledgment of racism today is
particularly tough to discuss, for it is so deeply woven
into the history of America. The very institutions that
are created to encourage thinking and change are
built upon and continue to maintain racial privileges.
So how can we change these restraints? hooks and
writers like her are surely a great first step toward
educating the ever present ignorance that taints this
country. One peer asked how she was to know what
the Black experience was, if she was not part of the
other? And as I collected my anger my voice emerged
and revealed that stories of these very powerful
experiences are all around us and many of these
snapshots are captured quite vividly in the pages of
works that hooks has created for all of us. She says,
“after all if we pretend racism does not exist, that we
do not know what it is or how to change it- it never
has to go away” (“talking back” 4). Her words have
created a passion in me that burns ever brightly. This
powerful flame houses a zeal that will no longer sit
quietly. I am the voice of the other and it would be
wise for America to listen.
Works Cited
Colby College. 30 Apr. 2005. Colby College. <http://
www.colby .edu>
Feagin, Joe. “Race and its continuing significance
on our campuses.” Black Issues in Higher
Education. 19 (2003): 24 -28.
Feagin, Joe and Sikes, Melvin. Living with Racism:
The Black Middle-Class Experience. Boston:
Beacon Press, 1994.
Gordon, Jill and Markus Johnson. “Race, Speech and a
Hostile Education Environment: What Color
is Free Speech?” Journal of Social Philosophy.
34 (2003): 414-436.
hooks, bell. Killing Rage. New York: Holt, 1995.
---. Talking Back: thinking feminist - thinking black.
Boston: South End Press, 1989.
Hunter, Katherine. “bell hooks & ‘eating the other’.”
Online posting. 22 Mar. 2005.
Matsudaira, Vince. “WSU Student Conduct Officers
Clear Basketball Players of Racial Harassment
Allegations.” The North American Post 1
May 2005 <http://www.napost.com/ news/
community/march/mar9/wsu.html>
[Note to the reader: bell hooks has chosen to denote
her name in the lowercase; it is therefore purposefully
shown in this way in my work. These are not typos.
The same applies to the chosen lowercase for the
author’s name.]
Tinney, James and Robert Strenge. “WSU Students
Found Not in Violation of University Conduct
Provisions.” Washington State University
News 2 March 2005. 1 May 2005 <http://
wsunews.wsu.edu/detail.asp?storyId=5080>
43
Ka Mana o ke
Känäwai a me ka
Mana o ke Kanaka
makahiki e hiki mai ana. I këia manawa, loaÿa kekahi
mau kula kaiapuni i aÿo ÿia ma ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ma
nä mokupuni a pau koe ‘o Kahoÿolawe. He höÿike
këia i ka nui holomua o ka poÿe o Hawaiÿi nei. He
höÿike pü këia i ka hiki ÿole ke pepehi ÿia a make ka
ÿölelo makuahine o Hawaiÿi. E ola mau ka ‘ölelo
Hawaiÿi.
Hulilau Wilson
Ma ka makahiki 1896 ua hoÿokumu ÿia he känäwai
e päpä ana i ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ma nä kula o Hawaiÿi
nei. Ua lilo këia känäwai päpä ÿölelo a ka ÿoihana
hoÿonaÿauao he mana käkoÿo politika no ka ÿaoÿao
hoÿokahuli i ke aupuni Möÿï o Hawaiÿi, a me ka
hoÿokahuli pü i ka mauli Hawaiÿi o ko Hawaiÿi poÿe
känaka. Ma loko o ka ÿölelo, he mana ko laila. Ma
loko o ka hana, he mana nö ko laila. I ka ÿoki ÿia ÿana
o këia ÿaoÿao ÿölelo o ko Hawaiÿi poÿe, ua hoÿomaka
e loli ke au a me ka nohona kanaka ma o ka ÿölelo
makuahine.
I ka hoÿopuka ÿia ÿana o këia känäwai, ua päpä
ÿia ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ma ke ÿano he ÿölelo kühelu
a ua höÿole ÿia ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ma nä ÿoihana
hoÿonaÿauao. No ka päpä ÿia o ka poÿe Hawaiÿi i
ka ÿölelo makuahine ua hoÿomaka e nalo ka ÿölelo.
ÿAÿole i aÿo nä mäkua i nä keiki no ka ÿike o läkou i ka
hopena ma ka hoÿopaÿi ÿia ma ke kula. Ua hili ÿia nä
haumäna i ka läÿau inä ua loaÿa pono läkou e ÿölelo
Hawaiÿi ana ma ke kahua kula. Pëlä i höÿike ai ka
poÿe o kahi ÿë i ko läkou mana hoÿopaÿi kanaka. A ma
këlä mana hoÿopaÿi i hoÿomakaÿukaÿu ÿia ai ka poÿe
Hawaiÿi i ka läkou ÿölelo ponoÿï iho nö. No ia kumu i
hoÿomau ÿole ai nä hanauna i hänau ÿia ma hope i ka
läkou ÿölelo ponoÿï.
ÿOiai ua pau liÿiliÿi ka poÿe ÿölelo Hawaiÿi i ia
manawa ÿaÿole i ÿole ka loaÿa o ka poÿe i küpaÿa ma
hope o ke aÿo i ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ma ka hale a ma nä
wahi kuaÿäina pü kekahi i loaÿa ÿole ai nä kula nui
e like me ko ka poÿe o Niÿihau. Ua mälama ÿia nö
kekahi kula ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ma Niÿihau i ia wä no ke
kaÿawale loa o ia ÿäina mai nä wahi e päpä ÿia nei
ka ÿölelo. Pëlä i ola ai ka ÿölelo ma këia mokupuni.
Nä këia poÿe i paÿa i ka ÿike a hiki loa mai i këia wä.
I ka makahiki 1986 ua hoÿololi ÿia ke känäwai
päpä ÿölelo a ua hoÿonoa ÿia ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ma nä
kula. Ua hoÿäÿo ka poÿe haole e hoÿokahuli i ka poÿe
Hawaiÿi akä ÿaÿole i kahuli ka ÿölelo. Ke hoÿi mai nei
nö. Ma ka makahiki 2006 ua piÿi ka nui o nä poÿe
ÿölelo Hawaiÿi a e laupaÿi ana ka heluna poÿe ma nä
45
Literary Dysfunction:
Finding Truth Where
There is no Meaning
While his thesis implies that Labanyi will show
how the patriarch loses power through language,
his jargon-laden argument speaks more to the
unreliability, and therefore, the lack of power of
language itself. One of the ways Labanyi does this is
in his exploration of the narrator:
What is more, the text is the product not of
one unreliable intermediary narrator, but
of a bewildering profusion of intermediary
narrators, all of them unreliable. It is
impossible to know at how many removes
we are from the original version; all we
know for sure is that the version we have is
adulterated. (142-43)
The text itself is unreliable, and therefore, lacks power.
When the reader cannot trust language, he is less
likely to believe what a text says. Labanyi claims
the reader does not know who is speaking, what the
speaker knows, and to what extent the speaker knows
what he does not know. This ambiguity amounts
to textual, as well as verbal fallibility in both The
Autumn of the Patriarch and Labanyi’s critical essay.
To find the crux of this argument, however, one
must first cut through convoluted and idiomatic
writing. Labanyi is clearly the epitome of a PostModern Deconstructionist, cleverly using jargon
such as “trace,” and “mirror-image” throughout his
writing. Labanyi writes: “The written word does not
hold a mirror up to reality, but turns reality into a
mirror-image. The image of the trace…” (140). This
is clearly a deconstructionist reading of the novel,
and therefore, makes one wonder if Labanyi’s essay
has any meaning at all, as all deconstructionists know
language has no meaning.
If Labanyi is the ultimate in Post-Modernism,
then Williams is the embodiment of New Criticism.
William’s reading of Marquez’s novel is concerned
with literary devices such as sentence structure to
explain the meaning of the novel. Williams writes:
The transformation of this anecdotal material
to the actual story of the text can be described
by considering the novel’s six chapters as a
system of progressive apertures. That is, the
first chapter is developed on the basis of an
aperture, the second on another aperture, and
so on. The qualifier “progressive” underlines
the fact that the apertures occur at an earlier
point in each of the six chapters. (151)
Throughout the study of literature and current
theories, the study of how the author uses language
and to what means, is crucial to understanding a text.
What happens, however, when it is discovered that
language lacks meaning and there is no definitive
answer to why an author communicates what he
does? If one looks at the numerous critical essays
about Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s The Autumn of the
Patriarch, the various theories regarding language
blur the discourse leading to multiple meaning and
various truths. Literary scholars Jo Labanyi and
Raymond Williams each explore how Marquez’s use
of language and narration establish the meaning of his
text. While Jo Labanyi looks at the rhetoric Marquez
uses to illustrate power, Raymond Williams uses a
more technical approach to establish a relationship
between compositional structure and meaning.
Williams studies the language and the structure of
the text to find humor and a sympathetic view of the
patriarch, while Labanyi finds only fallibility and
impotence. If one studies how these two critics have
taken the same text, yet come to different conclusions
about the meaning behind the words, one might
imagine that Marquez’s work is more about the
dysfunctional nature of academia as opposed to Latin
American governments.
In his essay “Language and Power in The Autumn
of the Patriarch,” Labanyi examines the relationship
between language and power. Labanyi writes: “On
the one hand, language is the patriarch’s principal
instrument of power. On the other, it is his increasing
delegation of power to language that brings about his
downfall. Garcia Marquez shows that language can
undermine power as well as enforce it” (135). Labanyi
implies that he will prove how language brings down
the Patriarch. While he does occasionally refer to this,
making many excellent points, his essay does not so
much support his thesis as provide an opportunity to
use literary jargon.
47
Williams literally breaks down each chapter into
sentence structure as well as sentence length to
determine what Marquez is trying to say.
The most difficult part of this essay is trying to
figure out what Williams is trying to say. Williams
spends several pages discussing the progressive
nature of sentence length: “The fourth sentence
expands to twenty-one lines. Throughout the next
seven pages the length of the sentences varies, but
remains approximately within the limits of the
sentences on the first two pages, ranging from a few
lines in length to a full page (thirty five lines in the
text)” (156). Williams does note that “the progressive
and precise manner of organizing the sentence length
in correspondence with the opening of the original
situation contributes to the formation of the narrative
system Garcia Marquez constructs in this novel” (157),
yet does not expound on this idea. Therefore, after
a lengthy discussion about the progression of the
sentence structure, one is still left wondering how this
applies to Marquez’s meaning in this text.
The focus of the paper abruptly turns from
sentence structure and length to how Marquez
narrates the story. Williams makes several references
to narration:
An unidentified narrator…the narrative begins
to open to other speakers…the narrator inside
the story is relating details about the physical
environment, and suddenly the narrative
changes…the narrative has changed from pure
narration to inferring a live dialogue…the
narrator changes his scope…the voices
continue to vary…(157-59, Emphasis added)
The reader of the essay can see that Williams provides
several clues to the unreliability of the narrator,
Labanyi’s most valid argument. Williams feels that
the narrative structure provides “a more complete
characterization of the General” (161). While Labanyi
sees the narration as evidence of the fallibility of
power, Williams sees is it as an illumination of the
General’s nature.
If one were to apply a formalist reading to
Williams’ essay, one would see that Williams
is concerned about the anecdotal structure of
progression. Throughout the text, Williams uses
the word “anecdote,” at least ten times, and in one
paragraph, he uses it four times. He is also concerned
with “progression,” mentioned often, but especially
in conjunction with “structure.” One could see this
as Williams’ attempt to organize a circular novel that
takes a great deal of concentration to study. But, in
the spirit of literary discourse, one could also apply
a psycho-analytical reading to his anal attempts
at classification. When one also applies Freud to
Williams’ reading, one sees that Williams is striving
to sublimate his sexual desires, when one sees his
multiple references to “apertures,” another word for
openings. Williams also makes frequent reference to
“original situation,” blatant code for original sin, only
further underscoring his puritanical fear of sex.
While the two critics differ drastically in their
interpretation of the novel, they are each able to find
humor in what many consider to be a fairly disturbing
story. Labanyi writes: “The episode with the three
caravels of Columbus again provides the most
amusing example of this ambiguous use of narrative
voice, with the patriarch’s informers slipping
anachronistically into the language of Columbus’s
diary that ought to be reserved for the newly arrived
conquistadors” (143). Of course, this incongruity
could demonstrate Marquez’s intent to parallel
Columbus and American powers either in academia
or dictatorship; however, in the Post-Modern world,
language has no definitive meaning, so it must be
amusingly ambiguous.
Williams is also able to find humor in The
Autumn of the Patriarch through his careful
examination of narration:
…he went into the bedroom, shut the three
crossbars, the three bolts, the three locks, and
with his fingertips he took off the pants he
was wearing that were soaked in shit.) Until
the narrator reveals the General’s reactions
in the last three words, the readers view has
been exterior and similar to that of the people
observing the General’s reactions. The last
three words provide the interior contrasting
characterization of the General and thus
create the humor. (163)
When one is only looking at the technical aspects of
language, one might see humor, as opposed to the
humanity, in a scene like that. Williams’ explanation
only underscores his fallacious reading of the text,
while supporting the idea that the General represents
academia as opposed to Latin-American dictatorship.
The fact that two critics have examined the
narration of this novel, yet come to oppositional
conclusions, only illustrates the dysfunctional nature
of theory reinforcing Marquez’s obvious intention to
poke fun at literary theorists. Marquez writes: “so
you see general the time comes for the roughest of
us studs to turn into fairies, what a damned thing”
(57). By using blatant homo-erotic imagery, Marquez
is challenging Freudian theorists to analyze the gay
aspects of Latin-American machismo. This is only
further underscored by the fact that most of the men
Marquez refers to wear uniforms, and the General
was installed by the Marines, who are under the
48
Naval branch of the armed services, an obvious
reference to The Village People.
Marquez is not limited to lambasting any one
school of literary theory, as he takes great care to
evenly distribute his disdain across all spectrums of
the academy. Marquez takes on Marxist theorists in
his many references to the General’s mother, a former
whore. Marquez writes:
Benedicion Alvarez was to live for many
years lamenting poverty, fighting with the
maids over bills from the market and even
skipping lunch in order to economize, and no
one dared reveal to her that she was one of
the richest women in the land, that everything
he accumulated from government business he
put in her name (58)
It is in language such as this that Marquez’s true
genius is exposed, as a true Marxist is unsure as to
whether or not he should criticize Alvarez for having
maids, or applaud her for attempting to economize.
In addition, Marquez is creating a battle between
Marxist theorists and gender theorists who are
appalled at the idea that a male is abusing his power
over the female in such a way as to allow her to act
poor when she is indeed rich. Marquez’s true motive
is found in the ending:
he was condemned not to know life except
in reverse, condemned to decipher the seams
and straighten the threads of the woof and
warp of the tapestry of illusions of reality
without suspecting even too late that the only
livable life was one of show, the one we saw
from this side which wasn’t his general sir.
(254)
It is in this moment that Marquez expresses the pity
he feels toward academics who are so busy unraveling
the lives of others that they do not make the time to
live their own.
When one realizes that The Autumn of the
Patriarch is so amusingly ambiguous as to be
open to multiple anecdotal evidence regarding
the progression of its structure, as well as its lack
of obvious meaning, one can see that Marquez is
criticizing not only Latin-American dictators, but also
those who philosophize about the literature written
about Latin-American dictators. When Marquez
makes anachronistic anecdotal reference to Columbus
while talking about the Marines, it becomes obvious
that after many years of writing about the plight of
the Latin-American poor, he has become frustrated
that academia would rather argue over a New Critical
approach versus a Deconstructionist approach, while
dictators continue to kill boatloads of children.
Works Cited
Labanyi, Jo. “Language and Power in The Autumn of
the Patriarch.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez New
Readings. Ed. Bernard McGuirk and Richard
Cardwell. New York; Cambridge UP, 1987.
135-49.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. The Autumn of the
Patriarch. New York: HarperCollins, 1976.
Williams, Raymond. “The Autumn of the Patriarch.”
Modern Critical Views. Gabriel Garcia
Marquez. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York,
Chelsea House, 1989. 147-68.
49
Pehea e Ho’oikaika
Hou ‘Ia Ai Ka
Papahana Kaiapuni
‘Ölelo Hawaiÿi?
ke kanaka no käna ÿölelo ponoÿï iho a no ko Hawaiÿi
ÿölelo ponoÿï iho?
Eia nö kekahi hoÿomaka he ÿuÿuku naÿe ma ka
pae o ke kula no ka hoÿoikaika ÿana i ka papahana. E
hoÿopiÿi aku i ka uku kumu inä he walewaha ÿo ia, a
aÿo pü ÿo ia ma nä ÿölelo ÿelua a ÿoi. E ÿume aku i nä
känaka e lilo i kumu ma kekahi kula kaiapuni ÿölelo
Hawaiÿi.
E hoÿokumu pü ÿia kekahi pähana e ÿimi ana
i kumu no nä kaiaulu ma kahi e kü nei nä Kula
Kaiapuni. Inä no laila mai ke kumu, e ÿoi aku ana
kona ÿiÿini e noho paÿa ma këlä kula. Kamaÿäina pü ÿo
ia i nä ÿohana o nä haumäna o laila a pëlä pü läkou iä
ia.
No ka hoÿoikaika ÿana i ke aupuni, e hoÿohana pü
ÿia ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ma ke käkau ÿana i nä känäwai,
ma ka walaÿau ÿana ma nä keÿena, a laila e ÿoi aku ana
ka waiwai o ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi i ke aupuni no ko läkou
hoÿohana ÿana.
ÿOiai like ko ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi külana me ka ÿölelo
Pelekänia ma këia mokuÿäina, e koi i ka lehulehu e
hana i nä höÿailona päÿoihana a pau, mai nä papa
meaÿai a i nä lula keÿena, ma ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi a e koi
ÿia ke keÿena e hai i kekahi walewaha ÿölelo Hawaiÿi
e hana ma ia ÿoihana. Inä pëlä, hiki i nä känaka ÿölelo
Hawaiÿi a pau ke komo i loko o kekahi päÿoihana, he
haleküÿai paha, a hoÿohana i ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi. No ke
aha i koi ÿia ai ka namu haole ma ka hana akä ÿaÿole
koi ÿia ka Hawaiÿi?
E nui aÿe ana ka ÿume o nä haumäna a me ko
läkou ÿohana e komo i ka papahana Kaiapuni ÿÖlelo
Hawaiÿi inä kö nä mea ma luna aÿe. E lako ana ke
kula a e maÿalahi ana ka hoÿohana ÿia ÿana o ka ÿölelo
ma waho o ke kula.
ÿO ka hoÿoikaika i ke ola ÿölelo Hawaiÿi ka mea
e hoÿoikaika pü ai i ka mauli Hawaiÿi. E loli ana ke
kuanaÿike Hawaiÿi a kü ka mauli Hawaiÿi e hanohano
hou ai i ke kulaiwi o Hawaiÿi nei.
Lehua Wilson
Ma hope o ka hoÿokahuli ÿia ÿana o ke aupuni
Möÿï ma Hawaiÿi nei, ua päpä ÿia ke aÿo ÿana ma o
ka ÿolelo Hawaÿi ma nä kula a ÿo ka uhau pepehi loa
ihola ia no ke ola o ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi a hoÿonele ÿia
ihola nä hanauna ma hope mai i ka ÿike ÿölelo Hawaiÿi.
Ma nä makahiki 1970 naÿe, ua kupu hou mai ka
hopohopo o ka Hawaiÿi no ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi o hala
pau loa kahi hunahuna i koe. Hoÿopau ÿia akula ia
känäwai o ka wä aupuni Lepupalika a hoÿokumu ÿia
ihola nä Kula Kaiapuni ÿÖlelo Hawaiÿi hou ÿelua, ÿo
Waiau ma Oÿahu a me ke Kula Haÿahaÿa ÿo Keaukaha
ma Hawaiÿi. I këia manawa he ÿehä kula ÿölelo
Hawaiÿi ma këia mokupuni nei a piÿi akula ka heluna
haumäna a puni ka mokuÿäina i ka 1,500 a ÿoi. ÿAÿole
naÿe i hoÿomöhala piha ÿia aÿe ka papahana, e like me
ka makemake.
Wahi a ka lohe, ÿo ka nele i ke kumu mäkaukau
loa a me nä haÿawina küpono ka mea e pëpë nei i ka
hoÿomöhala piha ÿia o ka papahana. I loko o ka pololei
o këia, ÿaÿole ÿo këia wale nö ka pilikia.
Pono e loli ka noÿonoÿo o ka lehulehu ma Hawaiÿi
nei. Ma waho o ke kaiaulu ÿölelo Hawaiÿi, ÿaÿole nui ka
minamina o ka lehulehu i ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi. Noÿonoÿo
läkou, he ÿölelo kahiko ko ka Hawaiÿi, ÿaÿohe ona
külana ma këia au hou, a ua kälele nui i ka namu
Pelekänia.
Hana nui ka hoÿoikaika a paipai mau i nä Hawaiÿi
i loko o ke kaiaulu ÿölelo Hawaiÿi e hoÿomau ma muli
o ke käkoÿo ÿole mai o kona lehulehu e puni ana. ÿO
ka mana o ka ÿölelo Pelekänia ke älai nui e ÿalo a e
hoÿomaopopo ÿia ma kekahi külana, ÿaÿole ÿo ka ÿae
wale ÿia ÿo ia ke ÿaÿaiawä mai a hiki i ka pau loa o ke
kuanaÿike Hawaiÿi.
Inä ua komo hou ka hoihoi o ka ÿölelo Hawaiÿi i
ka lehulehu, a laila e käkoÿo nui ÿia ana ke aÿo ÿana o
ka ÿölelo a me ka hoÿohana ÿia ÿana o ka ÿölelo. Akä, ÿo
ka nïnau, pehea e hoÿoulu hou ai i ka hoihoi i loko o
51
Renter, Beware
Initially, I envied them, but I came to accept that I
might never live in such awesome conditions, since
they cost much more to rent than the regular dorms
on campus. Instead, I saved my money for my books
and tuition, since coming here was expensive enough
in the first place, but worth it.
How the dorm you’ve always wanted may not be the dorm
you’ve been expecting.
See, this particular campus is the center of the
astronomical universe, and as such is one of the best
schools in the world to study astronomy. Having
been interested in the subject since I was a small boy, I
was prepared to endure whatever academic hardships
lay ahead of me in order to fulfill my childhood
dream of looking at the stars for a living.
Moving In
When I first received the letter, I was thrilled. Hale
Ikena? Isn’t that the really nice dorm? Awesome.
No longer would I have to deal with the public
bathroom and reverberant hallway of Hale Kauanoe
with its leaky lounge. No more would I have to
question in fear of my life exactly what bathroom
fixtures I could or could not touch in Hale Kanilehua.
Gone were the days of navigating the twisted maze
of corners and offset dorm rooms that is Hale Kehau,
wondering if my suitemates would let people into my
room.
And hardships there have been. The courses were
hard enough, the instructors demanding enough,
the books heavy enough, and the fellow students
competitive enough.
After four years of college (not all students on the
five-year plan are stupid), I made a decision. It was
unfortunate but necessary that I take summer classes
in order to graduate on time. I didn’t want to be in
school longer than I had to, so I was going to put forth
the extra bit of effort to get out of there on time.
No, I would no longer have to deal with a crappy,
dirty, dilapidated, insecure dorm building. And I
even get to have a kitchen! A real one! With a stove
and full-sized refrigerator!
Such luxuries were practically unknown to me since
having gone to college. Of course I grew up with
them in my home, and I have periodically made my
way back there to visit over the years I have been
away, but I quickly forgot what it was like, having
lived on various campuses for over four years now.
So I did. It came time for summer enrollment, and I
signed up for a full semester load in the space of less
than three months. (Some people speak of suicide
in terms of guns, ropes and razor blades; I speak of
it in terms of credit load.) I paid my tuition bill in
advance because I could do so for once. I made final
arrangements to move out of my current dorm room
because the term was coming to an end.
But now I was preparing myself for a life of privilege.
I knew that I’d be able to run to the grocery store to
get whatever I wanted whenever I wanted (as long as
I could afford it, fitting the stereotype of the strapped,
broke college student), because you know what? I
now had a refrigerator to put it in, and a stove to
cook it on. And maybe, just maybe, there would be
a garbage disposal and a dishwasher, though I knew
that would be asking a lot, even for the highly reputed
“Campus Luxury Apartments.”
I had first heard of Ikena from many of the campus
residents. “Fit for a king,” some said, making those
who lived there feel as though they were gods. It
was the ultimate goal, the home of dreams, at least
for those who ever dreamed of living on a college
campus.
And then it hit me: I had nowhere to live over the
summer. I spoke to the people in the housing office,
and they informed me that Ikena was the only dorm
open in the summer, sorry, and would I please fill
out an application if I desired to live in the building
during that time.
Oh, how the gods were smiling on me! I would be
immediately rewarded for the hard work that lay
ahead of me, and that made my bleak outlook of the
coming summer a bit brighter. I’d have plenty of
room, a big, cold box to keep food, a place to cook it,
and a balcony. After dealing with the hard courses,
demanding instructors, heavy books, and competitive
53
The sink was next to the stove, which itself was
another story altogether. It was absolutely caked
with grime, which was sadly unidentifiable, since The
Hawaii Police Forensics Lab was unwilling to assist
me for some reason, citing something about a waste
of their resources. (This I did not understand, as no
scientific endeavor is a waste of anything.)
students, I would have a place to come home and
truly relax instead of trying to wrestle through a
tiny space where the only food was dry and nonperishable. A quiet place in which I could study
without worrying about loud floormates and partiers
was what awaited me, and I could not wait to inhabit
this, the ultimate of domiciles, the pinnacle of campus
dorms.
None of the burners sat level, preventing almost
all boiling of water, and the oven burned about a
hundred degrees too hot, depending on the day.
Sometimes it was just fifty degrees. Either way,
it was impossible to know how much it would
overcook those brownies. I had wanted to record its
behavior over a period of time to try and extrapolate a
predictive algorithm for temperature, but I lacked the
instrumentation, and I am not a statistician any more
than I am a microbiologist.
I remember receiving my key from the desk attendant
and initialing the needed forms with the RA. At last.
The key to a real home.
I took my new key, holding tenderly my passage to
peaceful living. I approached my door, inserted the
key, and turned the knob.
To say that the apartment did not entirely match my
expectations would not be accurate, mostly because
I did not really have expectations, per se. What I
had was a series of impressions, stories, and mental
images of what it might be.
Across from my chemically intriguing stove was
another item which would occupy much of my
curiosity: the refrigerator. Covered completely with a
solid coat of ferric oxide, the rusted unit never sealed
completely, forcing me to keep the milk and any other
real perishables in the very back. Unfortunately, I had
no way of compensating for the broken seal, since the
temperature adjustment knob was missing. However,
this provided me with a true challenge which I
never did conquer: the task of thermally imaging the
refrigerator to locate any temperature leaks. Although
such thermal images would make an insulation
salesman dream very happy dreams indeed, creating
them is a very expensive process, one which the rent
on my new domicile itself prevented.
However, to say that the apartment did not entirely
match my impressions, stories, and mental images
would not be accurate, either. What it did was
completely violate them.
