Published in the Current
Several residents of Littlejohn Road met with Cape Elizabeth Police Chief Neil Williams last month to discuss the problem of speeders on the residential street. About 20 residents had signed a petition asking the police to help with the problem.
Meeting organizer, Peter Hollingsworth, said he has seen people go by at speeds up to 50 miles per hour. The street’s speed limit is 25 miles per hour.
“It’s just a matter of time before something serious happens,” Hollingsworth said, though he noted that no people have been hit on the road. A dog was killed a couple of years ago.
“I don’t want to be here saying, ‘I didn’t do anything,’” Hollingsworth said.
Hollingsworth put up a sign in his truck, parked near the street, asking drivers to slow down.
Williams said it was a productive meeting, and the police will cooperate.
“As in most neighborhoods, the people there did understand that it was an issue because of their own creating the speeding,” Williams said.
And, he said, “it’s not kids in this area. It’s adults.”
Williams said the department will continue to do speed enforcement patrols in the area, and perhaps pull over more speeders to warn them they are going too fast.
“Speeding is an issue” throughout the town, Williams said, and no law enforcement agencies have come up with ways to control speeding permanently.
Williams commended the residents’ willingness to work together to solve the problem, but noted that people with complaints about traffic in their neighborhoods don’t need to petition the department for action to be taken. “Just come in and see me,” he said.
Wednesday, July 3, 2002
Piping for pleasure
Published in the Current
Doug Campbell may have the most understanding neighbors in all of Cape Elizabeth. He is a bagpiper who practices at home.
Sometimes – rarely – he plays the instrument in the back yard. His neighbors tell him they enjoy it, but he worries that could come to an end.
More often, he practices inside, where his family has become so accustomed to the loud noise that nobody bats an eye when he starts to play.
Sometimes, Campbell practices at Fort Williams, but he finds that can be more trouble than it’s worth. When he’s practicing, people come by and consider it an impromptu performance.
They wonder why he’s not wearing his kilt, or why he’s playing one section of a song over and over.
But repetition is the key to perfection, and “it’s hard to do that when you’re outdoors,” Campbell said.
The bagpipe is a deafening instrument indoors, by design. “It’s intended to be played outdoors,” Campbell said. “It demands attention.”
The bagpipes, he said, have a connection to the spirit somehow, and instruments with an air reservoir can be found in many cultures across the globe.
As a result, bagpipes have a unique role at ceremonial functions, including funerals and memorial services. “I played at services after 9/11,” Campbell said, including a service in front of Portland’s City Hall. He also played at Cape’s Memorial Day celebration this year.
His playing started at age 13. And though his last name is Scottish, he wasn’t raised with an appreciation of his Scottish heritage. Instead, he learned about the bagpipes from a friend of a cousin and fell in love with the instrument.
“It sort of came up unbidden,” Campbell said.
He also played guitar at the time, and that ended up taking more of his time. He stopped piping for about 20 years. When his family moved to Maine about 12 years ago, he picked it up again.
“I’d always regretted having stopped,” Campbell said. Though it wasn’t easy, starting over wasn’t as hard as he had feared. “The fingers remembered the patterns,” he said.
He called around and found a teacher in Winchester, Mass., who comes to Maine every two weeks.
“It’s very important to find a good instructor on a bagpipe, because it’s about your technique,” Campbell said.
Breathing to fill the bag, squeezing to create sound, and fingering to make the music are all important and complex. And they have to be coordinated – any error can make a bagpipe squeak and squeal.
“So few people hear (bagpipes) played really well,” Campbell said. “You have four reeds going simultaneously. ”
There are three drones, which make constant tones that serve as the background to the medley, which is played by the chanter.
Keeping the airflow out of the bag steady is the especially difficult part of playing the bagpipes, he said, because it involves keeping pressure on the bag when blowing into it.
In most wind instruments, breathing is crucial to the music. “Your phrasing is connected to your breath,” Campbell said. Not so in a bagpipe. A piper can choose to take short breaths or long ones to keep the bag full. The key is to keep air flowing out of the bag consistently.
If there is too little pressure on the bag, the music starts to sound bad.
Other factors can also affect the quality of the sound, including temperature and moisture changes in the air either inside or outside the bag. When the instrument is not being played, the reeds can dry out.