What I saw with my eyes and what I had seen in my
mind did not match at all, and almost immediately I
recognized the potential for scientific study.
There were ants and roaches everywhere. The ants
especially were everywhere. The roaches scattered
when I opened the door, but the ants made thin, black
lines that spider-webbed around the entire kitchen.
It was like a small child had managed to draw very
long, crooked lines up and down the walls and across
the ceiling with a thin pencil, and I was eager to find
the colony.
Disappointed in the kitchen with my initial inability
to perform tests and observations to gather solid
scientific results for further analysis, I decided to
check out my new room. I found everything to
be disappointingly in order at first glance, but
small things kept cropping up all over the place.
Apparently, the previous inhabitants were slobs.
Almost every drawer in the room had garbage in it.
That’s six bureau drawers and four drawers on each
of the two desks. Of all those drawers, only three
were empty, and this was a happy thing indeed: the
only thing a true scientist enjoys more than the ability
to accrue knowledge is to find three free gloves, a
frozen pizza wrapper, and a giant bag of Christmas
lights, all of which worked.
They seemed to be coming from behind a switch
above the filthy, nasty sink, which made me wish for
a moment that I was a microbiologist, since I was sure
that new species of microbes had developed there, just
waiting to be discovered.
The switch must have been what controlled the
garbage disposal, which I was surprised to find at
all (but, as I reasonably expected, no dishwasher),
but I was never given the opportunity to test that
hypothesis: my disposal was broken the entire time I
lived in that dorm, despite three work orders. I never
had the courage to venture inside it to try and repair
it; courage is for the Army.
54
As I pulled out the chair from the desk I claimed
as my own, I stepped my bare foot on something
rubbery and cold. I looked down and saw a circle
which blended in quite well with the carpet.
as wonderful as they actually are: collectively,
the residents rated their stove and overall living
quarters as “below average” and their refrigerator
and bathroom as “average.” However, of the 108
respondents, an astounding 17% rated at least one
of the four items as “unusable,” 38% rated at least
one item as “extremely poor,” and almost two-thirds
rated all four items as “below average” or worse.
My favorite respondent, though, was an RA, who
rated her refrigerator as the best of the four at “poor.”
Apparently, there were many apartments like mine,
though I was thankful to find that I did indeed live
in the one best suited to my natural curiosity about
things.
I stuck my nose down real close to see what it was. It
fortunately took little analysis to discover that it was a
pile of DRIED VOMIT OH GOD YUCK! (Even I have
a fully-functional “quease” button.)
Right away I went to the bathroom sink to splash
some water on my face to help hold back the slight
feeling of nausea I was feeling from that incident. I
reached down and immediately stopped myself.
Little, black, curly hairs all over the counter. Once
again, HPD refused to assist me, this time in
submitting fiber samples for DNA and biological
profile matching.
Ok, maybe the shower. I opened the door to the
shared toilet and shower room and the stench of uric
acid and ammonia (the main components of urine
which so strongly stimulate the olfactory nerves)
almost knocked me to the floor, once again triggering
my quease button.
Each respondent had the opportunity to enter
individual comments at the end of each simple
questionnaire, enhancing my research with their
own conclusions. Many expressed a general
discontent, such as one that says, “Bathroom needs
remodeling,” or another that asks, “When will our
kitchen be retiled?” Some even went as far as to
express disgust with the apartment (which surprised
me): “Everything in bad shape. When will anything
get fixed? Do they fix things here?” and “Windows
broken and major pest control problem; I feel like I
live at the YMCA” were the most humorous for me to
read.
Obviously, this was not the dorm room I thought
it would be. No, it was much, much more, and I
worried very much for the success of my studies, for I
knew that I would be spending a majority of my time
in the curious pursuit of knowledge of my new home.
Not Alone
The more I extolled the wide variety of scientific
study afforded me by my new apartment, both to the
powers that be and to anyone that would listen, the
more I realized that there were other students with
opportunities similar to mine. Granted, I moved into
what might be the most intellectually stimulating
dorm in the history of the world, but many students
had moved into similar living quarters on campus.
However, there are some truly scary comments in my
pile of questionnaires, comments on conditions that
even I would not find pleasing, and oddly, it is these
that are stated in the most matter-of-fact tones of all
the comments. (It is these comments, stated with such
calm objectivity, that remind me what I ultimately
want to be as a scientist someday.) “Stove electrocutes
us and fridge leaves massive piles of water;”
“Doorknob is broken, so does not lock;” “Window
louvers openable from outside.”
The scientist within me again dominated my train
of thought, and it occurred to me to investigate this
highly intriguing phenomenon. How many were
there? Might there be another apartment on campus
which I might like even more to live in? How many
(admittedly backward) students actually disliked such
clearly brain-enhancing conditions?
The fact that such safety issues remain unresolved is
disconcerting, to say the least. Should these problems
not be immediately addressed? Why isn’t the
residents’ safety and security the university’s numberone concern?
In a randomized, Ikena-centric study, I found
that there were far more students that were very
displeased with their rooms than there were students
who were content.
Ultimately, the question remains as to whether any
of these problems will be addressed at all. As long
as the dorms do not present any major safety risks,
why spend the money to repair anything at all?
Unfortunately, I am not a politician either, and so
lack the insight to answer such questions. Perhaps
someone with trepidation similar to my own can
tackle this problem.
I went door-to-door during two class days, ultimately
getting over 100 residents to rate their refrigerator,
stove, bathroom, and living quarters. Averaging
the data together doesn’t make the dorms sound
55
Riding Tourism’s New
Wave:
Evaluating the Cruise
Industry’s Impact in
Hilo
Environmental Concerns
The environmental concerns about the cruise
industry in Hawai‘i are fairly universal to wherever
cruise ships call home-port or visit. Issues such as
releasing contaminated bilge or ballast water into the
ocean are common to any large maritime industry.
However, issues of raw sewage/black water dumping
are particularly exacerbated when it comes to cruise
ships due to their large people-carrying capacity. For
instance, each day it is estimated that a cruise ship can
produce 30,000 gallons of raw sewage/black water
and 255,000 gallons of grey water. Minimally treated
sewage or sludge can be dumped into the water
anywhere past the 1 mile mark from shore, as long as
the ship is traveling at 6 knots (Kahea 2). Untreated
grey water can be released 3 miles from shore, and
may consist of bleaches and other chemicals used
on the ship (Kahea 2). While in port, the ships
themselves continue to have impact on the local
communities they visit in that they keep their engines
idling, sometimes for days at a time while visiting a
destination. The diesel exhaust released is estimated
to be the equivalent to 10,000-12,000 cars per day
(Kahea 3). Also, a cruise ship can produce 7 tons of
garbage per voyage, whereas 75% of these wastes
are incinerated onboard and dumped, unregulated,
into the ocean (Kahea 3). Further research is needed
to ascertain the impact on the air quality on the
communities located near ports due to cruise ship
exhaust, smoke stacks, and incinerators.
Environmental groups are quick to point out that
the cruise industry has a lengthy record of breaking
environmental laws and regulations. However,
Charles Toguchi, who lobbies for the Northwest
Cruise Ship Association in Hawai‘i, claims the
industry’s records are excellent and incidents that
have been reported and given media attention were
mere “infractions” and do not reflect a noncompliant
attitude toward environmental policy (qtd. in
McNarie 15). Still, when reviewing statistics collected
by author Ross Klein at his website devoted to cruise
ship information, he notes over 100 violations by
cruise companies within the last ten years, many of
which resulted in fines and some of them with fines of
over $100,000 (Klein).
As of 2002, the cruise industry was voluntarily
abiding by a Memorandum of Understanding with
the State of Hawai‘i and the State of Florida regarding
environmental standards and policies. One of the
inherent weaknesses with the MOU was that it relied
LeAna B. Gloor
The cruise industry invariably brings both
positive and negative impacts to their home-port
communities and to the ones they visit. Due to the
recent increases of the cruise industry in Hawai‘i,
many controversies have surfaced regarding the
proper management of this activity. Most of the
discussions have centered on the environmental
concerns, but other factors, such as the social and
physical impacts deserve considerable more time on
the discussion table. This paper will provide a brief
overview of the range of cruise industry impacts
currently being evaluated in Hawai‘i, with special
focus on the town of Hilo, in Hawai‘i County.
Presently, Hawai‘i is benefiting economically
from the cruise industry on unprecedented
levels. According to an impact study conducted
by the State of Hawai‘i Department of Business,
Economic Development and Tourism for the years
of 2002-2003, the cruise industry’s overall economic
contribution to the State’s Gross Product increased
to $390.5 million for 2003 from $381.1 million in 2002
(“Cruises”). According to statistics reported by both
the International Council of Cruise Lines and the
State’s study, in 2004 the industry was responsible
for 7,569 jobs with wages totaling $250 million for
Hawai‘i workers (ICCL, State of Hawai’i 5). This
economic growth is due in part to the increases within
the industry itself since 2001, plus approximately
550,000 cruise passengers visited Hawai‘i in 2004,
which accounted for more than 13% of all passengers
to U.S. ports (ICCL). The cruise industry is expected
to continue to experience growth due to more ships
being added in 2005, and more are slated to begin
cruising Hawaiian waters in 2006.
57
is supported by many groups because of its tough
stipulations. A short list of some of them follows:
• No dumping of sewage, graywater, oily bilge
within 12 miles of any shore
• Empower the Coast Guard and the
Environmental Protection Agency to
determine standards for sewage and
graywater discharged beyond the 12 milepoint and charges the Coast Guard and EPA
with enforcing the standards
• Allows for cruise ships to have their pollution
control equipment inspected
• Protects cruise ship employees who report
polluting activities onboard vessels
• Allows citizens to launch civil action against
any vessel or carrier in violation of the Act
(Kahea website)
The cruise industry following these regulations would
resolve many of the complaints currently launched
by environmental groups in Hawai‘i. This bill
would have sweeping repercussions for the industry,
however, the bill needs more support for it to pass
through Congress.
on the industry to self-report violations and accidents.
Certain other States, namely Alaska and California,
have taken legislative steps to protect their interests,
refusing to rely on the perpetrator’s to self-tattle
(Klein 2). Recently though, the Northwest Cruise Ship
Association has given notice to Hawai′i Governor
Linda Lingle, that they will be bowing out of the
MOU as of December 31, 2005. Reasons cited for
this are the State of Hawaii’s new Act 217 consisting
of maritime regulations which render the MOU
redundant and unnecessary (McNarie 14). Critics of
the State Act 217 decry this new development because
Act 217 is environmentally weaker in its dumping
stipulations. The MOU required dumping be outside
of 4 miles off any coast but Act 217 stipulates only
3 miles off the coast, which would open up some
previously prohibited areas between the island
chain that are customarily used for recreation and
fishing industries (McNarie 14). One plus of Act
217 is that it does have authority to legally hold
violators accountable by fines and possibly even
criminal charges, something that the MOU had no
such authority to provide. However, they are both
fundamentally flawed in that they both rely on selfreporting by the industry (McNarie 14).
Advocacy groups are now encouraging the
public to report any suspected violations, and are
even promoting financial incentives. Kahea, an
Environmental and Native Hawaiian organization,
has started a campaign entitled “Be the Eyes of the
Ocean” whereby the public is prompted to report on
the cruise lines by either filling out a website form
or by calling the complaint in to a Hawaiian phone
number. At the bottom of the form, it cites a case
where passengers who reported illegal dumping were
entitled to claim shares on the $250,000 fine against
the cruise line and notes that “individuals whose
documentation of dumping leads to fines against a
cruise line may be eligible to receive half of any fine
that is levied” (qtd. in McNarie 16). Whether this will
be an effective method of control is yet to be seen,
but grassroots organizations and advocacy groups in
various areas have already had impacts on changing
cruise industry policies, and at times, even routes.
Protests in Monterey, California were successful
in keeping a cruise ship banned from that port. In
Alaska, a shopkeepers’ strike resulted in a cruise ship
not making that village a port of call (McNarie 16).
Several groups, including Hawaii’s Kahea,
the Sierra Club, Blue Water Network, Oceana and
others, are banding together to educate and spur the
government into action to regulate the cruise industry
effectively. A bill recently introduced into Congress,
called the Clean Cruise Ship Act (S.793/H.R. 1636),
Physical and Social Impacts on Hilo
Two of the most overlooked discussions of the
cruise industry are the physical and social impacts
on the communities that have become ports of call.
Considering that some ships carry 3,000 passengers,
it is obvious that when those passengers disembark
on their land-based visitations, amenities need to be
available for them. To this end, cruise lines endeavor
to deal with this potential onslaught of visitors by
booking them on various land-based tours and
adventures. For visitors to the east side of the island
of Hawai‘i, this may include a helicopter tour of the
Hamakua Coast or the Volcano, a driving tour of
downtown Hilo, and various other adventures or
shopping excursions. However, the independentminded passengers, and those not seeking to pay
the exorbitantly overpriced bookings through the
cruise lines, often opt to embark out on their own.
Apparently, the cruise lines do not fully prepare their
passengers for the immediate area surrounding the
Hilo port, and many of the passengers that attempt
to find adventure on their own quickly become
discouraged by what they encounter.
For one thing, the Keaukaha area is primarily
industrial directly around the port. The streets are
lined with warehouses and huge gas tanks. While
passengers are informed that they can walk to
the beach from the ship, many do not apparently
understand that it is at least a one mile one-way
trip to Onekahakaha and a 3 mile one-way trip to
58
backed up on both sides to accommodate tour buses,
delivery trucks, and the general populace using the
road, not to mention the passengers and crew workers
attempting to cross the busy street on foot to get to
Keaukaha Market. At lunch-time when the cruise
ship is in, this small market, which is already dealing
with a lunchtime rush of locals, now finds that it is
often inundated with cruise ship crew and passengers
browsing for souvenirs. Locals that formerly could
count on ordering box lunches often find the lines
stretching out the door and lunch provisions quickly
running out.
Considering the physical impact that Keaukaha
residents are enduring due to the influx of cruise
ship visitors, what are the social impacts being felt
from the locals in the area? This is an area where
research needs to be done to ascertain the true nature
of how the industry is impacting the residents in more
subtle ways than are readily apparent. Community
meetings to discuss their views should be encouraged,
along with a door-to-door survey to determine
the community’s perspective and goals for their
future. The community in Keaukaha, with particular
attention to the Native Hawaiian community within
the area, should be involved in deciding the future
of the Keaukaha area. Native Hawaiian cultural
impacts should neither be overlooked nor minimized
in decision making for the future. As was noted
previously, grassroots organizations elsewhere have
had direct impacts on the cruise lines’ decisions on
where to visit and what to do while in port. To this
end, the County of Hawai‘i should be proactive in
researching and implementing a community plan for
improving the area and the existing infrastructure in
order to benefit tourists and residents alike. Possible
resources to cover these costs may come, in part,
from implementing a per-passenger tax that has been
proposed at the State level.
Richardson’s beach. Dressed inappropriately, many
cruise ship passengers attempting the walk are not
prepared to hike that far, especially on hot days. The
walk is entirely without a sidewalk, and at times one
is forced to walk in the street on the narrow shoulder
of busy Kalaniana‘ole Avenue. Even if passengers
hike to the beaches unscathed, many find that the
beaches aren’t what they were expecting. One cruise
line advertised Richardson’s beach as a good place
to surf, which implies a very different type of beach
than what most visitors find. Admittedly, some locals
do surf there, but the rocky shore is treacherous and
should be attempted by experienced surfers only.
Overall, some of the cruise ship passengers that make
it to the beaches are shocked by the small amount
of sand and the lack of wave action and are sorely
disappointed by the ‘false’ advertising presented to
them by the cruise line.
Some who disembark from the ship are
attempting to reach some mysterious shopping area
as plugged by the cruise line. Silva Street, which is a
side street off of Kalaniana‘ole Avenue and directly
across from the Port entrance, is mainly filled with
huge gas tanks and light industrial establishments
with a few commercial businesses. I have often
observed cruise ship passengers wandering through
this street trying to find a shopping district. When
asked, these passengers claim that they were told
on the ship that they could walk to the shops easily.
Through my research, I have gathered that the cruise
line was referring to the small gift shops that are in
the lobbies of the Naniloa and the Hilo Hawaiian
Hotels. The cruise lines repeatedly fail to supply
adequate directions to their passengers, and it is
doubtful that they would have been pleased by the
selection available even if they had found these shops.
This problem highlights weaknesses in the cruise
industry and in Hawai‘i County’s preparation for
dealing with this industry. On the one hand, the
industry should take better responsibility in educating
their passengers on what is reasonable to expect at
their ports of call, and on the other hand, both the
industry and the County would do well to invest in
the local communities that are near the ports. The
Keaukaha community is home to a large population
of Native Hawaiians and this community deserves
to be protected and consulted on matters that impact
their physical environment and way of life.
Since Kalaniana‘ole Avenue is the only
road for entering and exiting the area, special
considerations should be given to traffic policies and
road improvements, such as ADA sidewalks and
alternative routes for vehicles. Several times a week
when the cruise ships are in, Kalaniana‘ole Avenue is
Business Impacts
While the Keaukaha market is one of a few local
businesses that has been profiting from the surge
in cruise ship visitors, it seems that most locally
owned businesses in Hilo are ‘missing the boat’ as
far as profits are concerned. The options that cruise
ship passengers have, if they want to be shuttled
somewhere free, are limited to places such as Walmart
and the Prince Kuhio Mall. Due to enhanced security
precautions at the port facilities, the contract for
shuttling passengers is carried out by one company,
Arnott’s Lodge and Hiking Adventures of Keaukaha.
Since the cruise ships are already providing room and
board, the main amenities passengers take advantage
of while visiting their land-based destinations are
59
shopping facilities. It is unfortunate that so much
of the cruise ship shopping business is captured
by Walmart and the Mall, while local businesses
in the downtown areas are seemingly overlooked.
Requirements and/or incentives for the cruise
industry to expand their local marketing should be
considered in order to fully realize the resource that
the cruise industry could bring to Hilo. By giving
cruise tourists more local options, they may better be
able to appreciate Hawai‘i culture and have a more
‘authentic’ local experience. By ensuring that more
local businesses benefit from the cruise industry,
we will be more likely to curtail any negative social
impacts and build a strong economic base from which
to continue to improve Hawai‘i Island.
Works Cited
Conclusion
The cruise industry is booming in Hawai‘i, with
cruises getting longer and more ships being added.
For Hawai‘i to protect its maritime treasures and its
communities, we must manage the cruise industry
more carefully, with a proactive vision for the future.
Other states are enacting strict legislation with hefty
penalties for environmental violations, and other
areas have formed grassroots organizations that
have impacted cruise industry decisions. Hawai‘i
should waste no time in exerting its jurisdiction
over this industry so as to better protect the
environment and the local residents’ best interests.
Physical improvements are drastically needed to
our port facilities and the surrounding communities’
infrastructure, as well as sociological studies to
determine how the cruise industry is affecting
the local communities and Native culture. Local
businesses in Hawai‘i should be encouraged to reach
out to the cruise ship market, and Hawai‘i County
should take the lead in making sure that the cruise
lines are making adequate local options available to
their passengers.
C. S. Lewis, the British Scholar and novelist once
said that “we all want progress, but if you’re on the
wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn
and walking back to the right road; in that case, the
man who turns back soonest is the most progressive”
(Lewis). In the case of the cruise industry in Hawai‘i,
it may well be that we have been on the wrong road
for some time and now we have the opportunity to
do an “about-turn” and find the right road. By doing
so, we would demonstrate that modern Hawai‘i
is progressive in its planning, responsible in its
development, and ready to ride whatever the next
wave brings us.
--- Cruise Ships Ocean Issues. 5 December 2005.
http://www.kahea.org/ocean/
“Cruises’ Economic Role in Hawai‘i Grows.”
Honolulu Advertiser.com 7 January
2005. 30 November 2005 http://the.
honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/
Jan/07/ -bz/bz05p.html.
ICCL. “The Cruise Industry in Hawaii.” August 2005.
5 December 2005. http://www.iccl.org/
resources/2004econfactsheet_hi.pdf.
Kahea. Our Ocean is Not a Dump! Cruise Ship
Brochure. Honolulu. 5 December 2005.
http://www.kahea.org/ocean/pdf/Cruise_
Ship_Brochure.pdf.
Klein, Ross. Pollution and Environmental Fines. 5
December 2005. http://www.cruisejunkie.
com/envirofines.html
---The Cruise Industry and Environmental History
and Practice: Is a Memorandum of
Understanding Effective for Protecting the
Environment? October 2003.
Lewis, C. S. Progress Quotes. 11 December 2005.
http://en.thinkexist.com/quotations/
progress/
McNarie, Alan D. “A Lack of Cruise Control.”
Hawai’i Island Journal. Dec 1-15, 2005. pgs
14-16.
State of Hawaii. Department of Business, Economic
Development, & Tourism. 2002- 2003 Hawaii
Cruise Industry Impact Study. 30 November
2005 <www.2hawaii.gov/dbedt/latest.
60
Some Styles of
Thought in Science:
Examples Applied
to the History of
Evolution
and give theories of vera causa wide berth, for good
reason. They are leery of any attempt to extrapolate
causes from observations, confining themselves to
laws and the extraordinarily rare causal theory.
The 1859 publication of Darwin’s On the Origin
of the Species is a watershed event, in the neutrally
geographic sense of that word—recognized regardless
of how you feel about it. Subsequently, scientists
established functionalism, based on the adaptation
of critters to their niches via natural selection, as
the dominant paradigm in evolutionary biology for
virtually all of the 20th century and still going strong
into the 21st. Functionalism explains diversity among
species of critters through adaptation to either the
tasks those critters perform or the environment
they live in or both. Though he wasn’t the first to
do so, Darwin clearly propounded the supremacy
of adaptation over conservation of structure in
natural selection: ‘Hence every detail of structure in
every living creature (making some little allowance
for the direct action of physical conditions) may
be viewed, either as having been of special use to
some ancestral form, or as being now of special use
to the descendants of that form,’ (Darwin 200) and
this supremacy was then taken up as inevitable by
subsequent researchers.
One of the main criticisms of functionalism is that
while newly generated causes of traits supplant old
ones in endless succession, there is no examination
of whether functionalism is the best way to explain
these traits. The definitive tactic of functionalism is to
atomize a critter into traits, all of which are optimized
to their fullest extent, except where more optimization
would compromise some other function. The only
limit to natural selection’s power under functionalism
is the trade-off between one trait and another.
Structuralism is an alternative theory for
explaining changes in critters and species, which uses
a different approach to that of functionalism, above.
Structuralists see features of critters as both the things
that are optimized through natural selection (traits),
and the unselected byproducts of those optimizations.
Thus some things are not traits as such: the human
chin being one example that is rather a byproduct of
two other separate traits: an articulated lower jaw and
a respiratory canal separate from our feeding tube.
The headlining debate of biology in the late
18th century—between Geoffroy and Cuvier with
their slogans of ‘Unity of Type,’ and ‘Conditions of
Existence,’ respectively—opened in a not-always-
by Erik Rau
In the vastly cluttered secondhand shop of
philosophical ideas, there is a large but somewhat
empty cardboard box labeled ‘SCIENCE.’ A few terms
rattle around inside, some of which look very similar
to each other. When these terms are unpacked and
tried out on a few actual theories, however, we begin
to see how they might work. What follows is a short
discussion of some often-used but little-identified
epistemological terms in the philosophy of science,
and their roles illustrated through part of the history
of evolution.
Cautious realism and cautious inductivism can
be unsatisfying scientific paradigms. Since both
exclude stark ultimate causes, their organic natures
leave us feeling a little unsure of our footing, walking
on a frozen lake. This lack of absolute conviction
doesn’t imply any lack of scientific progress, however.
Cautious inductivism, such as that discussed by Sir
John Herschel in Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects
is a generalization that sharply limits the gathering
and sorting of knowledge whereas cautious realism is
milder--a sort of reluctance to overreach on the same
topic. As new scientific information is developed
and theories are proposed, cautious realists will craft
theories using new information but hesitate to force
the universe to fit inside those theories, preferring
instead to use the most predictive theory of a given
moment without asserting anything about the true
nature of the universe. One of the classic examples
of cautious realism is found in the astronomy of the
late 16th and early 17th centuries. At a point after the
work of Brahe, Kepler, and Copernicus but before
Galileo’s telescope observations, a cautiously realistic
astronomer could use a heliocentric model of the
Cosmos without discarding two thousand years of
physics. Cautious inductivists take this a step farther
61
Stephen Jay Gould used very different rhetorical
devices when he made his critique of adaptationism.
Gould published his paper The Spandrels of San Marco
and the Panglossian Paradigm in 1979, and attacked the
same certainty of adaptation that Owen contested
150 years earlier. Neo-Darwinists ossified the
adaptationist paradigm with an unending sequence
of discarded hypotheses; Gould offered simpler
structuralist explanations instead. Unlike Owen’s
use of repetitive arguments to establish structural
similarities, Gould dissects the adaptationist
paradigm itself, and then proceeds point by point.
As discussed above, he argues against the tactics of
atomizing every critter into traits and viewing each
trait as optimized. The prior example of the human
chin is taken directly from Gould. His analysis of the
chin is that it is not a trait unto itself, but a byproduct
of two overlapping growth fields that coincidentally
makes us more like Dudley Doright.
Gould also cites as a flaw the frequent changes
of tack amongst adaptationist arguments—if one
argument fails, another will serve just as well. His
abundant examples of about-face maneuvers in
adaptationist research papers cover Eskimo face
shapes (described first as adapted for cold weather
and second for chewing tough stuff like muktuk)
and mollusk shell patterns (as camouflage, or
perhaps as structural reinforcement). The next step
in Gould’s deconstruction is the claim of imperfect
understanding of a critters ecological niche as a cure
for a paucity of adaptive explanations for traits. This
also leads to a paradigm where a lack of immediate
utility in a trait renders it totally inexplicable. And
indeed, due to the influence of Gould and others,
adaptationism is beginning to yield pride of place to
structuralism in evolutionary biology.
Gould’s critique carries issues into the modern
arena that have been debated since Galileo tried to sell
his telescope as signal intelligence technology. But as
science exists as much in the context of society now as
then, we can expect that the demesnes of scientists are
shaped by similar winds of thought and change. The
tools we have examined need not go back into their
dusty box—they can be useful, if kept in good order.
civil discussion about structure and function in
Europe at the Institut in Paris. In England fifty years
later, Richard Owen espoused structuralism when
his expertise with comparative osteology led him
to propose somewhat obscure correspondences in
the bones of bats, moles, horses, and humans. Owen
held to cautious inductivism with these varieties
of cohesion to an archetype, even going so far as to
say flat out that, ‘To what natural laws or secondary
causes the orderly succession and progression of such
an organic phenomena may have been committed we
are as yet ignorant’ (Owen 86). Owen was responding
in part to a competing theory involving an ultimate
cause: the metaphor of animals designed to their
purpose by their Maker as are vehicles such as a hotair balloon, a locomotive, and a sailing ship designed
to their purpose by their maker.
Owen’s cautious inductivism contrasted sharply
with the full-throated adaptationism and theological
ultimate cause popular in other publications of the
time. The Bridgewater treatises (commissioned in
the early 19th century for the purpose of showing off
the intricacy of God’s creations) and other works
kept adaptationism closely linked to creationism,
so Owen tried to divide and conquer. Salting many
references to Christian doctrine throughout his text,
he emphasized religious solidarity while criticizing
adaptation. Owen’s tour de force of explication
with limbs from widely disparate vertebrates leaves
little doubt that while adaptation does play a role
in making a bat look different from a horse, the fact
that the body plans of the bat & the horse cleave to
a common archetype doesn’t allow for totality of
adaptation.
On the third hand in this discussion about
causality, Darwin was not shy about touting natural
selection both as a mechanism for the change of
one species to another, and as an ultimate cause for
adaptation. Organizing these preceding authors into
divisions by their style of epistemology can place
Darwin together with the natural philosophers, since
both he and they have ultimate causes, and casts
Owen into another camp of cautious inductivists
like Von Baer and Geoffroy. Owen’s stance on the
change in critters with time is unequivocal in the
last paragraph of ‘On The Nature of Limbs.’ The two
main points on that change are: first, it happens, and
second, we don’t know why it happens. He then goes
a step further: we don’t know why it happens, but it
doesn’t have to be God. Not only is Owen a cautious
inductivist, he is also a cautious realist. Like some
other controversial scientific authors, Owen may have
used cautious realism to ease the passage of his ideas
among criticism both collegial and religious.
62
The Diesel Engine:
An Answer to the
Rising Prices and
Shrinking Supply of
Gas
coal-derived liquid fuels, hydrogen, electricity, and
biodiesel (B100)” (Alternative Fuels Data Center). In
an attempt to encourage the perfection and use of
these fuels, the EPAct provides subsidies, tax breaks,
and credits to groups and companies that switch over
to or do extensive research and development with the
qualified alternative fuels.
With oil supplies dwindling, pump prices rising,
and the EPAct’s incentives for the fuel and motor
industries, a choice of which alternative fuel to use
will need to be made, sooner or later. With this
decision looming over many people’s heads, and
many of the fuels not having been publicly used yet,
they look at alternative fuels skeptically when trying
to make a decision. Will the fuel provide enough
power? What are the tailpipe emissions like? How
hard and expensive is it to make a car compatible
with the alternative fuel? Will the alternative fuel
vehicle be able to compete with the range and driving
capacity of gasoline? These are some of the questions
asked when a person attempts to choose. The answer
is here and it isn’t some fancy, space age contraption
like hydrogen or electricity. It is our country’s work
horse, the diesel engine combined with biodiesel.
The diesel engine has been a success since it was
invented by Rudolf Diesel. According to A Clean,
Green Alternative Fuel (CGAF), Rudolf Diesel
originally ran his engine off of biodiesel, derived from
refined peanut oil. Unfortunately, “the rise of cheap
crude oil killed his vision of farmers growing their
own fuel” (CGAF). This means that the diesel engine
was easily converted to gasoline, and that it can
easily be converted back to biodiesel with little or no
modification. There is no reason to get rid of a success
if it is already geared towards a cleaner fuel. None of
the other alternative fuels can do this. Propane and
natural gas both need special tanks and can only run
in heavily modified engines. According to Amos,
electricity requires a huge battery bank that costs
roughly two thousand dollars and has to be replaced
every two years or so. Hydrogen also requires a
compressed tank and special engine if being used in a
combustion engine. The hydrogen fuel cell is still in a
prototype phase and has not even made it to useable
production yet. Ethanol and Methanol are the only
two fuels that compete for the easiest switch over, but
they still require a flex fuel system that costs upwards
of a thousand dollars, and some minor engine
modification.
by William L. Todd
Most people can agree that the price of gasoline
has increased significantly over the last decade and
a half, and that the supply of crude oil is shrinking
because it is finite. In the late 80’s and early 90’s,
gasoline was less than seventy-five cents a gallon. It
was costing small, independent oil producers twelve
dollars to pump a fifty-five gallon barrel of crude oil
out of the ground and these barrels were only selling
for eight dollars a piece. This was a result of a surplus
without a high enough demand. But as economics
dictates, with a shrinking supply and an inelastic or
even increasing demand, prices will rise. Now prices
average just over three dollars a gallon at the pump,
on the Big Island, and were near four dollars for a
short time after Hurricane Katrina. Also, the price of
a fifty-five gallon barrel of crude oil has successively
been breaking records since 2000 and has made it past
a whopping fifty-seven dollars a barrel, in 2005. On
a side note, combustion engines fueled by gasoline
produce a significant amount of air pollutants.
Until recently, most of the general public was
unaware or apathetic to the dwindling supply
of crude oil and the resulting price increases.
Fortunately, government officials, economists,
environmentalists, and scientists anticipated this
economic principal. As a result, EPAct was created
in 1992. The EPAct is an attempt to fight rising gas
prices, a dwindling supply of oil, and gas’ effects on
the environment. It classified alternative fuels that
met certain emissions standards and were thought
to be capable in competing, performance wise, with
gasoline. The fuels that the EPAct designated as
acceptable are “methanol, ethanol, and other alcohols,
blends of 85% or more of alcohol with gasoline,
natural gas and liquid fuels domestically produced
from natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (propane),
63
A second issue, when deciding which alternative
fuel to choose, is how easy it will be to switch the
country’s infrastructure over to that specific fuel.
According to “Report Alt Fuel” (RAF), propane
currently has the highest number of refueling stations,
numbering four thousand four in 2003. While this is
a large amount of refueling points for an alternative
fuel, it is not nearly enough to supply the country and
would require many fuel providers to put in propane
specific equipment. Natural gas has roughly one
third of the amount of fueling stations as propane. It
also runs into the difficulty of forcing providers to
switch over to natural gas specific equipment. It is
fairly easy to recharge an electric car assuming that
there is a readily available outlet nearby. The problem
with this is that, with the relatively long amount of
time it takes to recharge an electric car compared the
other alternatives, how would you effectively allow
everyone to recharge outside of the home? One of
the viable answers is to put a few outlets at most
light poles in parking lots so that people could just
plug in while they shop. This would result in a large
scale, expensive remodeling of parking lots that could
become very impractical. According to RAF, there
were only seven publicly available refueling stations
for hydrogen in 2003. This means that if the country
switched to hydrogen, for the combustion engine, an
extensive infrastructure would have to be built. If the
hydrogen fuel cell ever gets mass produced, it will be
able to run off of tanks filled with methanol, which
could be attained from a methanol pump. Methanol
and ethanol would be relatively easy to incorporate
into the current fueling system. This could be done by
converting the current gas storage at gas stations into
ethanol and methanol compatible systems. This really
would not entail much more than putting in alcohol
resistant rubber and some minor pump modification.
Biodiesel is roughly the same way. Biodiesel
could be substituted into the current petroleum diesel
pumps with only a good cleaning of the storage
tanks and a replacement of gaskets, seals, and hoses.
With a diesel pump at almost every gas station, it
would be relatively easy and inexpensive to phase in
biodiesel while not having to worry about the average
consumer having to hunt down a distribution site.
Also, biodiesel can easily be brewed in a person’s back
yard, according to RAF, CGAF, Groupe Alternatives
Biodiesel Group (GABG), Lebow, et al. This means
that if the consumer wanted to put forth a little effort,
they could produce their own small renewable supply.
This makes biodiesel one of the easiest fuels for
producers to phase into the current infrastructure and
for consumers to obtain, since they can make their
own.
64
As for the diesel engine, car companies already
offer numerous models which can come with a
factory diesel engine. If consumers consistently
order diesel engines, then the producers will see the
rise in demand, and these producers did not become
large companies by ignoring the economy’s demand.
The result would be that a high demand would
force producers into manufacturing more diesel
engines because they know the economic benefits of
producing for high demand markets. This en masse
production switch over would not happen extremely
quickly, but the invisible hand of supply and demand
has proven, throughout history, that effective
substitute products will eventually out produce and
replace the current product if the current product is
too costly for consumers or producers.
Not only is it relatively easy to switch vehicles
and fueling stations over to biodiesel, but it is
also exceptionally good for the environment. The
Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC), CGAF, GABG,
RAF, Polz, and Lebow, et al. all state that biodiesel
is made from refined, new or used, vegetable and
animal fats and oils. This means that biodiesel is
a renewable resource since the feedstock could be
grown and re-grown as needed. This is much better
than having to rely on fossil fuels the way that gas,
propane, and natural gas do. Ultimately, electric
cars are usually dependent in the same way since
most of the country’s power is produced at fossil
fuel using power plants. Methanol and ethanol are
the only other choices that use renewable biomass,
such as corn, wood and other cellulose materials.
Unfortunately, MTBE, a product of methanol, has
been found to contaminate ground water. Hydrogen
can be extracted from MTBE, so its renew-ability
is directly related to methanol. Another nice thing
about biodiesel is that it, like all the other alternative
fuels, has a much lower emissions rate than gasoline.
“Neat biodiesel (100 percent biodiesel) reduces
carbon dioxide emissions by more than 75% over
conventional petroleum diesel. Biodiesel also
produces fewer particulate, carbon monoxide, and
sulfur dioxide emissions, all in which are targeted as
public health risks by the Environmental Protection
Agency” (RAF). Also, “Biodiesel offers safety
benefits over petroleum diesel because it is much less
combustible, with a flash point greater than 150°C,
compared to 77°C for petroleum diesel” (AFDC).
Natural gas, propane, ethanol, and methanol all
have emissions similar to biodiesel when used in
their pure forms. While electric cars have no tailpipe
emissions, the power plants do. Hydrogen fuel cells
produce only water as a byproduct, but unfortunately
no emissions is not the only thing that needs to be
considered when choosing a fuel.
Biodiesel is also capable of competing with
gasoline when it comes to performance, range, and
price. Biodiesel has ten octane and five centane
more then petroleum diesel. It also has about the
same driving range as conventional diesel, with the
volume of space occupied compared to the miles per
gallon being very similar between the two. While
most of the other alternatives have a higher octane
than biodiesel and gasoline, none of them have
near the same energy output with the highest being
seventy-four percent. While gasoline prices have
been increasing steadily over the last few years, many
of the alternative fuel prices have stayed the same.
According to RAF, biodiesel was roughly $1.60 per
gallon in 2002. While all the other alternative fuels
cost roughly the same as biodiesel, according to
RAF, biodiesel costs “less than 75 cents per gallon to
produce” (CGAF) at home. This means that with a
little effort people could supplement their supply with
home brewed biodiesel and save even more money.
This home production is an advantage that none of
the other fuels have.
With oil supplies dwindling, pump prices
rising, and increasing concern for the environment,
biodiesel is the way to go. All the other alternative
fuels are on par or even better in one way or another,
but then they also have their significant drawbacks.
Biodiesel is the only fuel that is well rounded enough
to compete with gasoline with out becoming a huge
economic investment of infrastructure and vehicle
modification for producers and consumers. In the
long run biodiesel will benefit our environment, our
wallets, and revitalize the workhorse of our country;
the diesel engine.
Works Cited
“A Clean, Green Alternative Fuel.” Path to Freedom.
9 Mar. 2005. 16 Sep. 2005 <http://
pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/offthegrid/
biodiesel.shtml>
Alternative Fuels Data Center. U.S. Department of
Energy. 18 Sep. 2005 <http://www.eere.
energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/prop_benefits.html>
Amos, Todd. “Is There a Better Source?” Palomar
Collage. 17 Sep. 2005 <http://daphne.
palomar.edu/di/fall99/amos.htm>
“Biodiesel: Today’s Best Alternative Fuel.” Groupe
Alternatives Biodiesel Group. 17 Sep. 2005
<http://biodiesel.alternatives.ca/pages/
menu.html>
Lebow, Molly, et al. Reasonable Alternatives for
Gasoline Fueling. 14 Sep. 2005 <http://
www.personal.psu.edu/students/s/m/
sms562/>
Polz, Harald. “What’s the Best Fuel Alternative.”
Ward’s Auto World.  1 Mar. 1996. 15 Sep.
2005 <http://waw.wardsauto.com/ar/auto_
whats_best_alternative>.
“Report Alt Fuel.” Online posting. 15 Sep. 2005
<http://www.d.umn.edu/~jmackiew/owl/
Documents/Rec_Report_Alt_Fuel.doc>
65
The Lion of
Keanakolu
nails; various faunal remains; and glass fragments
of a brandy bottle and its foil labeled ‘vieux cognac.’
Another interesting artifact recovered was a pressed
copper figure of a rampant lion (Figure 1). This
purely decorative item is the most seemingly ‘out-ofplace’ object recovered from the excavation. While
the other artifacts have some utilitarian value—even
the ‘quackery’ medicines, brandy, and French
perfume can be looked upon as necessary when one
lives and works at 6,000 feet with a herd of bovine
companions—the Keanakolu lion is not currently
associated with any utilitarian object.
by Elizabeth Leina‘ala Kahahane
Abstract
The archeological assemblage recovered during
a partial excavation of the stone-walled cabin in
Keanakolu’s Stone Corral Complex (Site 50-10-1524250) revealed a variety of nineteenth-century
technomic and socio-technic artifacts. One of the
most interesting and seemingly ‘out-of-place’ artifacts
recovered was a pressed copper figure of a rampant
lion. Research was done exploring the symbolism of
lions; the techniques used to manufacture the figure;
and seriation of lion motifs in an attempt to discover
what it was used for and why it might have been left
in a stone cabin on the slopes of Mauna Kea.
The Facts of Keanakolu’s Lion
Given the lack of specific comparative information
on this decorative object, the lion figure presents
a challenge in discovering what it was and why it
was in a paniolo’s cabin at 6,000 feet. The obvious
place to start a query is with what is known. It was
uncovered in the SE quad of the N16W15 unit. Other
items found in the quad’s screen-bag were: ceramic
sherds, glass shards, nails, bone, and charcoal. The
figure measures 2 cm wide by 2.8 cm in height and is
made out of copper. Two ‘finished’ holes, most likely
used for attachment, vertically bisect the figure. The
back of the figure is concave (Figures 2a and 2b), in
keeping with pressed sheet metal. The actual figure
shows a lion in profile facing left on its hind legs with
the front legs raised, like it is pawing the air. Since
lions are sexually dimorphic with only male lions
having manes, the lion represented by the artifact is
obviously male. Overall, the emblem is very detailed
for its size.
Introduction
On the slopes of Mauna Kea, in the North Hilo
district of Hawai‘i Island, there is a region called
Keanakolu (“the three caves”) where the remnants of
a large stone corral and its associated outbuildings
hint at past industry that is tangibly connected
with Hawai‘i’s modern ranching culture. The 2005
University of Hawai‘i at Hilo archaeology field school
was tasked with excavating one of the complex’s
outbuildings — a stone-walled cabin, which included
a built-in fireplace and now-collapsed chimney.
The archeological assemblage recovered during the
excavation was plentiful and varied. Taken together,
this material culture presents a fascinating glimpse of
the folk culture of Hawai‘i Island’s paniolo.
Methods
Research was done by exploring representations
and symbolism of lions; the techniques used to
manufacture the figure; and a seriation of lion
motifs in an effort to understand its use and place
in comparison to the rest of the recovered material
culture.
About the Site
The Stone Corral Complex of Keanakolu was first
mapped in 2001 and added to the Hawai‘i State
Inventory (50-10-15-24250). During the 2005 field
school, five contiguous 1 x 1 m units were placed
inside the stone-walled cabin. The archeological
assemblage recovered during the excavation revealed
a variety of nineteenth-century utilitarian and sociotechnic artifacts. Among the artifacts recovered were
nineteenth-century ammunition, percussion caps,
lead shot, and a musket ball; medicine and toiletry
bottles; stoneware food-jars and other ceramic sherds;
Historical and Present Representations
The first true lions appeared about 600,000 years ago
throughout Europe, the Middle East, India, much
of Africa, across Asia and into Alaska (World Book
Encyclopedia 2004:340; O’Brien 1987:115). Other lion
subspecies roamed North and South America during
the upper Pleistocene (O’Brien 1987:115). “Although
the lion achieved a terrestrial range greater than any
67
side (i.e., dexter and sinister) which is determined
from the perspective of the person carrying the shield.
The term rampant refers to “any animal erect, having
one hind paw on the ground, the other three paws
and tail elevated, head looking to the dexter” (Grant
1976:117).
land mammal except man…” (O’Brien 1987:115),
lions are currently found in the wild only in Africa
and India. Despite their current limited range, lions
have been depicted in art and architecture throughout
the world. The earliest civilizations painted lions
on cave walls or fashioned talismans for personal
adornment. The symbol of the lion has persisted and
“…been recognized throughout human civilization as
a symbol of power and strength” (O’Brien 1987:114).
Nicknamed the ‘king of beasts,’ the lion is a “wellknown symbol of both beauty and power” and
impresses with its “strength and royal appearance”
(World Book Encyclopedia 2004:340).
Symbolism
“Symbols express complex ideas succinctly and
economically...” while conveying multiple levels of
meaning at the same time. Symbols are multivocal,
polysemic, or multivalent (Womack 2004:3). That is,
symbols speak with many voices, have multiple levels
of meaning, and make multiple appeals. Though both
use and meaning are culturally assigned, there is still
a logical association between a symbol and the thing
it represents (Womack 2004:5). According to Novalis,
a poet-philosopher of the late eighteenth-century
Romantic movement, “the relation of a symbol to
its meaning could always be reversed: the meaning
could become the symbol, the content could become
the symbolic form” (Rosen 1984:69). Whether the
emblem of the lion was adopted by royalty because
it symbolized strength, courage, and power or the
qualities of that class infused the lion semantic with
regality, prestige and grandeur, the result is a symbol
recognized for both sets of appeals.
Throughout history, the lion motif has been used in
art and architecture, as items for personal adornment,
and national symbols. Images of lions have been
found in ancient Sumeria and Mesopotamia; in Coptic
Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan; in India, China,
Japan, and Sri Lanka; in England, Scotland, Greece,
France, Germany, Italy and the Americas. Some of the
motifs are ostentatious (Figure 3) and some are highly
abstract (Figure 4). One of the most persistent uses is
in the adornment of various modes of transportation
— for example, a first-century Roman chariot fitting
(Figure 5); a medieval harness pendant (Figure 6); and
a contemporary automobile hood ornament (Figure
7).
The placement or arrangement of the image is also
important to the message being conveyed. For
example, a lion passant (standing on all four paws)
gives a sense of latent, harnessed power; whereas the
image of a lion rampant (on its hind legs and pawing
the air with its front legs) is viewed as a fighting
attitude (Adeline 1966:329).
A widely recognized modern use of the lion motif is
in heraldry, where it was appropriated by sovereigns
and leading nobles for their coats-of-arms. Though
the use of various symbols emerges earlier, the science
of heraldry was formalized at the beginning of the
thirteenth-century and describes armoral bearings,
or coat-of-arms, and their accessories in the proper
terms (Grant 1976:I). The origins of heraldry lie in
the European Middle Ages, resulting from the need
to distinguish participants in battles or jousting
tournaments, and to describe the various devices
they carried or had painted on their shields (Figure
8). The earliest documented use of the lion in a royal
emblem was by Henry I of England (son of William
the Conqueror), who had earned the title of ‘Lion of
Justice’ during his reign. It is said that at the wedding
of his daughter, Henry I hung a shield painted with
small lions around the neck of his new son-in-law
(Pinches 1974:13).
Technology
Before the industrial revolution, the technology
of copper production consisted of a coppersmith
hammering out objects, using an anvil to shape
the creations. In 1769, John Pickering, a London
toymaker, patented his machine for stamping articles
out of sheet metal. Modifying Pickering’s stamping
press, another Englishman, Richard Ford, began
to employ shaped dies which enabled pots, pans,
dishes, and an unending variety of other things
to be manufactured from sheets in bulk quantities
(Alexander 1955:internet). The Keanakolu lion
has two ‘finished’ holes and a resource on modern
stamping press practices hint at possible past
techniques: “The majority of holes in metal stampings
are round…[and] may be either punched with press
tools or drilled and reamed” (Strasser 1971:18). Once
the stamping process was mechanized, the low overall
The heraldic terms that apply to the Keanakolu lion
are: dexter and rampant. In heraldry, dexter is used
to “signify the proper right side of anything; that is,
the side on the left of the spectator” (Grant 1976:76).
In other words, each coat-of-arms has a right and left
68
costs for simple manufacturing processes (Strasser
1971:3) enabled companies to mass produce wares for
sale.
(30.15%); the coast of California for $62,000 (22.79%);
China for $42,000 (15.44%); and Valparaiso and Lima
for $36,000 (13.24%). The article mentions types of
goods brought into the Hawaiian economy: from the
United States, Chile, and Peru—American domestic
cotton cloths, prints of calicoes, hardware, sheathing
copper, cordage, canvas, naval stores, paints, iron,
ship bread, nails, glass, salt provisions, rum, brandy,
gin, wine, and furniture; from California—otter
skins, bullock hides, and horses; from China—silk
and cotton goods, nankins, teas, sugar, etc.; from the
Society and other islands—pearl shells, turtle shells,
sugar, cocoa nut oil, etc. The article also states that,
in 1834, the total number of vessels to arrive at the
Honolulu harbor was 159, 36 of which were merchant
ships (Niles’ National Register 1836: 440). While the
correspondent’s notations do not specifically mention
an imported item decorated with a small copper lion,
the information recorded establishes that by 1834 a
healthy economic exchange of international goods
flowed through the port of Honolulu.
As for establishing a date of manufacture, Pickering’s
patent of the stamping press allows for a terminus
post quem date of 1769 for the Keanakolu lion.
Unfortunately, establishing a terminus ante quem date
is not possible at this time. The item most stylistically
similar to the Keanakolu lion is the contemporary
automobile hood ornament and a specific date for that
design has not been determined, but the company
was founded in 1910 and the ornament is still sold
today.
Seriation
Assembling various depictions of lions resulted in a
huge array of time periods and styles. Initial seriation
of the examples proved relatively straightforward.
For example, the fantastical caricatures of Japan
(Figure 9) and China (Figure 10) were not at all
similar to Keanakolu’s lion figure. Passant (on all
fours) motifs, while interesting, were not comparable
to the rampant lion. Most of the rampant lion
images gathered are European, with one American
example (Figure 11). Of these, the motifs of
Scotland (Figure 12), France and America were more
slender and stylized. The image that most closely
resembles Keanakolu’s lion is the present-day hood
ornament manufactured in England (Figures 1 and 7
respectively). Both are realistic representations of a
lion: a powerful body, a thick mane and an executable
stance. Both lions are rampant, in profile facing
dexter, have open mouths and a tail that curves into
an ‘S’ while touching the lion’s back. This stylistic
trait may be attributed to the manufacturing process
or the fact that without the ‘support’ of the body, the
tail would easily break.
In 1851, John Thomas Waterhouse established
an import business in Honolulu. In 1872, an
advertisement ran in the Pacific Commercial
Advertiser that included an ornate crest of a
rampant lion, shield and unicorn heralding John
Thomas Waterhouse as an ‘importer of English,
French, American and German goods’ (Figure 13).
Unfortunately, a product with a rampant lion motif
was not mentioned, but the advertisement further
reinforces the presence of global trade and economic
networks in nineteenth-century Hawai‘i.
According to Post Office in Paradise and maps from
Whitney’s Guide to Hawai‘i (1890 edition), native
schooners were the mainstay of inter-island shipping
well into the latter part of the nineteenth-century.
Maps detailing early inter-island shipping and mail
routes between the five main islands of Kaua‘i, O‘ahu,
Moloka‘i, Maui and Hawai‘i Island (Figure 14), in
addition to over-land mail routes specific to Hawai‘i
Island (Figure 15), give a visual representation of
how goods and correspondence moved throughout
the islands. These routes of commerce and
communication could well have transported goods
not available for direct purchase from stores on
Hawai‘i Island.
Tangents … Just a Few
Economic Systems / Global Networks
In 1836, the Niles’ National Register (published
from 1811 to 1849) reprinted an article entitled
“Trade with the Sandwich Islands” by a unidentified
correspondent of the Boston Mercantile Journal.
According to the article, in 1834, imports were
brought into the port of Honolulu from the United
States of America; Valparaiso and Lima; the coast
of California; China; the Society and other south
sea islands; America and England (via whaling
ships); New Zealand and New South Wales; and
the Columbia River and Russian settlements. For
1834, the total value of imports was $272,000 with
the United States of America accounting for $82,000
Possible Associations
The ‘finished’ holes that bisect the figure would
suggest that it was mounted onto a surface using
small tacks or nails. There is no evidence that it had
been attached to another metal surface. The four
69
occupants of a relatively isolated stone cabin, 6,000
feet above sea level. Foreign companies could afford
to produce and export items in mass quantities that
had previously been available only to the wealthy.
Shipping, trade and mail routes potentially allowed
for the ‘mail-order’ of certain goods, while other
specific faunal remains suggest a trade or social
relationship with coastal dwellers. A Hawai‘i
Island paniolo had access to medicine from America;
preserved food-stuffs from China; and perfume
and brandy made in France. These are examples of
technomic and socio-technic items that the cabin’s
occupants deemed worthy of purchase to enhance
their quality of life. Collectively, the recovered
material culture presents an intriguing look at the folk
culture of Hawai‘i Island’s paniolo.
main methods by which two metallic surfaces are
joined are soldering, brazing, welding, and riveting
(John 1953:23). Three of the mentioned techniques
(i.e., soldering, brazing and welding) use molten
metal to attach two separate metal pieces to each
other; therefore, holes would be unnecessary. The
fourth technique, riveting, is used when the join
needs to support a substantial amount of weight (John
1953:30). This is not the case with the Keanakolu lion;
the figure itself is lightweight and concave, seemingly
for decorative purposes and not heavy use.
With all this in mind, there are limited materials to
which the figure could have been attached, namely
leather and wood, the most readily available materials
at the time. The idea of the figure being mounted
onto leather horse tack or an associated item is very
appealing, possibly because of the already established
use for the cabin, corral complex and area. With
some objectivity, one quickly realizes that the lion
figure was not made to withstand the heavy use of
work-gear. However, it is possible that the figure was
attached to a decorative tack item, like a ‘Sunday-best’
saddle bag or pair of chaps. As for the lion being
mounted onto wood, the possibilities are almost
limitless — a walking cane, furniture, and an endless
number of decorative items. The lion of Keanakolu
could have decorated a clock; a box used to store
tobacco (Figure 16), snuff, or jewelry; or even a wood
bowl. At this time, the figure’s association is only
speculation.
Conclusion — The Anthropology of it
All
Midway through the nineteenth-century, international
expositions (‘world fairs’) brought together the
nations of the world and transformed the nature
of international commerce (Francastel 2000:35).
Communication and transportation also improved,
exposing an ever-increasing rural population to
cosmopolitan taste (Bishop and Coblentz 1982:126).
Knowledge of sea routes developed parity between
countries, “…causing earlier commercial motives to
disappear” (Francastel 2000:35). A complete reversal
of commerce resulted and “…instead of seeking light,
expensive products to furnish to advanced countries,
nations sought low-cost products to supply to poor
countries in large quantities. Commerce was tied no
longer to luxury, but to labor” (Francastel 2000:35).
What does this mean to Keanakolu? The material
culture excavated represents the last occupation of
the stone cabin and speaks to the economic and social
systems of that time. Goods produced in countries
around the world were readily available, even to the
70
71
72
73
References
No Author Listed
2000 Post Office in Paradise (on-line).
Accessed on December 7, 2005 at http://
www.hawaiianstamps.com/.