At most services, Campbell said, the piper plays at the beginning of the service, waits through the rest of it, and plays at the end. After all that idle time, the instrument can sound very strange when it first starts up again.
Practice is the best way to learn to control the bagpipe, which Campbell called “an organism.”
Pipe bands are often a good way to get experience in a group and learn from other pipers, he said, but “there’s nothing in Portland, which is kind of surprising.”
“I enjoy playing solo,” he said. When he needs a group, he can call on his three sons, who are also studying the bagpipes.
For a couple of weeks each summer, the whole family travels to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, to intensively study music and dancing.
The island, Campbell said, is a truer representation of traditional Scottish culture than in Scotland, because it is an isolated island to which whole communities transplanted themselves in the 17th and 18th centuries to escape English persecution.
Doug Campbell may have the most understanding neighbors in all of Cape Elizabeth. He is a bagpiper who practices at home.
Sometimes – rarely – he plays the instrument in the back yard. His neighbors tell him they enjoy it, but he worries that could come to an end.
More often, he practices inside, where his family has become so accustomed to the loud noise that nobody bats an eye when he starts to play.
Sometimes, Campbell practices at Fort Williams, but he finds that can be more trouble than it’s worth. When he’s practicing, people come by and consider it an impromptu performance.
They wonder why he’s not wearing his kilt, or why he’s playing one section of a song over and over.
But repetition is the key to perfection, and “it’s hard to do that when you’re outdoors,” Campbell said.
The bagpipe is a deafening instrument indoors, by design. “It’s intended to be played outdoors,” Campbell said. “It demands attention.”
The bagpipes, he said, have a connection to the spirit somehow, and instruments with an air reservoir can be found in many cultures across the globe.
As a result, bagpipes have a unique role at ceremonial functions, including funerals and memorial services. “I played at services after 9/11,” Campbell said, including a service in front of Portland’s City Hall. He also played at Cape’s Memorial Day celebration this year.
His playing started at age 13. And though his last name is Scottish, he wasn’t raised with an appreciation of his Scottish heritage. Instead, he learned about the bagpipes from a friend of a cousin and fell in love with the instrument.
“It sort of came up unbidden,” Campbell said.
He also played guitar at the time, and that ended up taking more of his time. He stopped piping for about 20 years. When his family moved to Maine about 12 years ago, he picked it up again.
“I’d always regretted having stopped,” Campbell said. Though it wasn’t easy, starting over wasn’t as hard as he had feared. “The fingers remembered the patterns,” he said.
He called around and found a teacher in Winchester, Mass., who comes to Maine every two weeks.
“It’s very important to find a good instructor on a bagpipe, because it’s about your technique,” Campbell said.
Breathing to fill the bag, squeezing to create sound, and fingering to make the music are all important and complex. And they have to be coordinated – any error can make a bagpipe squeak and squeal.
“So few people hear (bagpipes) played really well,” Campbell said. “You have four reeds going simultaneously. ”
There are three drones, which make constant tones that serve as the background to the medley, which is played by the chanter.
Keeping the airflow out of the bag steady is the especially difficult part of playing the bagpipes, he said, because it involves keeping pressure on the bag when blowing into it.
In most wind instruments, breathing is crucial to the music. “Your phrasing is connected to your breath,” Campbell said. Not so in a bagpipe. A piper can choose to take short breaths or long ones to keep the bag full. The key is to keep air flowing out of the bag consistently.
If there is too little pressure on the bag, the music starts to sound bad.
Other factors can also affect the quality of the sound, including temperature and moisture changes in the air either inside or outside the bag. When the instrument is not being played, the reeds can dry out.
At most services, Campbell said, the piper plays at the beginning of the service, waits through the rest of it, and plays at the end. After all that idle time, the instrument can sound very strange when it first starts up again.
Practice is the best way to learn to control the bagpipe, which Campbell called “an organism.”
Pipe bands are often a good way to get experience in a group and learn from other pipers, he said, but “there’s nothing in Portland, which is kind of surprising.”
“I enjoy playing solo,” he said. When he needs a group, he can call on his three sons, who are also studying the bagpipes.
For a couple of weeks each summer, the whole family travels to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, to intensively study music and dancing.
The island, Campbell said, is a truer representation of traditional Scottish culture than in Scotland, because it is an isolated island to which whole communities transplanted themselves in the 17th and 18th centuries to escape English persecution.