Adeline, Jules
1966 The Adeline Art Dictionary. New York,
Frederick Ungar Publishing Co.
Alexander, W. O.
1955 A Brief Review of the Development of the
Copper, Zinc and Brass Industries in Great Britain
from AD 1500 to 1900. Murex Review, Vol. 1,
No. 15. Reprinted on the web and accessed
on December 7, 2005 at http://72.14.203.104/
search?q=cache:wHsQNeBXOEAJ:www.
oldcopper.org/industry_development.htm+Jo
hn+Pickering+London+toymaker&hl=en&gl=
us&ct=clnk&cd=2.
O’Brien, Stephen J., Janice S. Martenson, Craig Packer,
Lawrence Herbst, Valerius de Vos, Paul Joslin,
Janis Ott-Joslin, David E. Wildt, and Mitchell
Bush
1987 Biochemical Genetis Variation in
Geographic Isolates of African and Asiatic Lions.
National Geographic Research, Vol. 3, No.
1:114-124.
Pinches, J. H. & R. V.
1974 The Royal Heraldry of England.
Vermont, Charles E. Tuttle Co.
Bishop, Robert and Patricia Coblentz
1982 American Decorative Arts: 360 Years of
Creative Design. New York, Harry N. Abrams,
Inc.
Rosen, Charles and Henri Zerner
1984 Romanticism and Realism: The
Mythology of Nineteenth-Century Art. New
York, The Viking Press.
Francastel, Pierre
2000 Art & Technology in the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries. New York, Zone Books.
Schaller, George B.
2004 Lion. The World Book Encyclopedia,
“L” Vol. 12:340-343.
Grant, Francis J.
1976 The Manual of Heraldry: A Concise
Description of the Several Terms Used, and
Containing a Dictionary of Every Designation in
the Science. Detroit, Gale Research Company.
Strasser, Federico
1971 Functional Design of Metal Stampings.
Dearborn, Society of Manufacturing
Engineers.
John, F.
1953 Metalcraft. New York, Dover
Publications, Inc.
Womack, Mari
2005 Symbols and Meaning: A Concise
Introduction. Walnut Creek, AltaMira Press.
No Author Listed
1836 Trade with the Sandwich Islands. Niles’
National Register, Issue: August 27, Vol. 50,
No. 1:440.
74
The Original British
Invasion
by Jessica Anne Gard
In the mid-nineteenth century, the dialogue of the
American literary world focused on discussion over
the need for a legitimate and recognized American
literature. Lack of international copyright protection,
coupled with the rise of the American capitalist drive
and compounded by a need to assert independence
from the suffocating yoke of British culture, yielded a
disenfranchised generation of American authors who
waged a war of literary self-reflection against their
culture, their public and the publishing industry.
One of these authors, Edgar Allan Poe, worked to
achieve a revolution of American literature through
his work as a writer and in the business of publishing.
Poe sought ways to bypass the issues of book
publishing while still reaching the American public
and mercilessly promoted raised standards towards
American literature. Poe’s “Ms. Found in a Bottle,”
analyzed through the lens of historical interpretation,
echoes the problems inherent in British hegemony in
publishing and in American culture, and reverberates
with political and personal resonance. This short
story is rife with evidence of self-reflection regarding
his forays into the business end of serial publications.
The foremost problem presented to American
writers was the entrenchment of European literature
in the American market. Lack of international
copyright protection for works of literature enabled
printers to pirate British works and sell them at a
cheaper rate than American literature by avoiding
the cost of royalties to the author (Thompson xxxvii).
Although it would appear the unfairness was in
balance on both sides of the pond, the scales of
injustice were tipped slightly by the fact that British
professional authors outnumbered their American
brethren twenty to one (Furnas 322). According to
publisher Samuel Goodrich, in 1820 in the United
States British authors sold twice as many books as
their American counterparts (Nye 76).
Examination of Poe’s correspondence reflects
the author’s frustrated attempts to navigate the
hostile climate of American publishing. In the end,
circumstances led Poe on a course that formed a
75
unique aspect of American literature and culture.
Poe became a pioneer of the “American short story”
(Thompson xv).
Unfortunately, for Poe, the American serials
publications fared no better against the onslaught of
pirated British literature. The Anglo plague’s effect
on the magazine, or serial market, was manifold.
First, American periodicals had the same privileges
as the book printer regarding copyright laws. For
example, Godey’s Lady’s Book was almost completely
comprised of British material for the first seven
years of its publication (Furnas 321-322). A second
incarnation was formed by publishers who did not
constrain themselves to the pirating of articles but
often republished the entire British periodical. The
New Monthly, the Quarterly and the Political Register
found themselves reprinted for the American market
(Peach 17). A third publishing trick was to reprint
selections from several overseas periodicals into
an eclectic magazine as in the title, Select Reviews
and the Spirit of the Foreign Magazines (Peach 17).
In less damaging and more admirable instances,
British magazines served as a template for fledgling
American publications such as American Quarterly
Review, North American Review, and American Monthly
Magazine (Peach 17).
A fine sketch of the frustrating roundabout of
Nineteenth century publishing lies in the tale of Poe
and his Folio Club manuscript. Poe began earnest
attempts at a writing career in 1829. By May 1833,
he was peddling a treatment for “The Folio Club” or
“Eleven Tales of the Arabesque” to various publishers
(Thompson xxiii-xxv). Publishers universally balked
at what they perceived to be a risky venture. In 1834,
Poe secured a tentative interest from Carey & Lea,
but the publisher refused to grant Poe an advance
on the publication. The reason for Carey & Lea’s
reluctance to provide an advance lay in the estimated
risk that the publication of the book would not prove
profitable. Poe, in dire straights, wrote to his patron
John P. Kennedy and requested his intercession in the
matter (to Kennedy Nov.19, 1834 www.eapoe.org).
Kennedy replied by explaining Carey & Lea’s opinion
in the matter and describing a compromise to secure
Poe needed money. Carey & Lea would send out
the short stories in the work to interested magazines,
which would supply Poe with money while he waited
for the publication to prove lucrative (from Kennedy
Dec.22, 1834 www.eapoe.org). This compromise later
worked to Poe’s detriment and sealed his fate as a
short story writer.
She is built of a material to which I am a
stranger. There is a peculiar character about
the wood which strikes me as rendering it
unfit for the purpose to which it has been
applied. I mean its extreme porousness,
considered independently of the worm
eaten condition which is a consequence of
navigation in these seas, and apart from the
rottenness attendant upon age. It will appear
perhaps an observation somewhat overcurious, but this wood would have every
characteristic of Spanish oak, if Spanish oak
were distended by natural means. [italics
Poe’s] (Poe 113)
In addition to this description of the ship and its
peculiar porous wood, Poe mentions a Dutch sailor’s
saying regarding the inevitability of a ship’s body
growing in bulk on the sea, as with a living body (Poe
113). Add to this the assertion that the ship itself is
caught in a powerful and inescapable current that
carries it southward (Poe 115). Furthermore, the
narrator claims “the ship and all in it are imbued with
the spirit of Eld”; he feels like a “dealer in antiquities”
and laments the influence of this spirit. It has affected
him and “[his] very soul has become a ruin” (Poe 114).
In analyzing these passages, with the ship as a
metaphor for America’s literary world and the sea
as its primary influencing force, Poe’s statements
betray a particularly astute commentary on the
pervasiveness of British literature and culture. First,
the ship being porous takes on more of the seawater
(British influence) than is best. Second, is the
unnaturalness of the material, “if Spanish oak were
distended by unnatural means,” the ship presents the
appearance of a wood carrying a European means
but, the appearance is achieved by an unnatural
distending or bloating. The ship is waterlogged
with this British influence. Third, the influence that
has pervaded the ship has pervaded the men in it,
including the narrator. Fourth, the nature of the
influence is one of antiquity or, “the spirit of Eld,”
and like the obsolete mathematical instruments, it
is useless, inspires hopelessness and is dead and
deadening. Last, this current traps the ship, the
pervasiveness of its element destroys the souls of the
men and it carries the ship southward or hellbound.
A few years after the publication of “Ms. Found
in a bottle,” Poe embarked on a career working in
the business end of the writing business (Thompson
xxvii). He spent many years working on the editor’s
staff of various literary magazines. He was a vicious
critic of American literature, intolerant of both the
idea that the promotion of American literature
necessitated a lower standard (Thompson xxix) and
Presumably, Carey & Lea’s concern regarding
the profitability of publication led to a significant
delay. When the publication of “Eleven Tales of
the Arabesque” by way of Carey & Lea was not
forthcoming, Poe sent treatments to more publishers.
In 1835, a letter to Kennedy makes it clear that
Poe had convinced his employer, Mr. White of the
Southern Literary Messenger, to print his “Tales” in
the format which they were intended (to Kennedy
Sept.11, 1835 www.eapoe.org).
Apparently, the arrangement fell through and
in early 1836, Poe appealed to the good nature of
J.K. Paulding to help him publish the manuscript.
Paulding replied that he knew of two publishers in
New York, one published only religious texts and
schoolbooks and he held some personal enmity
toward the other. Paulding instead forwarded the
manuscript to Harper & Brothers (from Paulding,
Mar.17, 1836 www.eapoe.org). Harper & Brothers
declined to publish the manuscript, in large part due
to the previous publication of much of its material in
periodicals (from Harper & Brothers June 19, 1836.
www.eapoe.org).
In September 1836, Poe wrote to publisher
Harrison Hall peddling the same book (to Harrison
Hall Sept. 2, 1836. www.eapoe.org). “Eleven Tales of
the Arabesque” would not see publication in a book
format until 1839. Lea & Blanchard, formerly Carey
& Lea, published it (http://www.eap.org/works/
editions/tga.htm).
Published in October of 1833, the beginning
of Poe’s battle over “The Folio Club,” Poe’s short
story, “Ms. Found in a Bottle,” shows some of Poe’s
frustration in navigating the literary world. In this
tale Poe is seen as both as captain and passenger
on a cursed ship navigating tumultuous seas. He
is speaking in a foreign tongue and his voice is less
audible than would be natural in that situation. This
problem of voice and language in the captain and
crew suggests communication problems, problems
being seen or discovered, and problems being heard.
These are the problems of the American writers in
Poe’s time.
In the extended metaphor, the ship is the source of
the crew’s problem and the only thing on which they
can rely. This dependence and causation inextricably
links the crew, captain, and ship together. The ship is
uncontrollable. It is what tosses adrift on the ocean,
containing the sailors and condemning them to an
eternity at sea. The ship is what can never reach port
and so the men within her to share her fate. On the
condition of the ship, the narrator says:
76
Bottle.” His experience with rejection and other
frustrations attendant upon the American author
in this time are echoed in the experiences of the
narrator. Poe’s narrator finds himself flung on to a
passing ship, where he is invisible to the crew stating,
“Concealment is utter folly on my part, for the people
will not see” [italics Poe’s] (Poe 113). He undertakes to
write his “Ms. Found in a Bottle” for the sole reason of
tossing his story into the ocean, hoping it will gain an
audience, but not for any hope of salvation (Poe 112).
Clearly, the frustration of the undiscovered writer
manifests in a tale, but in the event the reader doubts,
Poe strikes one more blow:
An incident has occurred which has given me
new room for meditation. Are such things
the operation of ungoverened Chance? I
had ventured upon deck and thrown myself
down...while musing upon the singularity of
my fate, I unwittingly daubed with a tarbursh
the edges of a neatly-folded studding-sail...the
thoughtless touches of the brush are spread
out into the word DISCOVERY (Poe 112).
This theme of the publishing business in ‘Ms.
Found in a Bottle” is not limited to the experiences
of the writer. Although Poe would not begin his
foray into the business end of serial publications until
1835 (Thompson xxvii), Poe provides an encoded
explanation as to the plague in American publishing.
As the stowaway/narrator is the writer in this
extended metaphor, the crew is the audience and
publishers, and the ship is the American publishing
business and the culture.
Having established that the men of the ship “will
not see” (Poe 112), Poe’s narrator adds another detail
about the crew:
They paid me no manner of attention, and,
although I stood in the very midst of them
all, seemed utterly unconscious of my
presence. Like the one I had first seen in the
hold, they all bore about them the marks of
a hoary old age. Their knees trembled with
infirmity; their shoulders were bent double
with decrepitude; their shriveled skins rattled
in the wind; their voices were low, tremulous
and broken; their eyes glistened with the
rheum of years; and their gray hairs streamed
terribly in the tempest. Around them...lay
scattered mathematical instruments of the
most quaint and obsolete construction (Poe
113).
In viewing the “decrepitude” of his fellow
countrymen, bent of back and weak of knee, the
significance of voices that are “low, tremulous and
broken” suggest these are fellow compatriots and
the American literary world’s aping of European
conventions (Poe 632-633). After establishing his
reputation, working under various editors, Poe
attempted to launch several projects, such as new
magazines, which sought only the contributions of
American authors or buying out failing serials to
revamp the format (Thompson xxxii & xxxix).
Just as tales of Poe’s trials illustrate the popularity
and development of the short story, a method to
which American authors wishing to publish were
often limited, the professional trials of Poe as an
editor and critic of literary magazines illustrate even
more clearly the problems inherent in promoting
American literature in the mid-nineteenth century.
Steep competition in the serials market led to many
failures. Of the four to five thousand magazines
launched between 1825 and 1850, only six hundred
survived by mid-century (Sellers 371).
The first clue is the use of the abbreviation, Ms.,
which is shorthand for manuscript in the publishing
business. Additionally, several key biographical
details relate back to Poe and solidify this impression.
First, the narrator establishes his position in society
as one in which “hereditary wealth afforded [him] an
education of no common order” but he had become
estranged from his family (Poe 106). At this point in
Poe’s life, communications with his wealthy foster
father, John Allan, had ceased (Thompson xxiii). Poe
then establishes that the narrator has been adrift in the
world as if the writing is currently adrift on the sea
(Poe 107-108). The parallel to Poe’s life is that John
Allan had been a steady source of financial and social
support for Poe and because of their estrangement in
1830, he was left without the contacts and income on
which he had come to depend (Thompson xxiii). “Ms.
Found in a Bottle” underscores the reality of Poe alone
and tossing adrift on a hostile sea, when the narrator
explains how after encountering a mysterious
atmospheric anomaly on the sea and experiencing
some cataclysm apparently related to it, the narrator
discovers that all on the ship, except himself and a
Swede, have disappeared (Poe 108-109).
The parallels to Poe’s life established, the story
moves into the crux of Poe’s theme. By October 1833,
Poe’s passion for a career as an author, an anathema
to his foster father, had gained the momentum
of ambition. He had been active in establishing
himself as an author since 1827, but it appears
to have become more a consuming desire as the
circumstances of his sacrificed his military career
in 1831 might be construed as a choice to focus on
writing (Thompson xxii-xiii). This timeline places
Poe in the business of seeking publication for six
years prior to the publication of “Ms. Found in a
77
moment of revelation regarding the British influence.
He is cursing the commission of a monarch, which
has condemned him to sail an eternity, tossed about
on the ocean on an uncontrolled ship. The captain
pours over this royal commission, as if within it is the
solution to the problem. The captain suffers also the
same insubstantial voice as the crew.
To understand the depth of the devastating cycle,
perpetuated by the lack of international copyright
protection on American authors’ careers, one must
examine the rapid expansion of the United State’s
printing business that left national literature failing
in its wake. A steady innovation in technology and
distribution that characterized the mid-nineteenth
century, caused an explosion of publication in
America. By 1825, America had almost twice as
many newspapers as Britain. Magazines and
periodicals, which numbered twelve at the beginning
of the century, grew to almost one hundred titles
by 1825, between 1825 and mid-century four to five
thousand more were launched. By 1830, America
matched Britain’s book production at approximately
one thousand titles annually and “the estimated
value of American book output more than doubled
from $2.5 million in 1820 to $5.5 million in 1840.”
Unfortunately, the nation’s writers gained nothing
since the subject matter consisted mostly of religious
works and schoolbooks with a fair sprinkling of
pirated British works (Sellers 369-371). Such a
profound loss of opportunity mitigated both the
writers’ economic and influential gains, and ensured
the monetary poverty of American writers and the
cultural poverty of the nation.
By 1825, the economic motivations of American
printers firmly secured British domination of the
American book and magazine market and created
a hostile environment toward American authors
(Krupat 966). The trend fed the market’s creation of
a cultural vortex that swept publishers, the public,
and literary critics into a vacuum of obsequiousness
toward British culture.
In 1820, British literary critic Sidney Smith jeered,
“In the four corners of the globe, who reads and
American book?” (Sellers 372). Such taunts provided
a strong impetus for writers such as Edgar Allen
Poe to promote a wholly American literature to rival
their European counterparts and win the respect
and recognition of the rest of the world as a nation
independent of its mother country.
authors adrift in the same impassible ocean. The
mention of obsolete mathematical instruments is also
telling, their presence underscores failed attempts to
solve the problem, an inability to guide the ship, and
it supplies imagery that these are men of a long time
past. Here is a frustrated narrator/author trapped
on a ship frozen in time. This is an accusation that
American subservience to the older British culture
and literature prevents the growth of American
literature. It seems almost certain when Poe’s narrator
finds Poe among their number:
I have seen the captain face to face, and in
his own cabin--but, as I expected, he paid me
no attention. Although in his appearances
there is, to a casual observer, nothing which
might bespeak him more or less than man...
In stature he’s nearly my own height; that
is five feet eight inches. He is of well-knit
and compact frame of body, neither robust
nor remarkably otherwise. But it is the
singularity of expression which reigns upon
the face--it is the intense, the wonderful,
the thrilling evidence of old age so utter, so
extreme, which excites within my spirit a
sense--a sentiment ineffable. His forehead,
although little wrinkled, seems to bear upon
it the stamp of a myriad of years--his gray
hairs are records of the past, and his grayer
eyes are Sybils of the future. The cabin floor
was thickly strewn with strange iron clasped
folios, and mouldering instruments of science,
and obsolete long forgotten charts. His
head was bowed down upon his hands, and
he pored, with a fiery unquiet eye, over a
paper which I took to be a commission, and
which, at all events, bore the signature of a
monarch. He muttered to himself, as did the
first seaman whom I saw in the hold, some
low peevish syllables of a foreign tongue, and
although the speaker was close at my elbow,
his voice seemed to reach my ears from the
distance of a mile (Poe 114).
Physically, Poe seems to be describing himself.
Poe’s physical appearance is documented; his military
records place his height at 5’8”, many accounts
describe his eye color as gray, which seems to fit
with the famous daguerreotype, and most sources
describe him as slight of build, an estimated 140
pounds (www.eapoe.org). This is Poe, the writer, at a
78
Annotated Bibliography
Further Reading
Krupat, Arnold & Hershel Parker. Introduction. The
Norton Anthology of American Literature,
Sixth Edition. Vol. B American Literature:
1820-1865. Ed. by Nina Baym. New York &
London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003. 957977.
I regret a lack of space required to fully demonstrate
the influence of the British culture on America in the
first half of the nineteenth century. It seems to be
common knowledge as I find it referenced in every
source. The following are books and articles I read
but was unable to reference that specifically address
the problem.
Furnas, J.C. A Social History of the United States 15871914. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1969.
This is an informative introduction to a book of collected
articles on the subject of cultural change and the market
economy at this time. It also examines the main ideas of a
number of works produced on the subjects related to the
book’s theme.
Martin, Scott C. Introduction. Cultural Change and
the Market Revolution in America, 1789-1860.
Edited by Scott C. Martin. Lanham, Boulder,
New York, Toronto and Oxford: Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2005. 1-12.
Nye, Russell Blaine. Society and Culture in America:
1830-1860. Ed. by Henry Steele Commager
and Richard B. Morris. New York, Evanston,
San Francisco and London: Harper & Row
Publishers. 1974.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “Exordium to Critical Notices.”
The Selected Writings of Edgar Allen Poe:
A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. by G.R.
Thompson. New York & London: W.W.
Norton & Company, 2004. 632-636.
Examines the role of the literary critic in the Nineteenth
Century and the sway he held over the American public
and the literary marketplace. Showing how Poe hated New
England Brahmins’ love of all things British could have
significant influence on the American public and cultural
development.
Machor, James L. “Fiction and Informed Reading in
Early Nineteenth Century America.” Nineteenth Century Literature 47, No 3
(1992):320-348. JSTOR. University of Hawaii at Hilo Mookini Lib., Hilo. http://
www.jstor.org.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “Ms. Found in a Bottle.” The
Selected Writings of Edgar Allen Poe: Norton
Critical Edition. Ed. by G.R. Thompson. New
York & London: W.W. Norton & Company,
2004. 106-115.
Peach, Linden. British Influence on the Birth of
American Literature. London & Basingstoke:
The MacMillan Press LTD, 1982.
Sellers, Charles. The Market Revolution Jacksonian
America 1815-1846. New York & Oxford:
Oxford University Press. 1991.
This article examines the adoption of British aristocratic
conventions and a slavish worship of them by Bourgeois
Americans, the US Nouveau Riche.
Mann, Anthony. “ ‘A Nation First in All the
Arts of Civilization’:Boston’s Post-
Revolutionary Elites View Great Britain.”
American Nineteenth Century History 2, no. 2 (2001): 1-34. JSTOR. University of Hawaii at Hilo Mookini Lib., Hilo. http://www.jstor.org.
The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, Inc. Home
Page. 19 August 2005. 29 October 2005.
http://www.eapoe.org/works/editions/tga.
htm.
Thompson, G.R. Introduction. The Selected Writings
of Edgar Allen Poe: A Norton Critical Edition.
Ed. by G.R. Thompson. New York & London:
W.W. Norton & Company, 2004. xiii-xlviii.
79
“There’s Nothing
so Bad for a Cough
as Coughing!”: An
Insight into the World
of Quackery, Nostrum,
and Patent Medicine.
More importantly, I will be discussing their legacy
on today’s medical culture, and perhaps, some vital
lessons we can learn from this broken medicine bottle.
Keanakolu’s Bottle of Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral
The area of Keanakolu was a large ranching
industry center in the later half of the 19th century.
The Stone Corral Complex is a series of stone walled
corrals, with two (known) small outbuildings with
stone foundation. These outbuildings, most likely
had stone walls built half way up, with a wooden
or thatched roof. During the summer of 2005,
archaeological teams from the University of Hawaii
at Hilo excavated five (5) 1x1 meter pits (Fig. 1) in
one stone cabin with a single-room floor plan and
stone fireplace. Many artifacts were found during
the excavation. Included in the find were fragments
of an “Ayers Cherry Pectoral” bottle. About 85% of
the bottle fragments were found and reconstructed
(Fig. 2-1, 2-2). The bottle does not have a pontil mark
and does not have “Lowell/ Mass. USA” on the back
panel, which in later bottles was changed to “Lowell/
Mass” (Hoyt 2005). Also, the bottle style, height, and
embossments limit it to the early 20th century bottles
or earlier (Hoyt 2005). Based on that information,
the best initial estimate for date of production of the
Ayer’s Pectoral bottle is 1865-1910. From the way the
fragments were dispersed throughout the site and
on the disbursement of other fragments from other
bottles found at the site, I theorize that the bottle was
placed on a mantle above the fireplace. Fragments of
the base were found closest to the hearth, and the top
parts of the bottle were found scattered away from
the heath. From the fragmentation, I believe that the
bottle fell from the mantle, striking the ground on the
bottom end on the side of the bottle where “Pectoral”
was embossed (Fig. 2-1, 2-2).
by Dane Olson
Abstract
In this article, I evaluate late 19th century patent
medicine on a local and global level. I attempt to
explain the social, cultural, and economic mechanisms
in place that would allow a heroin filled medicine
bottle to go from its production factory in Lowell,
Massachusetts to a little cabin 6000 ft. on the side of
Hawaii’s tallest Mountain.
Introduction
Over the summer of 2005, students from
University of Hawaii at Hilo conducted a field
excavation of a stone cabin associated with a Stone
Corral Complex at Keanakolu. Among the artifacts
found, there where the fragments of a late 19th-early
20th century bottle. The embossing on the bottle
identifies it as an “Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral, Lowell
Mass”. After reconstructing the bottle, I began to
investigate the cultural mechanisms and global
economic factors that brought a late 19th century
medicine bottle from Lowell, Massachusetts up to a
ranching complex 6000 ft. on the side of Mauna Kea
in Hawai’i. During the course of my investigation, I
re-discovered the history of home-grown medicine
that played a major part in the turn of the century
American economy. The history is well known in the
United States, but historical archaeology has yet to
focus on the anthropology of it all. The issues such as
abuse, false advertisement and selling a potentially
lethal drug that were prevalent then are the same
issues that the Food and Drug Administration deal
with today. In this paper, I discuss quackery, nostrum,
and patent medicines in America and consider its
effects on the global economies, heath, and culture.
Ayer’s Company
After J.C. Ayer’s death in 1878, the company
continued under the guidance Mr. A. G. Cook and
J.C.’s brother, Frederick Ayer until his eventual
retirement in 1893. The company continued in
Lowell under the management of family members
until it finally left Lowell around 1939. The Ayer’s
drug company was founded by J. C. Ayers (Fig 3)
in 1841 when he bought an apothecary shop from
Mr. Jacob Robbins (whom J.C. Ayers apprenticed
under) in April of that same year for $2,486.61. The
money for the purchase was loaned to J.C. Ayer by
81
the early 20th century due to a more robust west coast
shipping network and the introduction of aircraft.
It is difficult to actually place a date for the arrival
of Cherry Pectoral to the Hilo area, but on of the
earliest newspaper known to contain an ad from the
Pacific Commercial Advertiser in 1866 (Fig 9). The most
exciting part of this advertisement is that it actually
lists “Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral”. Honolulu was the
major port and city for the Kingdom during the later
half the 19th century, as a result, many of the major
druggists and apothecaries were located in Honolulu.
Upon reviewing advertisements for druggist and
apothecaries in that area, I found a few companies
listing Ayer’s products (Fig 10).The majority of the
advertisements where located in Thrum’s Hawaiian
Annual, a yearly publication. The advertisements in
Hawaii were mostly from general stores, druggist, or
apothecaries.
his uncle and to be paid back in 5 years. However,
Ayer was so successful that he paid his uncle back
in 3 years. Ayer produced a series of medicines,
first starting with Cherry Pectoral in 1843. It was
not until 1847 that it was bottled (Lowell Courier
1878). Cherry Pectoral was advertised to cure
“Coughs, Colds, Influenza, Hoarsenenss, Croup,
Bronchitis, Incipient Consumption, and for the Relief
of Consumptive Patients, in the advanced stages of
the Disease.....”(Prince Edward Island The Examiner
1861)(Fig 4).