No strict rules on pledge in schools
Published in the Current; co-written with Kate Irish Collins
Cape and Scarborough schools have no formal policies on the Pledge of the Allegiance – some schools rarely recite it and others every day – and are not worried about the effect of a recent federal court decision declaring the pledge unconstitutional.
In Cape Elizabeth, elementary and middle school students say the pledge daily, according to Superintendent Tom Forcella. At the high school, students hear the pledge recited over the school’s intercom system each Monday morning.
After Sept. 11, some CEHS students petitioned the administration to institute the recitation of the pledge daily rather than just Mondays. Principal Jeff Shedd asked the student government for its advice. In late October, the
student government decided not to recommend any changes.
Shedd said that while the legality of the pledge did not come up in the student discussion, some students did express a concern about the phrase “under God,” which was the crux of the court’s decision to strike down the pledge.
Also under discussion then was whether a student should lead the pledge, or whether someone in each classroom should lead it, rather than having it read over the intercom.
Students at Scarborough High School do not recite the pledge, except on certain special occasions.
Superintendent William Michaud said it is up to each school principal to decide when the pledge is said. It is said every day in the elementary schools, but the intermediate and middle school principals could not be reached for comment before press time due to summer break.
On June 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declared unconstitutional the Pledge of Allegiance, by striking down the 1954 law, which added the words “under God.”
The original pledge, written in 1892, was made part of the U.S. Flag Code by Congress in 1942.
Because the court decision was in the Ninth Circuit, covering seven Western states, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, the decision does not directly affect Maine. Further, the court has stayed the enforcement of its own ruling, pending further review by the circuit court or the U.S. Supreme Court.
But local school officials are still critical of the court’s decision.
“I think the decision was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. It makes no sense at all,” Michaud said.
“I was – as many people were– very surprised by” the decision, Shedd said.
The case was brought by a California father who is an atheist. He claimed that requiring his daughter to hear the Pledge of Allegiance each morning—including the words “under God”—was an inappropriate endorsement of monotheism by the government.
“The court didn’t apply any proportionality test at all. How does hearing others recite the pledge affect her in any way?” Michaud asked. “How can he think his child is disadvantaged by having to watch others? No child is forced to recite the pledge,” Michaud added.
Shedd agreed, saying that any potential “damage” to someone listening to the pledge would be very small.
“At least the court has stayed the order,” Michaud said.
The Scarborough and Cape town councils and school boards begin each regular meeting by reciting the pledge.
“This is the fourth school district I’ve been involved with where the board starts each meeting with the pledge,” Michaud said.
In late 2001, the Madison, Wis., Board of Education voted to ban the pledge because they believed the words “under God” violated the constitutional separation of church and state. Shortly thereafter, in the face of nationwide outcry, the board reversed their decision.
The U.S. Supreme Court has not addressed the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, but it has ruled on school prayer. In 1985, the court banned moments of silence in schools for what it called “unconstitutional purposes,” effectively barring mandatory school prayer. That decision did leave the door open for other types of moments of silence. In August 2001, the court upheld a Virginia law establishing a mandatory moment of silence for students to “meditate, pray or engage in other silent activity. ”
Cape and Scarborough schools have no formal policies on the Pledge of the Allegiance – some schools rarely recite it and others every day – and are not worried about the effect of a recent federal court decision declaring the pledge unconstitutional.
In Cape Elizabeth, elementary and middle school students say the pledge daily, according to Superintendent Tom Forcella. At the high school, students hear the pledge recited over the school’s intercom system each Monday morning.
After Sept. 11, some CEHS students petitioned the administration to institute the recitation of the pledge daily rather than just Mondays. Principal Jeff Shedd asked the student government for its advice. In late October, the
student government decided not to recommend any changes.
Shedd said that while the legality of the pledge did not come up in the student discussion, some students did express a concern about the phrase “under God,” which was the crux of the court’s decision to strike down the pledge.
Also under discussion then was whether a student should lead the pledge, or whether someone in each classroom should lead it, rather than having it read over the intercom.
Students at Scarborough High School do not recite the pledge, except on certain special occasions.
Superintendent William Michaud said it is up to each school principal to decide when the pledge is said. It is said every day in the elementary schools, but the intermediate and middle school principals could not be reached for comment before press time due to summer break.