Additionally, Ayer came out with Cathartic Pills
in 1854, which were advertised to treat: “Stomach,
Liver and Bowels, whose derangements they prevent
and cure. They are a sure remedy for Costiveness,
Jaundice, Indigestion, Headache, Dizziness; transient
attacks of Numbness, Biliousness, and all other
diseases resulting from a disordered state of the
Digestive Apparatus.” (Ayer’s Trading Card.)(Fig 5)
Ague Cure in 1857. “Ayer’s Ague Cure:
Warranted a speedy and certain cure for Fever and
Ague, Intermittent, Remittent, and Bilious Fevers, and
for all disorders peculiar to malarious, marshy and
miasmatic districts” (Ayer’s Trading Card)(Fig 6)
Ayer’s Sarsaparilla in 1859 “Ayer’s Sarsaparilla
produces rapid and complete cures of Scrofula,
Erysipelas, Salt Rheum, Tetter, Scald Head, Ring
Worm, Sores, Boils, Humors, Pimples, Ulcers,
Tumors, Eruptions, and all scrofulous diseases and
conditions.” (Ayer’s Trading Card.)(Fig 7)
And finally Ayer’s Hair Vigor in 1864 “Ayer’s
Hair Vigor: Restores gray hair to its original color,
prevents baldness, preserves the hair and promotes its
growth, cures dandruff and all diseases of the hair
and scalp, and which forms, at the same time, a very
superior and desirable dressing.” (Ayer’s Trading
Card.)(Fig 8)
History of Patent Medicines
Patent medicines are as old as patents themselves.
Alternatives have always existed in traditional
western medicine. The rise in popularity of patent
medicines coincides, in some extent, with journalism.
The vast majority of patent medicines, were not,
in fact, patented. The term “patent” comes from
marketing these medicines, the medicines that
won favor with the royalty of Europe would be
issued Letters of Patent, which would allow for
the royal endorsement to be displayed on printed
advertisements. After the American Revolution, the
name stuck. The first really known patent medicine
surfaced around the 1630s, “Anderson Pills” were first
made in England, but allegedly a Scotsman leaned
the formula in Venice while posing to be a physician
of King Charles I of England (Wikipedia 2005). The
second royal English patent (The first is unknown)
was issued to Richard Stoughton’s Elixir in 1712 and
by the mid-18th century, an incomplete list was made
of all the “proprietary” medicines, those protected by
patent or registration (Nickell 1998).
Distribution in Hawaii
When I first started this project, I really wondered
how readily available this medicine was in Hawaii.
Ayer’s Co. was a massive medicine empire of the
time, so the question of distribution was an interesting
one. The rate at which products are released on
the mainland and to when they start appearing in
Hawai’i seems to be around 3+ years from initial
release to actually available in Hawai’i, this can be
seen in the gap of dates in newspaper advertisements
and actual store ledger listing the products sold in
the store. This is not exclusive to medicines, but can
be seen in many products; for example, introduction
of gun cartridges into the Hawaiian Islands was
relatively later then seen on west coast of the
mainland. However, this changed dramatically in
The American Revolution
Up until the Revolution, the British Empire
dominated the patent industry. The British where
able to produce, market, and sell their products more
efficiently due to their existing colonal infrastructure;
the colonists were essentially captive consumers.
The ability to produce, ship, and have an exclusive
market for medicines was part of the British’s recipe
for success. During the Revolution, the import of
most British goods was banned. As a result, this
created a niche for the development of American
patent medicines. After the Revolution, American
82
medicines where cheaper due to lower shipping costs,
and American patriotism played a part in choosing
products “Made in America”. (Munsey 1970).
American Patent Medicine’s Golden Age
Due to several Factors, the Golden Age for
patent medicines was the years after the Civil War
(Young 1961). One factor was the Civil War itself;
many wounded and injured veterans came home,
and this created a market for pain killers and other
drugs. Also, newspapers became widely distributed
at this time, and it was the patent medicines’
advertisements that fueled the fire. The patent
medicine industry also would be saved by its “deep
pockets” in the newspapers. By the 1890s, the patent
medicine industry used so-called “red clauses” in
their advertising contracts with newspapers. These
clauses voided the contract if a state law regulating
patent medicines was passed. This effectivly shut
down any editorials on the issue (Center for Drug for
Evaluation and Reserch 2005). This provided a buffer
for the patent medicine industry, if the issue was ever
brought up, it was in the newspapers best interest to
advocate against it.
Citric Acid 2 Grains
Heroin 1-6 Grain
Solvent: Alcohol, 10 minutes to each fluid drachm;
glycerine; syrup; water.
One of the more well known patent medicines
was Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound (which
was also found on the H-3 project) and depending
on the formula, 15 to 20 percent alcohol (Wood 2005).
Dr. Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters were another popular
remedy; it contained 44.3 percent alcohol, more potent
than 80 proof whiskey (Wood 2005). During the
Prohibition era, patent medicines contained a large
amount of grain alcohol, and people would often buy
them for their alcohol content. One patent medicine,
“Jamaica ginger,” was ordered by prohibition officials
to change its formula because it contained too much
alcohol. In order to pass a chemical test that the
prohibition officials ordered to ensure compliance,
some sellers added a toxic chemical called cresyl
phosphate, an organophosphate compound that had
effects similar to a nerve agent. Some drinkers often
suffered from a form of paralysis that came to be
known as “jake-leg” (Wikipedia 2005).
Towards the end of the 19th century, there were
a number of radioactive medicines, among the most
popular were water irradiators that would fill water
with radon, which at the time was thought to be
heathy. A number of these radioactive medicines
contained uranium or radium (Wikipedia 2005). One
of the more noteable deaths due to radon poising
was Eben McBurney Byers, a steel heir, who died a
horriable death after drinking more then a thousand
bottles of “radium water”(Wikipedia 2005). The
effects of the medicines could, at very best, “cure” the
consumer, and at very worst, kill them.
The question then becomes why did people
take them at all? In the case of patent medicines that
contained morphine, heroin, cocaine, and opium, it
became a matter of addiction. There was no better
way to secure a market than to get them addicted to a
drug. There was a large market for teething aids and
drugs advertised to help “sooth” children. A few of
these drugs were; Dr. Moffett’s Teethina, Dr. Fahrney’s
Teething Syrup, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup,
and Dr. James Soothing Syrup, which all contained
opiates. These drugs were rubbed on the gums of
infants or given to small children. Often, when these
children where taken off these drugs, they would
exhibit withdrawal symptoms, and as a result would
become sick again, forcing the parent to give the child
more or face him being sick. One can see how this
vicious cycle would be a business dream.
Substance
The actual contents of these medicines can be
shocking by 21st centrury pharmacologial standards.
The majorty of these patent medicines contined
morphine, heroin, cocaine, and other opium based
drugs, as well as a hefty dose of grain alcohol. So
much alcohol was used that some patent medicines
where closer to liqueur with herbs for flavoring. The
contents of Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral are known from
two sources; Pacific Medical and Surgeons Journal,
1899 & Ayer’s American Almanac, 1906. The original
formula was published in the Pacific Medical and
Surgeons Journal in 1899:
Acetate of morphia 3 Grains
Tincture of bloodroot 2 drops
Wine antimony 3 drops
Wine ipecac 3 drops
Syrup wild cherry 3 oz.
Mix
And a “revised” formula was published by Ayer’s
himself in his almanac in 1906:
Wild Cherry 6 Grains
Grindelia Robusta 4 Grains
White Pine 4
Grains Senega 4 Grains
Terpin Hydrate 4
Grains Blood Root 2 Grains
Rio Ipecac 2 Grains
83
Economics
The patent medicine industry was extremely
profitable in its golden age. In 1859, the yearly sales
patent medicines were estimated at $3.5 million and
by 1904 it had grown to $74.5 million. This rate of
growth can be attributed to many things; the advances
in newspapers allowing for more advertisements
and almanacs which were another favorite medium
of advertisement for the patent medicine industry
(this was a favorite of the Ayers Co.). The Ayer’s
Cherry Pectoral bottle was sold in three (3) sizes:
small for 25c, medium for 50c, and large for $1.00
(Fig. 11). Compared with the modern dollar, these
prices would range from $3.83 to $15.20. So, today’s
over-the-counter medicine prices are comparable to
those of the later 19th century. The low price and the
ability to easily administer these drugs made them
popular among those of the lower classes. Also, it is
important to look at the medical industry at the time.
Around this era, traditional physicians had negative
reputations because of the Civil War, since the surgery
they performed was sometimes more fatal than the
wound. At this time, to be a professional doctor with
medical school training was expensive and excluded
all but the upper class. Lower class people distrusted
professional doctors because they came from a much
higher class, often the doctor’s fees and medicines
were too costly for them to afford. Not knowing what
the disease was or how to treat it could lead people to
search out any “cure all”.
Patent medicines have always benefited from
the placebo effect. Patent companies also exploited
the desperation of the terminally ill. This is still a
major issue within today’s medical culture, in fact,
physicians are now advising patients with terminal
illnesses to seek out non conventional medicines.
Medical economics is a slippery slope, on one hand, a
company is producing a life-saving medicine (in most
cases), and on the other, it wants to make a profit.
Companies produced drugs that were known to be
harmful for the sake of profit, and this was a major
issue in the age of quackery (Collier’s 1906).
drug officials, the American Medical Association, and
the American Pharmaceutical Association helped to
expose faults in the food and drug systems in America
(Center for Drug for Evaluation and Research 2005).
The result from all this was the Food and Drug Act in
1906, which some consider the pinnacle of progressive
legislation.
Conclusion
The passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act
in 1906 was one of the first regulatory statutes on
the federal level. This heralded in a new era of
government oversight in many areas. However, the
legacy of the patent medicine golden age is still with
us today. In recent years, major drug companies have
started a trend of advertising medication directly to
the public, informing them of a new medication and
advising them to ask their doctors if it is right for
them. This is a harkening back to the golden age of
patent medicines in terms of advertisement styles.
Hopefully, this time around, we are more aware
Acknowledgments
I would like dedicate this paper to Dr. Peter Mills
for teaching me the meaning of archaeology and to
Scott Sasaki for being my robot. I would also like to
thank the entire summer school field team for their
hard work and Bill Liebeknecht for providing me with
the Pectoral formula and the trading card ads.
The Great American Fraud
The end to the patent medicine golden age came
around turn of century. In October 7, 1905 Samuel
Hopkins Adams printed a series in the Collier’s
entitled “The Great American Fraud” (Fig 12). Adams
published ten articles in the series, which concluded
in February 1906 (Center for Drug for Evaluation and
Research 2005). Adam’s work was one of the most
influential exposés of the time. The collective efforts
of mudraker journalists and organizations like the
General Federation of Women’s Clubs, state food and
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
References
Prince Edward Island The Examiner. 8 Feb 1861
Collier’s The National Weekly. “The patent Medicine
Trust Palatable Poison for the Poor.” 1906
“Quackery.” Wikipedia. 6 Dec. 2005. 8 Dec. 2005
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quackery>.
Hoyt, Cliff. Hoyt, Linda. “The Founder of the House
of Ayer” 8 Dec 2005
<http://users.erols.com/choyt/jcayer_run.
htm>
“THE PATENT MEDICINE MENACE.” A breif
history of The Center for Drug Evaluation
and Research. Center for Drug for Evaluation
and Research FDA. 8 Dec. 2005 <http://
www.fda.gov/cder/about/history/gallery/
galleryintro.htm>.
Lowell Courier. 5 July 1878
Nickell, Joe. “Peddling Snake Oil.” Skeptical Briefs
(1998). 8 Dec. 2005 <http://www.csicop.org/
sb/9812/snakeoil.html>.
Wood, Wayne. “Patent Medicine Collection.” (2005). 8
Dec. 2005 <http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/
biolib/hc/nostrums/nostrums.html>.
“Patent Medicines.” Wikipedia. 21 Nov. 2005. 8 Dec.
2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_
medicines>.
Young, James H. The Toadstool Millionaires. Princeton
UP, 1961.
92
Thermoregulation in
Montane and Coastal
Species Of Native
Hawaiian Damselflies
ponds (Polhemus & Asquith 1996). Distribution and
breeding habitats vary from species to species; some
are restricted to high elevations, some to lower coastal
elevations, and some even to the different islands
(Polhemus & Asquith 1996).
Damselflies are a very important species within
an ecosystem because they are both terrestrial and
aquatic in different stages of their life; thus, they
can be indicators of health in aquatic ecosystems
(Polhemus 1997). A healthy aquatic ecosystem
consists of native plant and animal species, with no
pollution and other habitat degradation that threatens
the existence of the damselflies (DiSalvo 2003).
Additionally, Hawaiian damselflies are a sensitive and
useful source to measure global change in hydrologic
systems in Hawai’i because they display strong
ecological interactions with other major components
of communities along elevational gradients (USGS
BRD).
A candidate endangered species, Megalagrion
xanthomelas are often associated with anchialine
ponds. Anchialine ponds are unique habitats because
they have no coastal connection to the sea, but still
demonstrate tidal fluctuations that influence salinity
gradients due to a subsurface connection (Chai 1989).
Due to many anthropogenic influences changing the
anchialine pool ecosystems as well as the introduction
of non-native predators such as mosquito fish and
guppies, many rare anchialine pool species such as
crustaceans and invertebrates are threatened and of
concern.
In previous population density experiments
conducted along the Hilo coast in the summer of
2004, Lori Tango found that there were more male
M. xanthomelas perched in the sun while the female
congregated in the shade. From these observations,
she speculated that the two sexes have different
thermoregulatory processes. Thermoregulation is the
maintenance of temperature by active behavioral or
physiological responses of an organism in its natural
environment independent of the environmental
temperature (May 1979). The ability of an organism
to thermoregulate depends on the ability of the
organism to control the amount of heat stored in
the body. Light preferences and thermoregulatory
processes may affect the color of males and female
Megalagrion, and these patterns may also change with
elevation. It was hypothesized that there would be
a difference in thermoregulation rates between male
and female M. calliphya and M. xanthomelas. It is also
from May 31, 2005 to August 5, 2005
United States Geological Survey,
Biological Resources Discipline
by Shauna Tom, David Foote and Sharon Ziegler-Chong
Abstract
Thermoregulation in native Hawaiian damselfly
genus Megalagrion can be used to determine slight
changes in temperature in regards to global warming.
Hawaiian damselflies are an indicator species of
habitat health and degradation. Through field and lab
experiments the males and females of the Megalagrion
calliphya and Megalagrion xanthomelas species were
found to have different thermoregulatory processes
due to their different colorations and place in which
they inhabit. The temperature differences exhibited
by different sexes and between two female color
morphs show that there is a significant difference, and
may be the cause of their different behavior choices.
Introduction
The endemic Hawaiian damselfly genus
Megalagrion, order Odonata, family Coenagrionidae
inhabits the most isolated archipelago in the world
and is a spectacular group that is valuable for
biological research. Megalagrion damselflies have
radiated from a single ancestor into 23 species
occupying a wide range of aquatic habitats (Polhemus
1997). Hawaiian damselflies have a diverse range of
coloration from red, black, orange, yellow, blue, and
green (Polhemus & Asquith 1996). In some species
the males are different colors or shades than the
females, which makes observation very interesting
(Polhemus & Asquith 1996). They have undergone
a spectacular adaptive radiation into many different
habitats including streams, waterfalls, rainforest,
reservoirs, cattle ponds and coastal anchialine
93
hypothesized that the green female M. calliphya color
morph will have a higher body temperature than the
red female M. calliphya color morph.
Using both field and lab experiments the specific
thermoregulation ability of both males and females
in two different damselfly species, M. xanthomelas
(coastal species) and M. calliphya (montane species)
were examined. The majority of the testings
were with M. calliphya, because they are the most
commonly found species on Hawai’i Island and not
a candidate endangered species like M. xanthomelas.
This experiment helped to explain habitat choice,
behavior, and evolution of color differences between
male and females.
hour, five minutes after starting the experiment. The
“HOBO U12 J, K, S, T” thermocouple data logger was
then programmed to a delayed start to give enough
time to set up the rest of the experiment. The first
part of the thermo-models using the “Onset 6’ Beaded
Type J” thermocouple was constructed by attaching it
to the “HOBO” thermocouple data logger. One of the
damselflies from the selected pair was chosen; then
a tiny incision on its right side was made allowing
to easily insert the tip of the thermocouple into the
damselfly. These steps were repeated for the other
damselfly. To complete the set of thermo-models, the
two damselfly thermo-models along with one without
a damselfly attached to measure the ambient air
temperature was needed.
A black piece of construction paper was placed
under the lamp to resemble the black lava rock
substrate damselflies would normally perch on. The
set of thermo-models were placed onto the black
construction paper orientating the damselflies so they
face the same direction, and are at the same height
of 10cm above the substrate. The final step to set up
the experiment was to place a wind block around
the lamp and set of thermo-models using cardboard
box with peep-holes so observations can be made
while the experiment is being conducted. All of
these steps to set up the experiment are done before
the thermocouple loggers start logging (20min. is a
sufficient amount of time).
After exposing the thermo-models for an hour
to the different light intensities, the thermocouple
data loggers were connected to a computer and data
was imported into the “HOBOware” program. The
“HOBOware” program provides a graph of the
logged data from the whole experiment. To get a
graph of specific times and intervals, the data was
exported into “EXCEL,” made into spreadsheets and
graphs to be analyzed later.
After data was imputed into the computer,
damselflies were removed from the thermocouples to
be measured again on the scale. If both damselflies
were alive after the experiment, they would be reused
again to run another experiment. If they were dead,
they were scanned using a “HP Scan Jet 5300C”
scanner. The pair along with a ruler placed upside
down was scanned into the “HP Precision Scanning”
program. The damselflies were placed as straight as
possible and labeled. The “dpi setting” was set at
1200, and it was scanned as a “color photograph.”
After scanning the image of the damselflies and part
of the ruler, it was cropped, and saved as a “jpeg” file.
Materials & Methods
Field Collection:
Four sites on Hawai‘i Island were selected to
collect Megalagrion damselflies. M. calliphya was
collected at eleven artificial pools, set up by Idelle
Cooper in 2002 outside of the research station at
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO) at about
3,500 feet and at a bog habitat above Kulani Prison
at about 6,000 feet. Before and after collection, air
temperature, cloud cover, precipitation & wind were
quantifiably measured. The Beaufort Rain & Wind
scales were used to measure the precipitation and
wind. The damselflies were collected using fine
meshed nets and transported into plastic containers
with a few blades of grass after capture. Upon
capture, color, sex and behavior were noted. M.
xanthomelas was collected at anchialine pools at
Ninole, Ka’u and at Kaloko-Honokohau Historical
National Park (KAHO) in Kona. The same materials
and methods for collecting M. calliphya were also used
to collect M. xanthomelas.
Lab Test Trials & Observations:
After collecting male & female M. calliphya,
they were transported back into the field lab in
plastic containers or collecting nets to conduct the
thermoregulation experiments. Before making
the thermo-models, they were each weighed by
placing a piece of paper over the live damselfly on
a Denver Instrument Company A-200DS scale to
measure their mass before exposing them to different
light intensities to find out if desiccation from light
exposure would have a great affect on their mass.
Depending on the damselflies caught, a pair of
damselflies were selected to test. The testing is done
on a green female & red female, a green female & red
male or a red female & red male. After selecting a
pair, the “Intermatic DT17C” timer was programmed
to turn on and off the “plant grow” lamp for an
94
When comparing the red M. calliphya females
with red M. calliphya males, the females had a higher
body temperature than the red M. calliphya males 4
out of 5 of the lab trials with a “z” value of 2.035 and
a “p” value of 0.042. In the outdoor trials comparing
the red M. calliphya females with the red M. calliphya
males, the red M. calliphya females had a higher body
temperature 4 out of 6 times with a “z” value of 1.177
and a “p” value of 0.239.
The results from outdoor shade trials conducted
on M. xanthomelas showed that the red M. xanthomelas
male had a similar body temperature to the tan M.
xanthomelas female. In the outdoor trials, the red M.
xanthomelas male had a higher body temperature than
the tan M. xanthomelas female.
Discussion
When conducting experiments in the lab, the data
need to be analyzed very carefully. It had to be taken
into consideration the possibility of complications the
results may encounter when using artificial habitats
to run the trials. The “plant-grow” lamp was used
to replicate the sun, but the light was dispersed
unevenly and the placement of the damselflies had a
tremendous effect on individual body temperatures.
The lamp also heated up very quickly, so desiccation
of the damselflies under the lamp may have skewed
the data slightly.
Although only a few outdoor trials were
conducted, we were able to obtain more conclusive
results than the lab trials. The first 15 minutes of the
lab trials seem to correlate with the trials conducted
outdoors, so when analyzing the data
and graphs, only the first 15 minutes of the lab trials
were used.
The green M. calliphya female morphs had a
higher body temperature than the red M. calliphya
females, which may be one reason the green female
morphs are rarely found at higher elevations due
to their coloration absorbing more heat at sites
with higher maximum solar radiation. Results of
temperature experiments on M. calliphya were similar
to those for M. xanthomelas, which may be due to the
similar colorations of both females and males. With
the similar results of M. calliphya and M. xanthomelas
we were able to conclude that may have been the
reason the male M. xanthomelas were in the sun while
the female M. xanthomelas were in the shade.
Field Test Trials & Observations:
After collecting males and females, they were
set-up in the same way as in the lab trials, except
they were turned up so the left side of their thorax
would face the sun. The trial was only conducted for
10 minutes instead of the full hour. After the trials
the data was also imported into the computer to
make graphs and they were also scanned. The field
comparisons were able to validate differences we saw
in the lab between sexes and species.
Statistical Analysis:
Field and lab data was analyzed first with
“Wilcoxon” tests in “SYSTAT 11.0” to see how many
times one had a higher temperature than the other.
Those numbers were then analyzed using “Z-test”
in “SYSTAT 11.0” to determine “z” & “p” values and
if there was a difference in thermoregulation rates
between sexes and species.
Results
Through the data and graphs from the lab trials
for M. calliphya, it was found that the ambient air
temperature was always lower than the damselfly
body temperature. M. xanthomelas was never tested
in the lab, but for the outdoor sun trials the ambient
air temperature was always lower than the damselfly
body temperature for both M. xanthomelas and
M. calliphya. In outdoor shade trials the ambient
air temperature was higher than the damselfly
body temperature for M. xanthomelas. The body
temperatures for M. calliphya had increased slowly
over time with each trial conducted in the lab.
Experiments comparing a live damselfly with a dead
damselfly had shown that the live damselflies had a
higher body temperature than the dead damselflies
for three replicates of female M. calliphya. When comparing green M. calliphya females to red
M. calliphya females the green M. calliphya female
morphs had a higher body temperature 8 out of the
10 lab trials with a “z” value of 2.878 and a “p” value
of 0.004. The green M. calliphya females had a higher
body temperature than the red M. calliphya females
2 out of the 3 outdoor trials with a “z” value of 0.832
and a “p” value of 0.405.
When comparing green M. calliphya females with
red M. calliphya males, the green M. calliphya females
had a higher body temperature than the red M.
calliphya males in 9 out of the 11 lab trials with a “z”
value of 3.235 and a “p” value of 0.001. In the outdoor
trials, the green M. calliphya females had a higher
body temperature than the red M. calliphya males
3 out of 3 trials with a “z” value of 3.848 and a “p”
value of 0.000.
95
References
Chai, D. K. 1989. An Inventory and Assessment
of Anchialine Pools in Hawai’i Volcanoes
National Park from Waha’ula to Ka’aha, Puna
and Ka’u, Hawai’i. Cooperate National Park
Resources Studies Unit, Technical Report 69.
University of Hawai’i at Manoa Department
of Botany, Honolulu.
Polhemus, D. A. 1997. Damsels in distress: a review
of the conservation status of Megalagrion
damselflies (Order: Coenagrionidae).
From the World Wide Web: http://www.
bishopmuseum.org/research/natsci/ento/
Megalagrion/htmlPages/Mega01.shtml
Polhemus, D. A. and Adam Asquith. 1996. Hawaiian
Damselflies: A Field Identification Guide.
Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu.
DiSalvo, C., Orr, R., & Foote, D. 2003. Dragonflies
And Damselflies: Invertebrate Indicators Of
Ecological Health. NPS Natural Resource
Year In Review p. 86-87.
USGS BRD Project Summary. Developing A Listening
Post In The Tropical Pacific: Sensitivity Of
Hawaiian High-Elevation And Aquatic
Ecosystems To Global Change p. 3-4.
May, M. L. 1979. Insect Thermoregulation. Ann. Rev.
Entomol. 24: 313-49.
96
Thought vs. Life
If considered for even a brief amount of time, it is
obvious that all of these questions are really one set,
not two.
How those two words are mutually exclusive by the
inclusion of another: Evolution
If it is not readily apparent to you why this is,
then consider this: since as far back as the ancient
Mesopotamians, and quite probably before, religion
explained the laws of physics. It explained the
creation of the universe, how and why the sun rises
and sets, why water is important to us, how the
human body works, the causes of illnesses, and
many other questions now answered by science and
commonly accepted by the general populace. What
used to be accepted fact is now viewed as ridiculous
ancient religious belief, in favor of a physical,
observable, testable explanation.
Social hot-button issues are always that: hot-button
issues. You can never walk into a populated room
with an opinion on one and expect complete
agreement from everyone. Worse, if you were to
do just that, it would be best to walk into that room
with a flame-retardant suit to shield yourself from
the inflammatory remarks about to be brought down
upon you like a napalm firestorm.
The problem is religion. Not to knock it or degrade
those who have it. Not at all. In fact, I have true
admiration for those who can honestly believe
something based purely on faith with no physical
explanation. There are many things which science
will never be able to explain, so these questions will
never have physical answers. To have the faith to
believe so strongly in any answer despite that is
remarkable.
Even science of the past is viewed today as laughably
stupid. The cause of malaria? Certainly not what
its Latin roots would imply (mal = bad, aria = air),
and what was believed to be the cause when the
disease first started afflicting workers and soldiers
since the beginning of time, but microscopic protozoa
carried by mosquitoes, which feed on red blood cells,
causing anemia. The proper way to treat a cold or flu?
Certainly not bleeding with leeches to release the evil
spirits, as was the highly medically advanced ancient
Greek custom, but rest and warm fluids. The correct
way to treat schizophrenia? Not electroshock therapy,
which was the only way to deal with such people and
expect any sort of results back in the forties through
the seventies, but through therapy and medication.
The problem with religion, however, is that it seems
to be an intrinsic human need. Human nature seems
to long for something, seek something that isn’t
obviously there. Religion goes back to the beginning
of humanity (either five thousand or five million
years ago, depending on which bomb shelter you’ve
crawled into). Even cave paintings seem to suggest
something bigger, something in the sky, a larger figure
dominating over many smaller figures on the ground.
Indeed, science has brought us many wonderful
and fulfilling answers to many perplexing questions
which have haunted us for millennia. In fact, we
now laugh and ridicule the peoples of old, finding
it utterly ridiculous that “bad air” could cause a
disease. The closest we can even come to reproducing
such a cause of illness is radiation and its subsequent
poisoning of all life near it, but even that we firmly
understand. We shudder to think of using leeches to
break holes in our skin to bleed out the evil spirits and
cure common illnesses. We feel a stab of pity for those
poor psychotic or insane patients at mental hospitals
enduring hours and hours of electricity being jolted
through their bodies to cure them of their insanity,
and a pang of rage at those “doctors” who inflicted
such torture upon them.
Obviously, we, as humans, need an explanation. How
did we get here? Why are we here now? What are we
doing? How should we do it? Over the eons, those
questions have been tackled by the greatest minds in
history, recorded or not.
Another set of questions that has historically been
teasing humanity is this one: How does the world
work? Why does the sun give us life? How and why
do our bodies work? Why do we get sick? Why do
we die?
97
Astronomy and biology are not the only fields of
science to have seen oppression by religious political
power. Chemistry and physics also saw their share
of persecution and victimization from the churches in
power at various times.
Of course, now armed with modern science, we can
logically explain the true causes behind each of these
problems. While science of the past is something to
be ashamed of, even lamented, science of the present
day is something to be lauded. The advancement
of computers specifically has allowed science to
answer so many questions that in the past have been
relegated to philosophy and theology.
Religion and science are not always at odds, though,
even when they do not corroborate each other. In fact,
some ancient religious documents state things that
anyone with a basic grade-school education knows to
be inaccurate. For instance, some ancient Polynesian
beliefs state that the world is held up by a series
of stakes in the sky, holding it up like a table. The
Christian bible repeatedly speaks of the four corners
of the earth, implying the earth to be a flat, four-sided
surface. Ancient Babylonian beliefs stated that the
earth was actually the remains of a cracked skull, a
remnant of a brutal, bloody fight between two deities.
So if science is such a powerful tool in attaining a true
understanding of the physical behavior and traits of
the world, and indeed the universe, why is it accosted
so when it attempts to explain the evolution of the
universe and life within it?
To understand that, we must first understand that
this is not a new problem. Religion, and Christianity
in particular, has been restricting knowledge and
oppressing those who wish to disseminate it for
centuries.
Obviously, the world is not some flat surface held
up, such as a table. We know this to be true simply
because we have cameras in orbit around the earth,
each of which has taken countless millions of pictures
of its surface, revealing no such support stakes, and
emphasizing beyond any doubt its spherical nature.
Galileo springs immediately to most people’s minds.
Over the course of many years, he made a series of
observations of Jupiter, one of the stars in the sky
which changed position relative to the surrounding
stars. He observed that it was actually a large body
with four moons that periodically circled it. With
further observation, he noticed that Jupiter was
relatively close to our planet, and didn’t circle us
at all as it should have, according to the geocentric
thought of the time (with the earth as the center of
the universe) enforced by the Catholic Church, but
circled the sun. Armed with this new knowledge,
he watched the sun’s motion around the earth and
realized that such motion was not occurring at all, but
that the earth was spinning, giving the illusion of an
orbiting sun. This in turn allowed him to realize that
the earth was actually orbiting the sun on a path that
was significantly inside Jupiter’s.
This leads us to the rather roundish shape of a skull.
Might the earth be an ancient skull? We might
surmise as such for a moment. However, if it is a
skull, that means it was attached to a truly gargantuan
living being. On what surface did this being live?
Space is not a surface; it is quite the opposite: space
is nothing. In fact, no such solid surface exists on
which such a being could possibly have ever existed.
Therefore, we can soundly discount this hypothesis
for the origin of the world. Further evidence against
this hypothesis comes from the fact that the belief
states that the skull was cracked and incomplete. As
the world is a complete sphere, this is obviously not
the case.
He published his discoveries in a series of journals
and was immediately arrested for heretical thought.
Facing execution, he recanted his publications in
exchange for lifetime house arrest.
Galileo was not the first to suggest a heliocentric
model for our system of planets. Copernicus, an
astronomer from the sixteenth century, faced similar
challenges when he published his model of the solar
system. He, however, was reluctant to publish his
work not because he was afraid of religious officials,
but because he did not think his work to be complete
enough. Though he was challenged by the church of
the time, he did not care about it, and that makes him
rather unique in the history of science.
This leaves us with the Christian belief of the
world’s origin: Creation. Might the earth have been
willed into existence instantaneously, exactly as it is
now? Might all life have appeared within the same
week, exactly as we see it now? Might all this have
happened less than five thousand years ago?
Before I address such questions, I must first address
the idea of mythology. Specifically, I would like
to define the word “myth” as the Miriam-Webster
dictionary does. It states that a myth is “a usually
traditional story of ostensibly historical events that
serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or
98
try to figure out what happened so many billions of
years ago so that our galaxy could give rise to a small
planet, which would later be called home by what
is quite possibly the most intellectual species in our
small orb’s history.
explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.”
That is to say that a myth is a story that is accepted
and traditionalized by many (or all) of a group (or
several groups) of people. Further, it states that this
traditional story is these peoples’ way of explaining
something about the world.
As such, my work directly contradicts the Christian
myth of creation. Though I do not focus on the
evolution of life, the evolution of the universe is my
prime focus, one into which I pour a large percentage
of my time.
We have many times heard of the phrase “creation
myth.” We have all heard about the Greek creation
myth as children and readily accepted that it was
actually not how the world was created. Many
people who have studied ancient cultures have read
about the Chinese creation myth, the Mesopotamian
creation myth, the Egyptian creation myth and the
Christian creation myth.
My colleagues and I spend many hours of our
time looking and thinking and number crunching
and programming and talking and surmising, and
ultimately, theorizing. And it’s not just us, either.
Biologists do this, too. And chemists. And ecologists.
And for that matter, economists do it as well.
Unfortunately for those who would thwart the
advancement of science based on ideological belief,
a creation myth is exactly what the first chapter of
Genesis actually is. The word “myth,” as defined
by what is quite likely the most famous and wellread dictionary of the English language, perfectly
describes the Christian idea of creation. From a
logical standpoint, it is grossly improbable. Why
must this myth be treated differently than the Greek
or Mesopotamian or Egyptian or Polynesian ones? It
is almost exactly the same: a supernatural being lazily
wills the world into existence and is pleased with
the result. If read with a logical mind, it is very, very
similar to creation myths from around the world. It
should, then, be scientifically treated like those other
creation myths: as a maximally unlikely and illogical
hypothesis which seeks to explain the origin of the
world and life within it.
As scientists, we spend the vast majority of our lives
thinking about how things work, and a majority of
that time goes into actually figuring it out. In that
sense, science is very personal and selfish. We spend
our time doing this because we are curious. We want
to know. We are on a perpetual learning spree, eager
to glean everything there is to know about everything.
However, for those scientists that choose to publish
their work, their time becomes a public service. They
share the knowledge which they gleaned with others,
giving so many hours of their time away to those that
might use it to do the same. We scientists are learners
for ourselves, but we are also teachers for the world.
Unfortunately for those scientists who choose to
publish their work, they risk coming under fire from
groups of people who know little to nothing of the
published work except that it violates their ideological
belief. Lawsuits are consistently filed against
scientists from all fields by members of the religious
political right, making anyone who has had to deal
with such annoyances a modern-day Galileo.
While the debate which rages within the country is
largely one of Biological Evolution vs. “Intelligent
Design” (which is Christian Creation with the word
“God” taken out to appease the constitutional
separation of Church and State), the fact that ID is
given any merit whatsoever reaches beyond that
singular debate into all branches of legitimate, realworld-based science.
I myself will expound upon one which, to my
knowledge, has not been touched upon before:
astronomy and cosmology, my own fields of study.
I am a deep-sky astrophysicist. I make observations
of the very edge of the universe, where it behaves as
it did at its very beginning. My research is pooled in
with that of many other astronomers, and together, we
attempt to explain what happened in the very early
stages of the evolution of the universe. As a team, we
99
While no scientist has had to face execution or arrest
because of published work for well over a century,
persecution of the scientific community still exists.
We are forced to second-guess our choices to publish
because our work may become the latest target for the
Creation movement. In a scientific world where the
working slogan might as well be “Publish or Perish,”
this is unpalatable. Peer-review journals criticize
our work strongly enough that mediocre science
never gets published. To risk real, valid science not
making it out into the open because of a culture war is
ridiculous.
To automatically invalidate our work simply because
of a disagreeing four-thousand-year-old document
written by some sexist patriarch that didn’t have a
clue how the world actually works is a degradation
of that public service which scientists provide, and I
find it personally insulting. To call into question my
own intellectual value simply because I choose to root
myself in the real world and obtain all my knowledge
from it is grossly castigating and defamatory. To point
at a paragraph, a paragraph! of ancient text and use it
as the truth of the matter to abrogate anything that
might even slightly say differently casts away all my
work as a cosmologist, and all that of those that have
come before me, and I find it disgusting.
[Editor’s Note: This is a position piece and does
not necessarily reflect the views of Hohonu or the
University of Hawaii.]
100
To Veil Or Not To
Veil?
the law will provide temporary respite from a cultural
practice that is oppressive to those women who are
forced to wear the veil by male relatives (Kramer 8).
Opponents of the law feel that it robs students of their
right to freely practice their religion and, if the ban
continues, it could further marginalize and ostracize
the Islamic community in France. The potential
consequences for female Muslim students are also
very grim (Eisenberg 2; Kramer 9; Richter 1).
While both sides of this issue present convincing
arguments, it is clear that this controversial law
obscures and neglects to address the political,
economic and social problems that plague the
Arab Muslim population in France and the French
government’s role in creating the current dire
conditions that exist in these North African, Islamic
communities (Derakhshan 1; Kawwas 1; Moniquet
3).
Historically, the French government practices
secularism, which resembles the U.S. government’s
policy of the separation of church and state (Ajbaili
1). Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, the French
Crown routinely persecuted people of minority
faiths . The genocide of European Jews during WWII
increased the French’s belief in secularism or ‘laicité’.
Secular laws passed in 1789, 1881 and 1946 were
meant to foster a sense of national identity and
pride in being a French citizen. The underlying
philosophy of laicité stresses that French citizenship
takes pre-eminence over one’s ethnicity or religion
(Melkonian 1-2). The laicité law implemented in
September 2005 is designed to promote the goals of
secularism in the French public schools (Eisenberg
1; Ajbaili 1). The law clearly states, “In public
elementary schools, middle schools and high schools,
it is forbidden to wear symbols or clothes through
which students conspicuously...display their religious
affiliation” (Kramer 3).
Although this new law prohibits the display of
all religious symbols, its main targets are Muslim
girls who wear the Islamic veil or head scarf. That
is why the law is commonly referred to as the “veil
law” (Kramer 3; Lerougetel 2). There are 5 to 6 million
Muslims in France, and the government estimates that
50 to 80% of women in these Islamic communities
wear the veil (Moniquet 1). Prior to the September
law, 1000 to 2000 girls wore head scarves to school
(Derakhshan 3). The number of women who wear
the veil has noticeably increased in the last ten years.
The French government feels that this increase in
by Aletha Dale McCullough
For the past few decades the religion of Islam
has been at the center of many international and
controversial events. In the United States, the
Nation of Islam and its leader, Louis Farakhan,
advocate separatism based on religion and ethnicity.
Thousands of Iranian refugees fled to Europe and
the United States when the secular government of
Iran was overthrown by Islamic fundamentalists.
The continuing conflict in Israel pits Jews against
Palestinians. Many acts of terrorism are linked to
Muslims who advocate a radical or extreme form
of Islamic worship; like the Taliban government
of Afghanistan that helped Osama Bin Laden to
destroy the World Trade Center and cause the
deaths of thousands of American civilians and the
terrorists responsible for the Madrid bombing in
March 2004. The Western media tends to portray
Muslims as rabid terrorists who oppress women and
are against peace and democracy. Many Westerners
are unaware of most Islamic religious practices and
beliefs. The practice of veiling for Muslim women
is one of the few Islamic practices that Westerners
are aware of, and for Westerners unused to this
practice, it is seemingly associated with the seclusion
and oppression of Islamic women (“Education- On
Allowing” 2; Landor 1). In recent months this practice
of veiling has received much media attention since
the French government passed “Article 141-5-1 of
Law No. 2004-2008”, which bans the wearing of
religious clothing and symbols in public schools
(Kramer 3). Despite the fact that this law also
prohibits the display of crosses, yarmulkes and Sikh
turbans, the law is informally referred to as the ‘veil
law’, since its main purpose is to prevent the wearing
of veils or head scarves by female Islamic students
(Kramer 3; Lerougetel 2; “Wearing The Veil” 1).
The law faces both strong support and opposition.
Supporters of the law feel that it promotes the secular
principles of the French government and that its
implementation will help to integrate Islamic students
into French society, giving them a sense of French
identity (Eisenberg 1; Melkonian 2). It is also felt that
101
which exclude and oppress women are wrong and
need to be challenged (Kramer 9). In Kramer’s article
“Taking the Veil”, a French school principal states
why she voted for the ‘veil law’; “These children are
not integrated. I see the veil as more about social
exclusion...The time you’re in school should be free.
Muslim girls should be given the choice to be free
young women. And the law was aimed at protecting
the minds of those girls” (11).
Supporters of the ‘veil law’ present some
convincing arguments for their position. The
practice of secularity is supposed to ensure that
state interests do not influence religious interests
and vice versa. It also protects citizens’ right to
practice their faith without interference from the
government. However, the French government is
not completely uninvolved in its country’s religious
affairs and it’s policy of ‘laicité’ is described as a
‘myth’ by Law professor, Jeremy Gunn (Ajbaili
2). Some of the french government’s non-secular
activities include its ownership of Catholic churches,
providing over 80% of funding for private religious
schools and acknowledging religious holidays as
state holidays . The government has even provided
funding for the construction of mosques in the Arab
‘cités’ (Derakhshan 2; Ajbaili 2). In addition, by
prohibiting students from wearing religious clothing
and symbols, the ‘veil law’ contradicts the secularist
principles of “freedom of speech, belief and thought”
and “freedom of religion and its expression in society”
(Derakhshan 2). In recent months, many Muslim girls
in France have gone to school wearing head scarves,
as a way of protesting the law’s violation of their
religious freedom (Richter 3).
The government’s wish to integrate Islamic youth
into French society is also a commendable idea. Many
French Arab youth feel excluded from mainstream
French culture and to remove a visible difference
like the veil may help increase their interactions with
their non Muslim peers. However, the ‘veil law’
could actually have the reverse effect of increasing
the alienation and exclusion felt by many French
Arab youth. Even the unofficial nomenclature of the
law, the ‘veil law’ specifically targets Islamic youth
and highlights their differences from other French
youth. In this potentially uncomfortable environment,
Islamic youth may continue to reject European values
and mores and immerse themselves even deeper in
the beliefs of Islamic fundamentalism.
The law does offer a solution for Muslim girls
who do not want to wear the veil at school. And,
in fact, some Muslim feminists and community
leaders support the law (Bryant 2; Eisenberg 3). This
opportunity to remove their scarves can be liberating
veiling is linked to a growing acceptance of Islamic
fundamentalism in Muslim communities across
Europe (Bryant 2; Moniquet 1). Since 9/11 and the
subsequent military occupations of Afghanistan and
Iraq, French Muslims have become more vocal in
expressing dissatisfaction with French government
policies that affect them and Muslims in other parts
of the world. An increase in acts of anti-Semitism, the
formation of “Islamist political parties”, the growing
popularity of imams with strong fundamentalist
beliefs and the increasing number of Muslim youth
being arrested for terroristic activities, all indicate
that the French government has a serious problem
on its hands. French Intelligence estimates that out
of the 300,000 Islamic fundamentalists living in
France, 9,000 are “potentially dangerous” (Moniquet
2). French officials hope that this ban on the veil
will remove the issue of religious identity from the
classroom and help Muslim youth integrate and see
themselves as French citizens. (Eisenberg 1; Kramer
4). In her article, “Taking The Veil”, Kramer identifies
the French government’s secularist principles behind
the ‘veil law’ and the role that the school environment
plays in the integration of foreign students; “it begins
with school, that “France” is an idea of citizenship,
an identity forged in the neutral space of its public
schools. ...There is really no place for religious
expression or exceptionalism in those public schools”
(2).
The ‘veil law’ also attempts to address the
problems that school administrators encounter with
a growing number of female Muslim students.
Some school officials see the veil as symbolic of
the oppression that these young girls face at home
and in their communities. Due to the increasing
popularity of Islamic fundamentalism, some girls are
forced to wear the veil by male relatives and male
classmates. Many of these girls are not allowed to
study biology or participate in P.E., and will not read
atheist philosophers like Voltaire (Bryant 2; Eisenberg
3; Kramer 7). Life is growing more difficult for these
young women. In the Islamic ghettoes or ‘cités’
unveiled young women suffer verbal and physical
abuse, gang rape and even death at the hands of
Muslim youth in their communities. Women are
not allowed to be examined by male doctors and
arranged marriages, polygamy and female genital
mutilation are not uncommon in these ‘cités’ (Kramer
7; Moniquet 1). Many school officials and female
politicians feel that the ‘veil law’ will give some
temporary autonomy to female Islamic students, and
liberate them from having to wear this symbol of their
oppression. It is hoped that the implementation of the
‘veil law’ will send a message that Islamic practices
102
school wearing a hijab (“Wearing the veil” 1). The
Court’s decision recognized that the student “had
been unfairly excluded from school ...and that her
school had denied her right to practice her religious
beliefs”, thus allowing her to return to school wearing
a garment that indicates her religious beliefs (1).
The law is also being criticized by human rights
activists and some french feminists. The ‘veil law’ is
seen as restricting Muslim girls’ freedom of religion
and beliefs (Landor 2; Kawwas 2). Critics of the
law feel that it goes against the policy of religious
tolerance that is espoused by the European Union
(Bryant 1). While many feminists support the law,
some French feminists, including female politicians,
feel that the law adds another layer of oppression to
Islamic women who face tremendous pressure in their
communities to wear the veil. The law’s potential to
deny Muslim girls an education is very real and so
far 36 Muslim girls have been expelled from school
(Eisenberg 3; Kramer 9).
The main criticism of this law is that it fails to
recognize the French government’s role in creating
the problems that plague the Islamic ghettoes or
‘cités’ of France. Immigrants from France’s colonies
came to Europe in the 1960’s to fill the demand for
cheap and unskilled labor. Most of these immigrants
were African Muslims from Algiers. These people
have always experienced discrimination and
exclusion in France. Most French Arabs live in
government housing projects that are essentially
slums. Life in these Islamic ghettoes is unbearable.
High unemployment and crime, lack of higher
education and a scarcity of social services is a way of
life in the ‘cités’. In the past the French government
has done little to help these communities, much
less integrate them into French society (Kramer 7;
Moniquet 3).The ostracism and racism that these
people have encountered in France has created a
fertile environment for Muslim imams (theologians)
who preach Islamic fundamentalism (Moniquet 3).
Young Muslim men born in France, but who see
no place for them in French society, are attracted
to this fundamental form of Islam. This promotes
practices that tend to seclude and oppress women,
like polygamy, arranged marriages, female genital
mutilation, female seclusion and the wearing of Hijab
or head scarves for Muslim women (Kramer 9).
While the Quran does stipulate that Muslim
men and women should dress modestly, it does not
require women to wear a veil. The practices of veiling
and purdah (female seclusion), were “social habits”,
borrowed from the patriarchal empires of Byzantium
and Persia (Riphenburg 163). So the argument
that veiling serves a religious purpose is debatable.
for the girls who face intense pressures to adhere
to fundamental Islamic practices. However, some
parents have forbidden their daughters to remove
their scarves. These girls are suspended and are forced
to leave school. Suspension from school denies these
girls access to education and increases their “social
exclusion” by confining them to the ‘cités’. Some
fathers want their daughters to drop out of school, so
that they can marry them off to North African men,
eager to gain access to French work permits and visas
(Eisenberg 1; Kramer 9). When this occurs, Islamic
girls are being doubly oppressed by their families and
their schools. At home and in the community, they are
forced to wear the veil and at school, they are forced
to remove the veil. Under these conditions these girls
are never “free” (Kramer 11).
In France, opponents of this law come from all
sectors of the community. Many Muslim women in
France feel that the ‘veil law’ prevents Muslim girls
from practicing their faith. While it is true that some
Muslim women are pressured into veiling by male
family members, many Muslim women’s choice to
veil is self motivated and voluntary. These women
veil because they feel the practice is a necessary
part of their faith and symbolizes their “personal
relationship to God” (Richter 1; Kramer 1). For some
women, veiling is “a personal choice” and the ‘veil
law’ infringes on their “personal freedom” (Bryant
2-3). In Eisenberg’s article, “France’s secularism:
an uneasy fit”, an American Muslim woman living
in France feels that the ‘veil law’ ignores the mores
and practices of Islamic women; “I’m upset and
I’m outraged...I started wearing the veil because I
thought it was the right thing to do...It serves to cover
my hair and my ears and my neck. The idea is that
a woman’s beauty shouldn’t be available for public
consumption” (2).
The ‘veil law’ is indicative of Westerners’
ignorance and fear of the Islamic religion and cultural
practices. In France, many people associate the veil
with Islamic fundamentalism and feel that Muslim
women should not be allowed to wear the veil in
public (Bryant 1). Germany’s population of 3.2 million
Muslims has to deal with laws that prohibit veiling
in schools, public buildings and hospitals . Muslims
that protest these laws encounter secularist arguments
similar to the ones that the French Muslims face
(Richter 1-2). The battle to wear the veil is being
fought all over Europe with mixed results. The Danish
Supreme Court ruled in favor of a business that fired
a Muslim girl who refused to stop wearing her veil
at work (“Okay To Sack” 1). The British High Court
delivered a verdict that contradicts the ‘veil law’,
when it ruled that a Muslim student could return to
103
integrate the Arab Muslim community or curtail the
discrimination that they endured in France. Over
5 million Muslims live in France, yet they are very
under represented in the French government (Kramer
7; Landor 2; Moniquet 3). In a Capitol Hill Hearing
Testimony concerning the rise in Islamic extremism in
Europe, Claude Moniquet, the head of the European
Strategic Intelligence and Security Center admitted
that the government’s (lack of) social policies has
contributed to the rise in Islamic extremism in Europe:
“Sadly we must observe that, historical or not ,
Muslim immigration was not welcomed in Europe.
Racism and exclusion were a reality, ...until very
recently (in fact the nineties) absolutely nothing was
done to help them integrate. This is the European
reality and the European shame. We must live with it
and we are paying for it” (3).
In my examination of this issue, I have come to
the conclusion that the ‘veil law’ has the potential
to increase rather than decrease the social exclusion
of the Islamic community in France. The law
criminalizes the veil and this may increase the
prejudice that already exists against French Muslims
and encourage Muslims to further reject Western
values in favor of fundamentalist beliefs and practices.
If the government is worried about the increasing
trend towards Islamic extremism, it needs to address
and redress the social, economic and political
inequities that the Arab community has endured in
France. If oppressive cultural practices worry French
politicians, feminists and school administrators,
expelling students who wear the veil is going to harm
young women by denying them education, increasing
their chances of being victimized by these practices.
It seems that the best way to promote integration and
create a sense of French identity would be a policy of
inclusion that accepts and tolerates Islamic people,
their religious beliefs and practices. However, I do
recognize the necessity of protecting Arab girls from
the abuses they suffer if they do not wear the veil
and from practices like female genital mutilation and
marriages against their will, but these practices have
more to do with culture than religion. Hopefully,
as the Arab communities become more absorbed
into the European community, they will abandon
these harmful practices. The debate about the ‘veil
law’ highlights the post-colonial effects of European
imperialism and colonization. If this law had been
implemented when the Arabs first came to Europe,
the Muslim community may have been much more
complacent and resigned to accepting it. However,
in these post-colonial times, colonized peoples are
using the tools of their oppressors, such as the media,
political protest and social activism to demand
However, when one considers that Muslim women
in Lebanon and more recently Turkey, wear the veil
as an expression of cultural identity and to declaim
Western Imperialism, one can understand how
Muslim women in France may wear the veil as a form
of social and political protest (Hijab 48; “Wearing the
veil” 2). In recent months, Islamic girls who usually
would not wear the veil have gone to school wearing
the veil to protest a law that they feel persecutes and
discriminates against the Arab Muslim community
in France (Landor 3). The association between
veiling and Islamic extremism is also unfair. The
condemnation of Muslims for the kidnaping of French
journalists by the Islamic Army in Iraq illustrates
how many Muslims oppose acts of terrorism. The
kidnapers’ demand for the repeal of the ‘veil law’ in
exchange for the journalists’ release was met with
disapproval from Muslim leaders in France and the
Middle East, who, despite their opposition to the ‘veil
law’, demanded the immediate release of the hostages
(Lerougetel 2-3).
The ‘veil law’ violates International and
European laws concerning freedom of beliefs and
religion. The European Union’s Court of Human
Rights and the International Code of Human Rights
both contain laws that guarantee religious freedom.
A ban on the visible display of religious clothing and
symbols is contrary to these laws (Bryant 1; Kawwas
2). The feminists who oppose the law recognize that
expelling Muslim girls from school could increase
their social isolation and exclusion, creating a
situation, where even if they wanted to, they would
have little choice but to accept cultural practices that
were oppressive and harmful to women (Derakhshan
5; Eisenberg 3; Kramer 9). Feminist writer, Claude
Servan-Schreiber was told by many Muslim girls,
“If you forbid the veil, my parents send me away
to North Africa to be married off” (Kramer 9).
Statements like this have convinced many feminists
to protest the ‘veil law’ which they view as harming
rather than helping French Islamic girls.
The argument that the government is responsible
for the dire conditions that exist in the ‘cités’ and
the subsequent rise in Islamic fundamentalism is
apparent when one looks at the French policies
concerning its African immigrants. These immigrants
who came to France in the 1960s, were never given the
rights of full citizens, despite their claim to citizenship
as a result of French colonization. The first groups
of Algerian immigrants were not even allowed to
bring their families. The ‘cités’ built by the French
government confined the Arabs to the outskirts of
French towns and effectively excluded them from
French society. The French government did little to
104
equality and a recognition that they have earned the
same freedoms and rights as everyone else.
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Islam, Gender And Social Change. Ed. Yvonne Yazbek
Haddad and John L. Esposito. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1998. 156- 170.
December 20, 2003. Google. U.H. Hilo Library. April
21, 2005. <http//english.daralhayay.com/
opinion/12-2003/Article-20031220-94fb4c94c0a8-01ed-001>.
“Wearing The Veil Around Europe.” Agence France
Presse. March 2, 2005. LexisNexis. U.H. Hilo
Library. April 19, 2005.
Kramer, Jane. “Taking The Veil; How France’s Public
Schools Became The Battleground In A
Cultural War.” The New Yorker. November
22, 2004. LexisNexis. U.H. Hilo Library. April
28, 2005.
105
Weight
Discrimination:
The Effects of Obesity
on Employment and
Promotion
Table 1 BMI Levels and corresponding levels of obesity.
Source: American Obesity Society, 2003; Chernov, 2003.
BMI Level
Weight Measurement
20-25
Normal Weight
26-29
Overweight
30-39
Obese
40+
Morbidly Obese
Yet what causes or even compounds obesity?
According to Dr. Allan Chernov, obesity within the
United States occurs through an increased caloric
intake and decreased physical activity. Also, certain
metabolic conditions2 compound obesity, making it
easier to gain and harder to lose weight. However,
these conditions do not directly cause obesity, only
compound it (2003). James G. Frierson concurs,
saying that factors such as low metabolism can also
influence obesity (2003).
Obesity is a major health concern and a
large factor in the contraction of diseases such as
hypertension3, diabetes, and heart disease (NeumarkSztainer, 1999). For example, coronary artery
disease, medically referred to as atherosclerosis, is
compounded by obesity through the association of
elevated cholesterol levels in the bloodstream and
Type II Diabetes Mellitus (Chernov, 2003). Also,
greater weight levels increase stress on the skeleton,
increase the chances of getting or worsening arthritis,
and increase the chances of skin irritation and
infections (Chernov, 2003).