On June 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declared unconstitutional the Pledge of Allegiance, by striking down the 1954 law, which added the words “under God.”
The original pledge, written in 1892, was made part of the U.S. Flag Code by Congress in 1942.
Because the court decision was in the Ninth Circuit, covering seven Western states, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, the decision does not directly affect Maine. Further, the court has stayed the enforcement of its own ruling, pending further review by the circuit court or the U.S. Supreme Court.
But local school officials are still critical of the court’s decision.
“I think the decision was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. It makes no sense at all,” Michaud said.
“I was – as many people were– very surprised by” the decision, Shedd said.
The case was brought by a California father who is an atheist. He claimed that requiring his daughter to hear the Pledge of Allegiance each morning—including the words “under God”—was an inappropriate endorsement of monotheism by the government.
“The court didn’t apply any proportionality test at all. How does hearing others recite the pledge affect her in any way?” Michaud asked. “How can he think his child is disadvantaged by having to watch others? No child is forced to recite the pledge,” Michaud added.
Shedd agreed, saying that any potential “damage” to someone listening to the pledge would be very small.
“At least the court has stayed the order,” Michaud said.
The Scarborough and Cape town councils and school boards begin each regular meeting by reciting the pledge.
“This is the fourth school district I’ve been involved with where the board starts each meeting with the pledge,” Michaud said.
In late 2001, the Madison, Wis., Board of Education voted to ban the pledge because they believed the words “under God” violated the constitutional separation of church and state. Shortly thereafter, in the face of nationwide outcry, the board reversed their decision.
The U.S. Supreme Court has not addressed the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, but it has ruled on school prayer. In 1985, the court banned moments of silence in schools for what it called “unconstitutional purposes,” effectively barring mandatory school prayer. That decision did leave the door open for other types of moments of silence. In August 2001, the court upheld a Virginia law establishing a mandatory moment of silence for students to “meditate, pray or engage in other silent activity. ”
Monday, July 1, 2002
Sustainable urban living
Published in BackHome Magazine
I live in an apartment in a small city. The building I live in doesn’t have much of a lawn, but I’m grateful to the neighbors, who keep a nice garden on the other side of the driveway. I can’t choose how my place, or my water, is heated, and electrically, I’m very much “on the grid.” It’s not ideal, but I’m not despondent.
Living close to the land is an important goal. But it’s not fully achievable by everyone. Some of us, myself included, are restricted by financial or family obligations to be in places other than our own back-forty in a hand-built cabin.
That doesn’t mean we should give up, or that we are forced to contribute to urban wastelands. We can still eat whole foods, conserve water and electricity, and try to think green. But there are other things renters can do, within the limits of being tenants, to live more independently of traditional city infrastructure:
-Compost. Someone you know has a garden, or a yard, or even a farm. That person probably has a compost pile. Or ask at your local natural-food store if there’s someone looking for additional compost. Find a container to store your material in. I use an empty spackle can under my sink, and in a previous apartment I used a five-gallon paint bucket I kept on the porch. When the container gets full, take it over to the compost pile and empty it.
-Change built-in bulbs. When I moved in, my apartment had three overhead lights with regular incandescent bulbs. I took them out and saved them, installing instead compact fluorescent bulbs. When I move out, I’ll take the efficient ones with me and put the incandescent ones back in. Or you can leave the efficient ones there and help others see the benefits of saving electricity.
-Walk or bike. City dwelling is great. Some cities, like mine, Portland, Maine, don’t have great public transport. There are a few buses around, though. It’s a small enough city that I can walk or bike nearly everywhere I need to go. I have to drive to work, but when I’m not working I’m not usually driving.
-Turn off the heat. Some apartments don’t really need to have their heat on all the time. Especially in larger buildings, latent building heat can be more than enough to keep an apartment warm through many cold days. If it’s a real cold snap, or you do get chilly, turn on the radiators just a little. When my radiators are on, they pour out heat. I keep them turned down, and use a small, efficient space-heater to bring the temperature up when I need it.
-Grow things. Plants spruce up an apartment and help keep it cooler in the summer. They also enrich the air and improve your health. Herbs are excellent indoor plants and can often fit on windowsills. They’re usually quite hardy, so they can stand up to moves or harsh light and temperature conditions.