Introduction
The concerns over obesity continue to grow in the
United States, particularly in discrimination. Weightbased discrimination continues to receive increasing
attention, especially in the legal area. The controversy
revolves around whether weight-based employment
discrimination exists. This paper explores this
discrimination through its purpose: describing the
extent, the reasons, the job placement factors, gender
related discrimination, and the legal aspects of weight
based discrimination
First, this paper examines the definition of
obesity, the various ways of illustrating it, and other
basic information on obesity. Next is how general
public opinion provides the basis of discrimination.
Finally, the paper discusses the actual employment
discrimination and gender related problems, ending
with the legal views of weight-based employment
discrimination.
Background of Obesity
Formally defined, obesity is the condition
characterized by excessive bodily fat. Obesity is also
defined as weighing higher than a Body Mass Index1
weight of 25 kg/m2 in the United States (Campbell,
1999). BMI values stand on several different levels,
with specific meaning towards a person’s degree
of obesity. Table 1 presents the different BMI levels
and their indications. BMI numbers are useful in
assessing a person’s weight because height is taken
into account, though build is not considered (Chernov,
2003).
107
Evidence of Social Discrimination
Social stigmatization of obesity stems from
societal values on body type. This stigmatization can
cause weight-based discrimination in employment
and is not universally illegal. Society has the biggest
influence on discrimination.
“Children as young as 6 describe silhouettes
of the obese child as ‘lazy’, ‘dirty’, ‘stupid’, ‘ugly’,
‘cheats’, and ‘lies’….children and adults rate the obese
child as the least likable…”(Stunkard, 1985, pg. 1062).
Even the obese find themselves disgusting, thinking
that the rest of society views them in contempt; this
feeling has a high occurrence in women and especially
adolescent girls (Stunkard, 1985). These views come
from an idea that obesity is something people chose
by eating too much and not exercising enough (Food,
1995).
associates to be viewed as less than the best of the
main company (1996).
Employers concern themselves more with the fact
that customers may not buy products from an ugly
salesperson than with abilities of the obese applicant
(Bellizzi, 1998). Many hiring decisions may be based
on whether the applicant fits a representational image
or specific mental projection of the job (Larkin, 1979).
How the selling environment is perceived may be
one of the bigger factors for not hiring obese people
(Bellizzi, 1998). Image is a reason that obese people
are not wanted as employees.
The terms above are not the only names people
think of when it comes to the obese. “’incompetent’
and ‘indulgent’” (Crossrow, 2001, pg. 208) are two
more. Joseph Bellizzi and Ronald Hasty found that
obese people have been described as having a weak
will, possessing great amounts of guilt, not worth
trust, and blamable (1998). Society often has a low
opinion of those who are obese yet a high opinion
of the thin. People who are thin are come across as
good-looking, vigorous, and doers (Frierson, 1993).
Nicole Crossrow et.al found that people with
obesity have a lower likelihood of getting service than
thin people. Within the focus group used in the study,
there were feelings that salespeople were less likely
to help and waitpersons spoke and assumed before
thinking. The waitperson would ask if the customer
received the light menu or assumed the customer
wanted Diet Coke (2001). These characterizations
of and actions towards the obese provide a basis for
employment discrimination.
Insurance Costs and Future Health Conditions
Most often, the public sees the health of obese
people as decreased. Many employers foresee
costs associated with the obese: insurance premium
increase, increase in absences, and having to pay for
special accommodations (Roehling, 1999). In fact,
many employers do not want to hire obese people
because of increasing costs of health care (McEvoy,
1992).
According to Dr. Chernov, healthcare costs have
risen an estimated 12-15% per year, which is higher
than the inflation rate in the United States. The higher
costs of health insurance could cause employers to
drop health insurance plans or try to lower health care
costs by only hiring people with fewer health risks.
This latter reason stands on the logic that the healthier
a workforce is, the less health care costs will be. In
many cases, employers will stop covering certain
things like morbid obesity surgery (2003).
However, employers assume that obese people
are or will become less healthy, thus affecting the
health care costs. An example from Sharlene A.
McEvoy is the case of State Division of Human Rights on
Complaint of Catherine McDermott v. Xerox Corporation.
The Xerox Corporation refused to employ McDermott
because of the higher likelihood she would have
future health impairments. Even though there was
nothing wrong with McDermott at that moment, she
should not be hired because of future health problems
(1992).
Yet, one cannot tell who will develop a disease
because of obesity and many obese will live a life
without contracting obesity-related diseases (Allison,
2001). Dr. Chernov agrees, saying that a person who
has a higher risk of getting certain diseases just means
that he/she has a greater chance of getting these
diseases. It does not mean an obese person will get
the diseases or that a thin person will not (2003).
Discussion: Employment Discrimination
Employment provides an outlet for social
discrimination. There is evidence that obesity causes
discrimination in work settings. With different
reasons relating to obesity, employers have specific
ways to avoid hiring obese people. Job placement
and promotion are affected by obesity and gender
compounds weight discrimination.
Why do Employers not hire those who are Obese?
Stereotypes can lead employers not to hire an
obese person. People who are obese are seen as “less
desirable employees who, compared with others,
are less competent, less productive, not industrious,
disorganized, indecisive, inactive, and less
successful..” (Larkin, 1979, pg. 315-316). Employers
have three main reasons to not hire an obese person.
Employers use store image, insurance costs and future
health conditions, and physical limitations as reasons
not to hire obese people.
Image
Employers may be able to get away with using
appearance as an excuse because it only becomes a
problem if combined with an already protected class4
(Roehling, 1999). The salesperson’s appearance may
have an effect on a store’s image. A study done by
Dennis Clayson et. al shows three student perceptions
of stores with an obese sales associate. First is that the
store was not as successful as other stores. Second,
students perceived store management as having a
lower effectiveness compared to other stores. Third,
one obese sale associate causes the other sales
108
Physical Limitations
According to Sharlene A. McEvoy, physical
limitations of an obese person may be the most
legitimate reason not to hire an obese person.
Physical fitness can be pertinent to jobs connected
with strenuous physical activity (1992). There are
several examples of these jobs. First, policemen,
firemen, and military jobs require physical fitness in
order to get through the training regimen required
(Chernov, 2003).
Dr. Chernov illustrates the second example. Lance
Armstrong’s trainer, Chris Carmichael, has calculated
the effect of the Tour de France winner gaining the
20 pounds that Lance Armstrong lost during cancer
therapy. If Armstrong gained that weight back, it
would take him 3 minutes longer to do one of the
Hors Category climbs of the Tour. These climbs
are steep, winding, and quite difficult (2003). If
Armstrong did gain those 20 pounds back, it would
cause his job performance to go down.
A third example is that of the case Green v. Union
Pacific Railroad as described by Sharlene McEvoy.
Union Pacific had set certain standards of physical
fitness for the entire Union Pacific system. Each job
category had its own set of medical standards that
all applicants must meet. Green applied to transfer
into the fireman’s job but was denied because he
had a weight problem, blood pressure on the verge
of hypertension, and a spine with advance stages
of osteoarthritis5. The courts agreed with Union
Pacific because Green may not be efficient or safe in
his present physical condition (2001). Green’s health
might prevent him from doing his job well, so it
makes sense for Union Pacific not to hire him.
However, employers have to be careful about
using physical limitations as an excuse. Mark V.
Roehling wrote about two court cases to illustrate
this point. In both cases, the obese applicants were
examined by employer selected doctors. These
doctors based their recommendations of not hiring
on obesity typecasts instead of on the applicants’
actual job abilities. Also, many employers have denied
overweight applicants jobs because of the perception
that the applicants could not do the job, not on the
fact that they could not actually do the job (1999).
Also, employers may view a person’s mental power
and abilities negatively, thus not hire (Bellizzi, 1998).
Employers may be able to use physical limitations as a
reason, but this reason should be backed up.
an obese person, but place them in a job that required
less contact with the general public? The answer: yes.
A study found that people who were seen as obese
were fit for challenging jobs when it involved sales
via the telephone (Bellizzi, 1998). Employers would
not place obese employees in a place to interact with
the general public because of the belief that customers
may not want to do business with ugly obese people
(Bellizzi, 1998).
Another study has found that the perception
of store success and the store’s image are affected
negatively by obese employees (Clayson, 1996). Also,
overweight people were rated lower for placement
in a job specifically described as sales job but were
rated equally for a general position (Roehling, 1999).
Face to face contact causes discrimination in the
job placement of obese people. An obese person is
less likely to receive a promotion recommendation
and even had less subordinate acceptance and selfconfidence than other candidates for promotion
(Bordieri, 1997).
James G. Frierson describes the case of Gimello
vs. Agency Rent-A-Car systems, which illustrates
employer-based promotion discrimination. The
employee, Gimello, was fired on the excuse that he
was not performing his job. To the contrary, Gimello
received commendations, raises in pay, a promotion
and was evaluated well. The problem came when a
new regional director felt that Gimello should not be
promoted because he was oversized and overweight.
The director also claimed that Gimello’s weight
was problematic and that the employee was slobby
(1993). Obese employees receive lower evaluations as
subordinates and are seen as undesirable coworkers
(Roehling, 1999).
Gender and Weight Discrimination
Obesity has become a major force in the hiring
process. Yet there is a compounding factor in weightbased discrimination: gender. Gender may cause
more discrimination than weight alone, as women
have the most difficulty with their weight. Women
with an ideal body type have a weight lower than the
standard weight for females (Roehling, 1999).
In a focus group studying weight stigmatization,
women reported having more negative experiences
than did men (Crossrow, 2001). Women tend to
fluctuate in weight and have a greater chance for
weight change; women also had worse physical
functioning according to this weight change
(Hemingway, 1998).
Women with a high employment factor, such as
being a full-time manager, had a lower possibility for
being obese and lower BMI than women who had a
Weight, Job Placement, and Promotion
If an overweight person is hired, there is
discrimination when it comes to job placement and
promotion. The question is, would employers hire
109
suspended or fired for weighing too much were flight
attendants (1992).
Other factors can show that women have a harder
time with jobs as overweight people. It has been
shown that women who were even slightly obese
earned much less than non-obese women but there
was no difference between obese and non-obese men
(Roehling, 1999). Another study showed that women
who were obese or overweight experienced more
discrimination than men who were obese (Dugoni,
1994).
lower employment factor (Ball, 2002). A survey found
that “16% of employers surveyed said they would
not hire obese women under any conditions, and an
additional 44% would not hire them under certain
circumstances” (Stunkard, 1985, pg. 1063). Gender
itself has an effect because employers were less likely
to hire women than men (Dugoni, 1994).
Since the 1970’s, there have been claims of weightbased sex discrimination in the airlines (Frierson,
1993). Sharlene McEvoy provides the perfect example
of this. In the case Laffey v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.,
Laffey was a stewardess who claimed that weight
restrictions for flight attendants were different for men
than women. If a female flight attendant exceeded
female weight restrictions, then the attendant would
either be suspended or fired. It was decided that
the only reason for the airline to discriminate on the
basis of weight would be if the women could not
perform the job; thus in no other way could the airline
discriminate against females on the basis of weight
(1992).
A second example also comes from McEvoy.
American Airlines also placed weight restrictions
against female flight attendants, but their pilots had
no weight restrictions. The airlines claimed that
the sex-based weight limitations were attributable
to airline image and that an overweight flight
attendant may not be able to perform the flight
safety procedures. Also, the only ones who could be
Legal Decisions on Obesity Discrimination
Many cases about obesity discrimination have
gone to trial. Most have stated that people cannot be
discriminated against because their obesity constitutes
a disability. Yet, what is the definition of a disability?
The American Disability Act and Rehabilitation act
define a disability as:
“(A) a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more of the major
life activities6 of such individual; (B) a record
of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded
as having such an impairment” (Frierson,
1993, pg. 290)
Many state laws agree with this statement, while
others do not. Table 2 illustrates which states and U.S.
territories have laws that agree or disagree with the
ADA and Rehabilitation Act disability definition.
Table 2 Definitions of a disability and states that hold to those definitions. Adapted from: Frierson, 1993
Disability Definition
States
Handicapped employment laws that define
disability as the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act
Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, West
Virginia
States that define disability similarly to the ADA
and Rehabilitation Act
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho,
Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, Wisconsin
States that broadly define a disability
Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,
Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington
Outlaw handicapped employment
discrimination with no definition of disability
Tennessee, Florida
Restrictive definition of disability
South Carolina
Law prohibiting employment discrimination
based on physical handicap or medical
condition
California
No laws
Arkansas, Mississippi
110
Recommendations
Further study needs to be done on the
psychological effects of weight-based discrimination
on obese people and on the psychology of social and
employment discrimination. Research also needs to be
done in order to investigate the full extent of weightbased discrimination. Studies should be done to see if
other compounding factors, such as race and ethnicity,
compound weight-based discrimination like gender
does.
Society must actively change the views on
body laid down in the past. Programs to increase
awareness of this discrimination and create positive
body images must be implemented. The citizens of
the country must change their views and behave with
acceptance.
Several states need to actively change their laws.
Legal change must occur in order to minimize the
effects of weight-based discrimination in employment
situations. Also, laws need to be enacted if a legal
district does not have any. Social and legal action
must be taken in order to eliminate weight-based
discrimination.
In several cases, the plaintiff claimed protection
under the ADA, saying that obesity is a disability.
According to James Frierson, the courts decided that
obesity is not a disability because it is a voluntary
act and not caused by a physical problem, deformity,
or loss of a body part. For obesity to be considered
a disability, it must be a disease or compounded by
health risks associated with it. The courts claimed
that obesity is caused by voluntarily overeating
(1993).
Dr. Allan Chernov is not sure that obesity is
voluntary, but will agree that obesity is caused by
increased calorie intake and a decreased amount of
exercise. He also believes that being morbidly obese
is a disability (2003). Being morbidly obese would
severely limit a life activity, thus being protected
under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act.
Frierson illustrates this with several examples.
In New York and California, the courts decided that
obesity was a disability. However, New York courts
would not consider obesity as a disability in deciding
a case. A New Jersey case defined who is disabled
under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. Oregon
Law states that obesity can be a disability if it causes
a decline in life activities or if employers perceive it
as such. Only two legal jurisdictions outlaw weightbased discrimination directly: Washington, D.C. and
Michigan (1993).
Conclusion
Weight-based discrimination has become a
prominent part of employers’ hiring decisions.
Store image, rising health insurance costs, and
physical limitations are a few of the excuses used by
employers. Only the excuse of physical limitations
may have any validity, if the job requires extraneous
physical activity that the person cannot perform.
The excuse about the negative store image is
reinforced by the need to place obese people in jobs
that require less face-to-face contact with the public.
Employers are willing to put them in jobs such that
do not require public contact with the employee.
Employing obese women also seems to be an image
problem for most employers.
Unfortunately, there are few states that outlaw
weight-based employment discrimination and just
as few consider obesity disabling. Most courts and
laws hold that obesity is a voluntary act, something
the person chooses. Weight-based employment
discrimination is a real problem that needs
addressing.
111
References
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org/subs/fstfacts/obesity_what2.shtml> (11
Nov. 2003)
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Hemignway, H., Stafford, M., & Marmot, M. (1998).
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Bellizzi, J.A. & Hasty, R.W. (1998). Territory
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Obesity and Gender as Moderated by Job-Related Factors. Journal of Personal Selling
& Sales Management, 18(2), 35-49. Academic
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Need Apply: Experimental Studies of the
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Life for Employees with Disabilities: Recommendations for Promotion.
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McEvoy, S.A. (1992). Fat Chance: Employment
Discrimination Against the Overweight. Labor Law Journal, 3-14. Academic Periodical
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112
Footnotes
1
BMI is calculated through the following equation:
weight (in kg)/height(in meters)2. To get the BMI
in lb/in, the equation (weight (in lbs)/height(in
inches)2) *704.5 is used.
2
For example, an underactive thyroid
3
Elevated blood pressure
4
For example, gender
5
Degenerative disease of the joints, most especially
the joints that bear weight
6
Something that a person without the extra weight
could do with ease, such as “walking, standing,
seeing, hearing, breathing…” (Frierson, 1993, 295).
113
Women’s Role in
Combat:
Is Ground Combat the
Next Front?
could become officers. The highest officer position
a woman could hold was that of the director of the
women’s division of her particular service. This
position would be temporary, lasting only four years.
After her term was up, she would be either demoted,
or forced to retire. Women were banned from serving
on combat ships and planes. Though it was not
specifically stated within the law, legislators intended
to ban women from being placed near ground combat
zones as well. Separate divisions (WAC, WAVES, and
WAF) were also created to manage the female recruits.
The restrictions created by this law might have
integrated women into the military, but women were
also placed within a separate class, without the same
opportunities as their male counterparts.
Most of these restrictions might sound absurd
now, but they were the reality for women up until
the mid-seventies. In 1978, the separate women’s
divisions of the services were abolished. The end of
these divisions signified a higher level of equality
for women in the services. By this time, the only
restriction left from Public Law 80-625 was the
restriction barring women from serving on combat
ships and planes, as well as the unstated ban from
ground combat positions. Due in part to women’s
participation in Desert Storm, Congress repealed the
last shred of Public Law 80-625 by allowing women to
serve in combat positions for the Air Force and Navy.
This removed the last legal barrier for placing women
in combat. 4
As a result of the danger women encountered
while in support positions during Desert Storm,
President Bush (Sr.) called for the Presidential
Commission on the Assignment of Women in the
Armed Forces (PCAWAF) in order to determine
whether women should be placed in more combat
positions. According to the study, women did
not meet the physical requirements of ground
combat positions, and their presence could also be
detrimental to unit cohesion for a number of reasons.
The commission also determined that if women were
allowed into combat positions, there would no longer
be any legal standing to prevent women from being
included in the next draft. With a 10 against and 2
abstentions, the commission voted against allowing
women to serve in ground combat positions.5
The largest portion of the PCAWAF was dedicated
to testimony and tests that showed that women, as
a whole, did not meet the requirements for various
ground combat positions. These studies tested both
Sylvia Wan
Women in the United States have not been
traditionally thought of as combat soldiers. However,
they have recently been allowed to serve in more
combat positions than in any other time in our
nation’s history. The only restriction that prevents
women from being equal in the military is the ban on
women serving in ground combat positions. Is putting
women in ground combat units merely the next
step? When asked about women in ground combat,
President Bush summed up his policy in four words
“No women in combat.”1 President Bush’s stand is
adamant against women serving in any combat role,
especially ground combat positions. In every war
since WWII, presidents have had to tackle the issue of
women’s role in the military.
Women’s role in combat has been consistently
changing from the founding of our country. The
first role that women played in the military was the
role of volunteer nurses. By the time of the Civil
War, the presence of female nurses was an accepted
part of the military. In 1901, the Army established
the Army Nurses Corp, allowing women an official
position in the military.2 During WWII, the military
actively recruited women to fill manpower shortages,
especially in clerical and secretarial work. As is
usually the case for women participating in war
efforts, when the war ended, they were demilitarized
and returned to traditional civilian roles.3
Since then, the major changes for women in
the military came from the Women’s Armed Forces
Integration Act PL 80-625. This act opened up many
more positions for women in the military.
In 1948 Public Law 80-625 gave women a
permanent place, both active and reserves, within
all four military services. However the law placed
restrictions women as well, such as a two percent
limit on the proportion of women to men allowed
to enlist, and only ten percent of the female enlisted
115
men and women who were given the same training
and requirements to meet. Within these studies, the
women’s physical performances were about 70% that
of the men’s performance. In response to the evidence
that some women did reach the physical standard,
the PCAWAF stated, “There is little doubt that some
women could meet the physical standards for ground
combat, but the evidence shows that few women
possess the necessary physical requirements.”6 Those
for lifting the ban on combat exclusion say that with
extra training more women would be able to meet
the same physical requirements. In a study by the
Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine,
78% of the participating women were able to lift 150
pounds off the ground to a height of fifty-two inches
and could jog with 75 pound packs after six months
of physical training.7 The study showed that with
extra training, a large portion of women entering the
military could be brought up to the same physical
standards as men.
Despite the testimony and tests displaying that
women (with the current levels of basic training)
could not physically handle ground combat positions,
the damage to unit cohesion was the main reason the
commission voted for the ground combat exclusion.
The commission outlined five different areas in
which the presence of women could cause cohesion
problems. One, of women being unable to meet and
endure the physical burdens required of each unit
member. Two, awkward situations may arise due
to lack of privacy and forced intimacy. Three, the
presence of traditional western values that would
make the men feel it was their duty to protect the
female sex. Four, the forced working environment
could lead to possible dysfunctional relationships
including, but not limited to, incidents of sexual
harassment. Five, fear of pregnancies that could arise
from sexual relationships within the unit.
Group cohesion within combat units is thought
to be one of the most important elements in
accomplishing military tasks. The disruption of this
element could mean disaster for the entire unit and
any operation it may be carrying out.8 The lack of
privacy and forced intimacy is thought to disrupt
cohesion by causing sexual tension, and any number
of problems resulting from it. Tension may exist, but it
does not have to detract from the effectiveness of the
unit.
In reference to the lack of privacy during the
Persian Gulf War, “… men and women serving sideby-side in the Gulf demonstrated that they were
capable of working together as teams; they could be
comrades without “fraternizing”; they could share
tents without sharing beds; they could share common
dangers without feigning chivalry.”9 The trained
solider is accustomed to meager accommodations and
lack of privacy. In the event that women were present
in the units, operations and habits did not change.
There have already been numerous reports of
sexual harassment and misconduct toward women in
the military. However, the levels of sexual harassment
(and any other crime for that matter) in the military
are far lower than levels of the same crime in the
civilian sector. On a whole, women actually encounter
less sexual harassment in the military than in the
civilian sector. According to Miller, a sociologist, a
more common way for men showing resentment
of women being in the military is through gender
harassment. Constant scrutiny and sabotage are
examples of two forms of gender harassment women
endure when entering fields that are not traditional
for them. 10 Both of these methods generally force the
women to work harder, in order to earn the respect of
their male peers. 11 There is no way to regulate gender
harassment because its methods are so subtle. Just as
within the civilian world, given enough time, gender
harassment in the military will simply fade away as
more women enter the military and can prove they
can work just as hard as their male counterparts.
The PCAWAF named pregnancy as the last
cohesion problem that could be caused by including
women in ground combat units. However, birth
control methods have become advanced to such
a level that a woman simply needs to take a birth
control shot in order to prevent her from being fertile
for six months. The risk of a woman getting pregnant
while on tour is very slim. According to the American
Civil Liberties Union’s Sara L. Mandelbaum, the
average time lost due to pregnancy is actually lower
then the average time lost for common male problems
(alcoholism for example).12 According to George
Quester in an article for the International Security
journal, women who chose to leave the military
service would not cause any more of a logistical
problem than men who only serve for four years.13
According to a report, which focused on the
Department of Defense’s (DoD) policy on women
in the military, compiled by the United States
Accounting Office for the Senate, “about 15 percent
of all positions across the armed forces are closed
to women because they (1) are in occupations that
primarily engage in direct ground combat, (2)
collocate and operate with direct ground combat
units, (3) are located on ships where the cost of
providing appropriate living arrangements is
considered prohibitive, or (4) are in units that
engage in special operations missions and longrange reconnaissance.”14 The DOD’s rationale for
116
not including women in such positions is as follows.
First, there is no need for women in these positions
due to the availability of men who can perform
the same jobs. Second, there is a lack of public and
congressional support for women in ground combat
positions. Third, the involuntary assignment of
women into ground combat units is not supported by
servicewomen today.15 The PCAWAF helped to shape
the DoD’s perception of public opinion on women in
ground combat positions.
The PCAWAF’s report on a 1992 survey stated
that only 12% of enlisted women and 10% of female
noncommissioned officers would consider combat
positions16 lead to the assumption that women do
not want to serve in combat capacities. Instead, they
would rather be in a more comfortable desk job over
being in the field. This assumption is in not correct
according to a study conducted by the RAND’s
National Defense Research Institute. The study
found that, “the nature of the work involved in the
occupations does not seem to affect the willingness
of women to enter it. Neither the hard physical work
of the engineering occupations nor the austere living
conditions of the air support skills appear to deter
women from seeking to work in the jobs. Additionally,
high-technology occupations that operate in relatively
more comfortable circumstances do not necessarily
draw women in greater numbers.”17 Women choose
their line of work for the same reasons men do. Their
decision is not necessarily based on the cushiness of
the job, but more likely tied to the utilization of their
abilities.
Women today serve in various support and
supply positions that make it just as likely for them to
encounter enemy fire as combat troops. According to
Lt. Col. Frels, women have been routinely deployed
in peace operations since Desert Storm. Peace
operations, sometimes known as police functions,
are not considered to be ‘wars’ and have no battle
lines. However, military personal can become injured,
even die, at the hands of insurgents and combat can
become necessary. 18 The justification that allows
for the assignment of women to peace operations
can be explained by the social theory held by Helen
Hughes, “the greater the relative importance of
actual war fighting (especially ground combat), the
less the participation of women.” 19 This explains
the military’s willingness to put women in possibly
dangerous positions, as long as the overall action is
considered a peace operation.
There are women who meet the physical
requirements, who are interested in the positions from
which they are currently excluded, and are already
being put in harms way. Proponents for dissolving
the combat exclusion state, if women are performing
the same job and enduring the same amount of
danger, they should be able to receive the same
recognition. A woman’s ability to receive promotions
is hindered by her inability to participate in combat
roles. There should be only one standard for both
men and women. If women are to have equal rights,
then they should have the equal responsibility to civic
duty, including fighting for their country. Opponents
of the current combat exclusion believe women
should have the same chance of being considered
for a combat position (as long as they meet the same
qualifications) so that both men and women have the
same opportunity for promotions.
All military personal receive basic combat
training; however, some women are now being
allowed training that was once reserved only for
men. The counter sniper training is now available
to women who are serving as security in protecting
airbases and planes. According to Ben Dolan, Army
Guard Sgt. First Class, a former Marine sniper and
the chief instructor for the only US military sniper
school that accepts women, “women can shoot better,
by and large, and they’re easier to train because they
don’t have the inflated egos that a lot of men bring
to these programs. Women will ask for help if they
need it, and they will tell you what they think.” He
also believes that women are more mentally suited
for being snipers. Women are being trained as counter
snipers due to the rising number of hostile countries
that use women as snipers. 20 The counter sniper
training is typically thought of as combat training;
however, these women are not being put in combat
positions.
With the current Iraq war, more women find
themselves in combat than in any other war to
date. Because the situation in Iraq is considered a
peacekeeping operation, the use of Military Police
(MP) to conduct searches and seizures is very
common. Up until the mid-90’s the combat operations
that the MP took were usually short-lived, they served
mainly as a support unit for infantrymen. However,
the MP’s in Iraq are now performing the exact same
duties that all-male combat units are performing. 21
The major difference between the infantrymen and
the MP units is that the MP units tend to have a larger
proportion of women. According to Captain Kellie
MeCoy, of the Army Airborne division, “Our doctrine
[on women in combat] was suited for wars with front
lines. In Iraq, the front line is everywhere. Once you
leave the [base] camp, you’re on the front line.”22 Capt
McCoy received the Bronze Star with combat “V” for
valor in recognition for shooting her way out of an
ambush. These women are already putting their lives
117
on the line every time they perform a routine patrol
through Iraq. The Iraq war has seen the most service
women casualties and injuries, with 35 dead and 271
wounded.23 The woman who are caught in combat,
and fight with valor, should be able to receive the
same awards and promotional recognition as their
male unit members and fellow infantrymen whom
they are supporting. By officially prohibiting women from serving
in combat roles, even if they defensively serve in a
combat capacity, they are barred from promotions
in which combat experience is key. According to
Porter and Adside, who were graduate students
from the Naval Post Graduate School, attaining a
top rank position is very difficult without combat
command experience. Various combat positions are
the traditional paths into the military’s top leadership
positions. 24 This hindrance of promotional status puts
women into a separate category from men; it ensures
that women would be unable to serve as chief of staff,
or any other high ranking official, even if they are
otherwise qualified.
Currently there are two different standards for the
physical fitness test that is given to men and women.
The current physical fitness test makes women appear
over-weight and more unfit in comparison to the
males who have a higher standard to achieve. Having
two different standards leads people to believe
women are getting a break and are not as capable
of performing certain jobs. According to Porter
and Adside’s research, the Army Physical Fitness
test is often misinterpreted as being an indicator
for determining combat readiness. However, the
general physical fitness tests are not the same as the
physical fitness performance standards needed for
specific jobs. Lt. Col. Frels even stated that, “None of
the Services have adequately studied or developed
job-specific physical performance standards.”25
Proponents of allowing women into more combat
positions state that the Army (as well as other
services) should establish physical requirements for
all combat positions, and any others closed to women
currently. These requirements can be used as a nongender specific guide to employ those who meet the
physical requirements necessary for that military
specialty.26
The PCAWAF highlighted an important argument
against placing women in combat roles, which stated
that if women were allowed into combat roles, there
would no longer be legal justification to prevent them
from being eligible for the draft. For those who do not
want women to be eligible for the draft, this is a sound
argument. However, there are those that believe that if
women are to receive equal rights within civilian life
118
then they should also have equal civic responsibility.
Porter and Adside reveal the beginnings of this
argument to be “at least as old as the teachings of
Plato and Aristotle.” 27 Prt. Tracie Sanchez, a mother
with four children and machine gunner with the
MP stated, “It was my turn to serve the country and
protect our children.”28 The sentiment she expressed
is prevalent with servicewomen currently serving in
Iraq. Most would rather there not be a draft; however,
if women are to be treated equally, they should also
have the same civic responsibilities as their male
counterparts.
Due to the high requirements of some combat
positions, it is quite understandable to assume that
only a few women would be able to qualify for those
positions. According to Lt. Col. Charles King, the
limited presence of women in combat positions may
lead to the accusation that those positions not being
truly “gender integrated.” He fears this will lead to
the establishment of a female affirmative action that
would actively set up quotas for the Services to meet
in order to create gender integration.29
Because the presence of a certain number of
women in a unit would be hard to attain, there is
a justifiable fear that gender harassment will be
harder and take longer to nullify. However, gender
harassment alone would not be a catalyst for a gender
oriented affirmative action within the Services. The
opponents of the combat exclusion would not push
for a gender affirmative action, because it would
be contrary to the justifications they use to validate
women entering ground combat roles.
Whether you are for or against allowing women
into ground combat roles, the current occupation in
Iraq is bringing the issue to light once more. Those
who are for the combat exclusion state that women
as a whole do not meet the physical requirements,
and their placement in otherwise all male combat
units would disrupt unit cohesion, and by allowing
women in ground combat positions they would
become eligible for the draft. Those who are against
the combat exclusion argue that ground combat roles
are essential to certain promotions, physical standards
need to be specific to each specialty and they should
be the same for both men and women, and with equal
civic responsibility comes equal civic duty. Women
have been allowed positions in various combat
positions; the only restriction that prevents women
from being completely equal in the military is the
ban on women serving in ground combat positions.
Should opening up ground combat positions be the
next step? Is our society willing to do away with
all gender distinctions within the military? Please
think the issue through, because the answers to these
questions may change the military as we know it.
Bibliography
Quester, George H. “Women in Combat,” International
Security 1, no. 4 (1977): 80-91.
Curl, Joseph and Rowan Scarborough. “Despite
pressure, Bush vows ‘no women in combat,’’
The Washington Times, January 12, 2005, sec.
A01.
Sisk, Richard. “The women of war: In Iraq, death
knows no frontline, not gender,” Daily News Washington Bureau. December 14,
2004.
Frels, Mary C. “Women Warriors: Oxymoron or
Reality.” Strategy Research Project, U.S.
Army War College, 1999.
U.S. Department Of Air Force Agency Group 09, First
Women Graduates From Sniper
School, April 17, 2001. FDCH Regulatory
Intelligence Database, April 17, 2001.
General Accounting Office National Security and
International Affairs Division. Gender Issues:
Information on DOD’s Assignment Policy and
Direct Ground Combat Definition, October 1998.
Washington, DC: U.S. GPO, 1998.
Worth, Richard. “Do Women have what it takes?”
Women in Combat: The Battle for Equality,”
Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers,
1999.
Harrell, Margaret C., Megan K. Beckett, Chiaying
Sandy Chien, and Jerry M. Sollinger, The Status of Gender Integration in the Military:
Analysis of Selected Occupations. Rand, 2002.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/
MR1380/
Footnotes
1
Hughes, Helen MacGill. “Women’s Military Roles
Cross nationally: Past Present and Future”
Gender and Society Vol. 9 No. 6 (1995): 757-775.
Rowan Scarborough and Joseph Curl. “Despite
pressure, Bush vows ‘no women in combat,”
The Washington Times, January 12, 2005, sec. A
01.
2
King, Charles. “The Trivialization of Gender and Its
Impact on Combat Effectiveness,” Strategy
Research Project, U.S Army War College, 2000.
Mary C. Frels, “Women Warriors: Oxymoron or
Reality.” (Strategy Research Project, U.S.
Army War College, 1999), 5.
3
Loeb, Vernon. “Teresa Broadwell Found Herself in the
Army—Under Fire, in Iraq” Washington Post,
November 23, 2003, sec. D01.
Helen MacGill Hughes, “Women’s Military Roles
Cross nationally: Past Present and Future”
Gender and Society 9, no. 6 (1995): 761.
4
Frels, “Women Warriors,” 7.
5
Presidential Commission on the Assignment of
Women in the Armed Forces, Report to the
President, November 15, 1992 (DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office 1992), 27.
6
Ibid., 24.
7
Richard Worth, Women in Combat: The Battle for
Equality, (Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow
Publishers, 1999), 68.
8
President, 25.
9
Jeanne Holm, Women in the Military: an Unfinished
Revolution, (Novato, CA: Presido Press, 1992),
463.
Holm, Jeanne. Women in the Military: an Unfinished
Revolution, Novato, CA:Presido Press, 1992.
Miller, Laura L. “Not Just Weapons of the Weak:
Gender Harassment as a Form of Protest
for Army Men” Sociology Quarterly 60, no.1
(1997): 32-51.
Moniz, Dave. “More women bear wounds of war,”
Honolulu Advertiser, May 1, 2005, sec A
21-2.
Women in the Armed Forces, Report to the President, November 15, 1992. Washington
DC: U.S. GPO, 1992.
Porter, Laurie M. and Rick V. Aside. “Women in
Combat: Attitudes, and Experiences
of US military Personnel,” MA Thesis, Naval
Post Graduate School, 2001.
119
10
Laura L. Miller. “Not Just Weapons of the Weak:
Gender Harassment as a Form of Protest
for Army Men” Sociology Quarterly 60, no.1
(1997): 37-38.
20
U.S. Department Of Air Force Agency Group 09,
First Women Graduates From Sniper School,
April 17, 2001 (FDCH Regulatory Intelligence
Database, April 17, 2001).
11
Ibid., 39
21
12
Worth, “Do Women have what it takes?” 59.
Vernon Loeb, “Teresa Broadwell Found Herself in
the Army—Under Fire, in Iraq,” Washington
Post, November 23, 2003, sec. D01.
13
George H. Quester, “Women in Combat,”
International Security 1, no. 4 (1977): 89.
22
14
General Accounting Office National Security and
International Affairs Division. Gender Issues:
Information on DOD’s Assignment Policy and
Direct Ground Combat Definition, October 1998
(Washington DC, 1998), 16.
Richard Sisk, “The women of war: In Iraq, death
knows no frontline, not gender,” Daily News
Washington Bureau. December 14, 2004.
23
Dave Moniz, “More women bear wounds of war,”
Honolulu Advertiser, May 1, 2005,sec. A 21.
15
Ibid., 4.
16
President, 24.
Laurie M. Porter and Rick V. Adside, “Women in
Combat: Attitudes, and Experiences of US
military Personnel,” (Thesis, Naval Post
Graduate School, 2001), 19.
24
Margaret C. Harrell, and others, The Status of Gender
Integration in the Military: Analysis of Selected
Occupations. Rand 2002. http://www.rand.
org/publications/MR/MR1380, xix.
17
18
Frels, “Women Warriors,” 9-10.
19
Hughes, “Women’s Military Roles Cross nationally,”
762.
25
Frels, “Women Warriors,” 28.
26
Porter and Adside, “Women in Combat,” 17.
Ibid., 17.
27
120
28
Vernon Loeb, “Teresa Broadwell”, D01.
29
Charles King, “The Trivialization of Gender and Its
Impact on Combat Effectiveness,” (Strategy
Research Project, U.S Army War College,
2000), 11.
Worms Go To School
The Hawai‘i Department of Education should work
with local schools and teachers to establish a pilot
project for Worms Go To School. After the successful
completion of the pilot project, a statewide program
should be established. For each project, a Principal
Investigator (PI) would be hired to oversee the day
to day vermicomposting operation, maintain quality
controls, coordinate efforts with local and school
officials, file reports, and train school faculty and
students.
Composting Cafeteria Food Waste in
Hawaii’s Schools:
An Innovative Approach to Organic
Waste Disposal
Introduction
Background
The State of Hawai‘i is beautiful and diverse. The
islands are home to a stunning array of tropical plants,
a rich cultural heritage, and a thriving economy. But
our beautiful and lush environment is in danger:
As the population increases, so does the amount of
garbage that is generated in the state. In particular,
Hawaii’s urban and rural ecosystems are faced with
mounting problems associated with the disposal of
organic waste, estimated at about half of the state’s
solid waste stream (“Backyard Composting” 1). This
garbage poses a serious threat to the environment-the same environment we would like to leave as a
legacy for our children. Vermicomposting, a method
of feeding food scraps to worms to process organic
waste, is a possible solution. Perhaps we could start
in schools to help create a new legacy for our children.
by Piper Selden
Executive Summary
Waste reduction is a growing environmental and
financial concern for Hawai‘i schools. Organic
waste, in particular, makes up one of the largest
components of the state’s solid waste stream. Due to
our geographic location, Hawai‘i has added incentives
to find innovative strategies for waste reduction; it
costs us more for garbage disposal. And because of
our distinction as one of the nation’s largest school
districts, we should incorporate earth-friendly policies
which supports environmental stewardship. In the
great State of Hawai‘i, we have a unique opportunity
to utilize a form of composting; we can divert large
amounts of organic and paper waste from island
landfills and incinerators with the use of worms.
Hawai‘i has just one statewide school district, making
it approximately the tenth largest in the United
States (“About Us” 1-2). Enrollment increases each
year. Sustainable waste management, in schools and
elsewhere, helps to protect the environment and is
achieved by the three Rs of conservation: Reduce,
Reuse, and Recycle. Hawai‘i public schools can help
promote and practice sustainable waste management
by adding the 3 Rs of conservation (reduce, reuse,
and recycle) to the three Rs of education: Reading,
wRiting, and aRithmatic.
Worm composting, also called vermicomposting,
offers a wealth of learning opportunities for students,
parents, faculty, and administrators. A broad range
of teaching possibilities exist for a new Worms Go
To School curriculum. Not only would students
in Hawai‘i learn more about the environment, but
money for the school system would be saved. It
might even be a source of local fundraisers for the
district.
A Serious Problem for Hawaii’s Schools
Waste disposal rates are rising as Hawaii’s population
increases statewide. Located in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, Hawaii’s geographic isolation makes
garbage disposal more costly. We aren’t able to
truck our rubbish to a nearby state without barging
it several thousand miles first. Many schools which
121
DISCUSSION
are already struggling financially face growing waste
disposal costs. Currently, most schools in Hawaii
throw cafeteria food waste directly into the garbage.
In one school surveyed, seven of ten large trash bags
generated each day contained cafeteria waste. Two
of the three remaining trash bags were mixed paper
(Thatcher).
Understanding
Worms?
Studies show organic waste in Hawai‘i as half or
more of the state’s solid waste stream (“Backyard
Composting” 1). Composting organics, such as
cafeteria waste, could divert a great deal of material
from landfills or incinerators and save on waste
disposal costs for schools. Composting with worms,
specifically, is an economical way to compost food
waste. Paper waste from the school can also be
composted, and used as bedding for the worms
(Appelhof, My Garbage 31-32).
Taking Out the Trash
Not only is waste disposal getting more expensive
in Hawai‘i, but it poses environmental and health
concerns as well. Burying waste in landfills is not a
long-term sustainable plan for Hawai‘i. Landfill space
is filling up and is costly to maintain. Burning waste
in incinerators, known as HPOWER in Hawai‘i, is also
costly and affects air quality. Both create pollution
problems of one type or another (Baer 1-2). Clearly,
we have a serious garbage issue. Over 160,000 tons of
garbage was thrown away in Hawai‘i County alone in
2000. The amount of solid waste has been increasing
steadily, about 5 percent a year since 1995 (“Update”
16).
Composting with worms is called
“vermicomposting.” The process uses earthworms
to quickly break down organic waste. Many schools
across the U.S. are composting cafeteria and paper
waste with worms (“Worm Composting” 1-2)
(“Worms Turn” 1). In addition to being a good waste
reduction method, composting with worms provides
valuable educational opportunities for students,
school staff, and parents (Appelhof, Our Garbage
Prologue and Introduction).
We need to address the problem of responsible solid
waste disposal to avoid long-term damage to the
environment and our economy. Let’s start now.
Waste is a management issue for state and county
agencies, but it is the responsibility of all who
contribute to the problem. Composting with worms
provides a good solution for a difficult problem.
Mary Appelhof, famed environmental educator
and worm enthusiast wrote, “Worms have been
converting organic residues to again usable form for
300 million years. We bypass this natural recycling
process when we flush garbage down the drain,
incinerate it, or bury it in landfills where it may not
decompose for decades” (Appelhof, Our Garbage
Prologue)
Purpose: An Innovative Approach
An innovative approach is needed to help
organizations, like schools, deal with the growing
waste disposal problem without compromising the
environment. Composting organic waste with worms,
also known as vermicomposting, is the best approach.
This report will show that vermicomposting is a
proven, environmentally-sound method of recycling
organic wastes, particularly food waste. Not only will
waste be reduced in the state’s schools, but children
will gain a better understanding of earth science,
ecology, and sustainable living through the study of
school worm composting units. Composting with
worms is a cost-effective, educational, and Earthfriendly method of cafeteria food waste disposal.
The Department of Education in the state of Hawai‘i
should consider the recommendations in this report
and start a Worms Go To School program to compost
organic waste in island schools.
Science and Policy
Garbage to Gold
Solid waste is studied as science and argued as
policy. Solid waste, commonly called garbage, can be
grouped into general categories for analysis and does
not usually include materials that have been diverted
by composting or recycling efforts.
Scope
This report explores responsible waste disposal
methods for schools in the State of Hawai‘i,
particularly organic waste. A general introduction to
the science and methodology of vermicomposting is
also contained in this report.
Figure 1 shows the combined organic and paper waste
in South Hilo Landfill at 53.9% in 2001 (“Update” 19).
Schools generate a lot of garbage, including food and
paper waste. Combined organic and paper waste can
be composted... or thrown into the trash. The choice
is ours. Schools have a golden opportunity to help
122
Traditional Composting
Another method of organic food waste disposal
utilizes traditional composting methods. Composting
recycles organic material, including food waste,
and produces a product full of nutrients for the soil
(“Backyard Composting”). However, according to
the Composting Handbook prepared by the Natural
Resource, Agriculture and Engineering Service
(NRAES) Cooperative Extension service, there are
several disadvantages to traditional composting
methods, including space, cost, and foul smells
(“On Farm Composting Handbook” 5). Any of
these factors could make the traditional composting
method difficult in a school setting. The Cooperative
Extension Service from the University of Manoa notes
that vermicomposting is, “faster than traditional
composting methods.” (“Small-Scale” 1).
teach future generations more about the environment
and about sustainable ecological responsibility.
Why not begin near the source--at school? Several
methods for organic waste reduction in Hawaii will
be discussed here.
Methods
Same, Same...
Although not the best alternative, we should
begin with the easiest: to continue the practice of
throwing most of our cafeteria food waste into the
garbage. Rising prices for waste collection, growing
environmental concerns, and a reduction in landfill
space show that this solution is not the best longterm waste disposal plan. Landfills are expensive to
operate and maintain. Incineration carries hazardous
environmental risks (Baer 2). Neither is a good option
for the long run.
Composting with Worms
Composting with worms highlights the three Rs
of conservation: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. It
helps to reduce the amount of organic food and
paper waste from Hawaii’s public schools into the
waste stream, saving valuable landfill space. The
vermicomposting process reuses organic waste as a
feedstock for composting worms, transforming the
waste into a nutrient-rich compost product. Finally,
worm composting adds humus (a stable material
formed in the breakdown of organic materials) to the
soil for healthier plants. (Applehof 110-111) The only
drawback for this method has been the commercial
Pig Farmers
Many years ago, Hawai‘i disposed of much of its
organic food waste, especially from schools, by giving
it to local pig farmers. Farmers used the food waste
as feedstock for their animals. Sadly, the number of
pig farmers in the state has reached an all time low.
The decline of pig farming in Hawai‘i in recent years
makes this method of food waste disposal unreliable
or unavailable in many areas of the state (DuPonte).
There are simply too few pig farmers to accommodate
the growing number of schools.
123
availability of worm producers. As importing worms
into the State of Hawai‘i is illegal, with a fine up to
$200,000, local breeders were needed before largescale composting of this type could occur (“Importing
Plants” 1) (“Plant Quarantine: Penalties” 1).
Fortunately, supplies of legal composting worms are
now commercially available from a variety of sources.
The Best Waste Alternative
Composting with worms is the most effective and
suitable method of organic waste disposal for schools
in the State of Hawai‘i. Researched methods and
curriculum have been established to ensure proper
composting techniques. Units also come in small,
medium, and large sizes to accommodate individual
school needs.
The following figures show different commercial
worm composting units and their target populations.
Figure 2 is an example of a small unit. It stands just
16 inches high and could easily serve a small home
school environment. Figure 3 is a medium size unit
and could accommodate a school of medium size.
This particular unit is three feet high. Several bins
this size could be used to accommodate larger schools.
A college or university would best be served with
an industrial size unit, like Figure 4. Units like these
stand approximately five feet high and range from six
feet to forty-eight feet long.
Pricing for commercial worm composting units varies
by supplier, but building plans are also available. A
unit could be constructed in a wood shop or science
class. Purchased or handmade, worm composting
units accomplish the same task: converting organic
school waste into a valuable compost product.
A Popular Choice
Not only is classroom vermicomposting an efficient
method to divert organic waste from the solid waste
stream, vermicomposting is fun. It is one of the
hottest trends in environmental education. The State
of California, in cooperation with the California
Integrated Waste Management Board, recently
adopted a statewide vermicomposting program as
a part of waste management and energy reduction
(“The Worm Guide” i). By creating a curriculum
for vermicomposting in schools, the state hopes
to inspire, inform, and encourage school districts
to undertake waste reduction projects, like worm
composting. The development of similar Earthcentered projects will help school children, parents,
school boards, administrators, and teachers learn
more about their environment.
124
CONCLUSIONS
Wise waste minimization programs focus on efforts
to reduce, reuse, and recycle. While waste cannot be
completely eliminated, it can be reduced. Programs
that encourage recycling and composting help
organizations and individual citizens reduce solid
waste. Worm composting recycles food waste and
also utilizes a natural scientific process that can be
studied in the classroom. In fact, a school science
curriculum for worm composting was written by the
University of Hawai‘i at Manoa (DASH) to study
worms and their value in the environment (Thatcher).
Making every day Earth Day at School
Composting cafeteria food waste in Hawaii’s schools
would be an innovative approach to divert a waste
product, keeping it from a landfill or incinerator.
Worm composting is an environmentally-sound
and responsible choice for school waste reduction
efforts. In addition, the waste program would help
teach school children about the environment and
good stewardship of the land and natural resources.
The resulting compost might also benefit the school
district by providing much needed income. More
than anything, we waste a valuable resource that
could enrich our soil and reduce our solid waste
stream. More than anything, recycling food
waste helps reduce human impact on the fragile
environment.
Worm composting food waste has proven effective
for other organizations throughout the U.S. In 1999,
the Branchville Correctional Facility in southern
Indiana, successfully processed 21,000 pounds of
cardboard, as well as 48,000 pounds of food waste by
vermicomposting (“Branchville” 1). Vermicomposting
is also widely practiced in public schools in Portland,
Oregon, sponsored in part by state funding. Public
schools in the Portland area have vermicomposted
over 4,500 pounds since 1998 (“Worm Composting”
1).
David Orr, a noted professor of Environmental
Studies from Oberlin College once said, “Our goal
as educators is to present a sense of hopefulness to
students, and the competence to act on that hope.”
Along those lines, all education is environmental
education; we must have the wisdom to help show
students that they are a part of the natural world, not
apart from it. Students today are the future and hope
of Hawai‘i.
Bringing it Home
In November of 2002, the State of Hawai‘i set a solid
waste management goal to divert 50% of the current
waste stream to landfills by the year 2008 (“5-Year”
1). At the current rate, we will not reach the statewide
goal (“Report Card” 13). We can expect to pay for
environmental clean up and restoration projects in the
form of higher taxes, now or later.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following are recommended to establish a Worms
Go To School program to compost organic waste in
Hawaii’s schools.
Supporting an innovative food waste disposal
program, such as worm composting, would help save
money, teach future generations the importance of
Hawaiian ecology (relationships between organisms
and the environment), and reinforce state and county
efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
ØPilot Project: Initiate a worm composting
pilot project at a small to medium size school.
Principal Investigator (PI) for the project will
be a trained professional and responsible for
obtaining necessary permits to operate the facility.
PI will also document the type and quantify
of cafeteria food and paper waste used during
the project. Training materials and curriculum
would be ordered and provided for staff and
students to learn about worm farming in the
schools. Reports will be made to the Department
of Education for county waste reduction records.
PI will also maintain scientific records including
composting conditions (temperature, aeration,
moisture, and acidity) and length of composting
process. Reports will be submitted quarterly
to the Department of Education, Office of the
Superintendent, for review.
Another reason to support worm composting in
schools is the possible financial gain: fundraising.
Vermicomposting recycles organic and green waste
into a valuable soil amendment. Schools might
look into a new profit center by selling the compost
end-product at school fund-raising events. Studies
show that plants treated with compost are stronger
and more disease resistant than those that are not
(Appelhof, My Garbage 111). Schools could help to
create a better environment by reducing solid waste
amounts and creating nutrient-rich compost in its
place.
125
ØStatewide Project: After pilot project data is
evaluated and approved for statewide use, the
Principal Investigator will work with state,
county, and local agencies to begin Worms Go To
School in all publicly run schools.
ØSeek assistance from the state of Hawaii to
help fund the Worms Go To School project.
Establishing and supporting programs, such as
this food waste recycling program, are sited in the
1999 “Improving Hawaii’s Solid Waste Recycling
Rate” recommendations to the Governor (“Report
Card” 13).
ØPI will prevent and minimize nuisances, including
odor, flies, and possible vandalism to the units.
ØCompost that is produced will be nonpathogenic,
free of offensive odors, biologically and
chemically stable, and able to sustain plant
growth. To demonstrate that the compost is
nonpathogenic, routine sampling and testing will
be done. Test results will be submitted, along
with the approximate weight of material that was
diverted from the waste stream.
126
REFERENCES
Hawaii Department of Agriculture. Plant Quarantine:
Penalties. GPO, 2005. <http://www.
hawaiiag.org/hdoa/pi_pq_penalty.htm>
Appelhof, Mary. Worms Eat My Garbage.
Kalamazoo: Flower Press, 1997
---. Worms Eat Our Garbage. Kalamazoo: Flower
Press, 1993
On-Farm Composting Handbook. Ithaca: Natural
Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering
Service (NRAES) Cooperative Extension,
1992.
Baer, Andrea. “Dumping with Impunity.” 26 Jan.
2005. Honolulu Weekly-On The Cover.
Honolulu Weekly. 04 Dec. 2005. <http://www.honoluluwekly.com/cover/
detail.php?id=71>
“Pop Quiz!” About Us. State of Hawaii Department
of Education. 01 Dec. 2005. <http://doe.k12.
hi.us/about/index.htm>
Bank, Ellen. “Worms Turn MUSC Cafeteria Waste to
Useful Compost.” 20 Jan. 2000. MUSC
News Release. Medical University of South
Carolina. 14 Nov. 2005. <http;//www.musc.
edu/pr/worms.html>
State of Hawaii. Hawai‘i Environmental Report Card
2004: Environmental Council. Honolulu:
GPO, 2004. <http://www.state.hi.us/health/
oeqc/annualrpts/anrpt04.pdf>
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
(CTAHR): Backyard Composting: Recycling a
Natural Product. Honolulu, HI: University of
Hawaii at Manoa, 2002.
Tamminen, Terry. The Worm Guide: A
Vermicomposting Guide for Teachers. California: California Integrated Waste
Management Board, 2004.
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
(CTAHR): Small-Scale Vermicomposting.
Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii at Manoa,
2005.
Thatcher, John. Personal Interview. 09 Nov. 05.
(Principal, Connections Public Charter School, Hilo, HI.)
“The Branchville Correctional Facility Vermiculture
Program.” IDEM - OPPTA - Recycling
& Source Reduction. Access Indiana. 17
Mar. 2005. <http://www.in.gov/idem/
oppta/recycling/organics/programs/
branchvillefacility.html>
County of Hawii, State of Hawaii. 5-Year Solid Waste
Management Plan Outline. Hilo: GPO, 2002.
<http://www.hawaii-county.com/env_mng/
swm/GoalsandObjectives.pdf>
County of Hawaii, State of Hawaii. Update to the
Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan for
the County of Hawai‘i. Aiea: GPO, 2002. <http://co.hawaii.hi.us/env_mng/iswmp_
final/ISWMPfinaltext.pdf>
“Worm Composting at Portland Public Schools.” 25
Sep 2001. As the Worm Turns. Practical
Hippie. 04 Dec. 2005. <http://www.
practicalhippie.com/cache/worms/Portland.
htm>
DuPonte, Michael. Personal Interview 14 Nov. 05.
(Livestock Agent, Cooperative Extension
Office, Hawaii County)
Hawaii Department of Agriculture. Importing Plants,
Animals and Microorganisms to Hawaii.
GPO, 2005. <http://www.hawaiiag.org/
hdoa/doa_importing.htm>
127
Get Published!
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UH Hilo and Hawaii Community College is seeking
submissions for upcoming issues.
We feature:
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