-Have a community garden plot. Many cities have community gardens, which allow you a certain amount of space to plant vegetables and flowers for a small annual fee. You get a plot of ground and often access to tools and supplies for raising a small number of crops. It’s not necessarily organic, but at least you know where your food is coming from. It won’t be right in front of your house, but you’ll take a walk every day or so, to check on things. You get to go outside and get your hands dirty, even if you live in a building, like mine, without much greenery around it. Gardens can be great places to meet people, as well.
-Recycle. Many cities have a curbside recycling program. If yours does, participate. If not, start one. You’ll not only save space in your apartment, by no longer storing recyclables until you can drop them off, but you’ll help others in your area become more aware of ways they can help the environment.
-Skip the elevator. You may already do this, but don’t make those exceptions for heavy loads. Take a couple of trips to get your groceries upstairs, or get a friend to help. But be sensible: When you’re moving into or out of a building, don’t try to carry the couch up the stairwell!
-Talk to your landlord or building manager. Explain to prospective landlords that you’re interested in living lightly, and talk about ways you can do so in an apartment building. The landlord may give you a break on the rent if, for example, you say you’ll keep the heat off most of the winter. Suggest that those always-on hallway lights be equipped with energy-saving bulbs. Suggest that the hot water heater not be set so high (many landlords do this to be sure everyone has enough hot water). If your building has laundry machines, suggest that they be replaced (when they need to be) with more efficient models.
-Ask for what you want. If you decide that you really would like to install a low-flow toilet, or no longer need a built-in space heater, say so, and arrange to do the work yourself or have a person approved by your landlord to do the project. Don’t do this without consulting the building’s owner, but remember that if you speak up, others will benefit too.
-See the larger picture. You’re already aware of the impact humans have on the planet. Remember that you can do things to help the planet, even if they don’t help you directly. I try to save heat, though it’s included in the cost of my rent. I use less water, though that’s included too. I’m not saving myself any money, but I am helping the environment. I save cash on electric bills, and that’s nice to see. I also make maximal use of my parking space—I leave my car there when I’m around town.
I live in an apartment in a small city. The building I live in doesn’t have much of a lawn, but I’m grateful to the neighbors, who keep a nice garden on the other side of the driveway. I can’t choose how my place, or my water, is heated, and electrically, I’m very much “on the grid.” It’s not ideal, but I’m not despondent.
Living close to the land is an important goal. But it’s not fully achievable by everyone. Some of us, myself included, are restricted by financial or family obligations to be in places other than our own back-forty in a hand-built cabin.
That doesn’t mean we should give up, or that we are forced to contribute to urban wastelands. We can still eat whole foods, conserve water and electricity, and try to think green. But there are other things renters can do, within the limits of being tenants, to live more independently of traditional city infrastructure:
-Compost. Someone you know has a garden, or a yard, or even a farm. That person probably has a compost pile. Or ask at your local natural-food store if there’s someone looking for additional compost. Find a container to store your material in. I use an empty spackle can under my sink, and in a previous apartment I used a five-gallon paint bucket I kept on the porch. When the container gets full, take it over to the compost pile and empty it.
-Change built-in bulbs. When I moved in, my apartment had three overhead lights with regular incandescent bulbs. I took them out and saved them, installing instead compact fluorescent bulbs. When I move out, I’ll take the efficient ones with me and put the incandescent ones back in. Or you can leave the efficient ones there and help others see the benefits of saving electricity.
-Walk or bike. City dwelling is great. Some cities, like mine, Portland, Maine, don’t have great public transport. There are a few buses around, though. It’s a small enough city that I can walk or bike nearly everywhere I need to go. I have to drive to work, but when I’m not working I’m not usually driving.
-Turn off the heat. Some apartments don’t really need to have their heat on all the time. Especially in larger buildings, latent building heat can be more than enough to keep an apartment warm through many cold days. If it’s a real cold snap, or you do get chilly, turn on the radiators just a little. When my radiators are on, they pour out heat. I keep them turned down, and use a small, efficient space-heater to bring the temperature up when I need it.
-Grow things. Plants spruce up an apartment and help keep it cooler in the summer. They also enrich the air and improve your health. Herbs are excellent indoor plants and can often fit on windowsills. They’re usually quite hardy, so they can stand up to moves or harsh light and temperature conditions.
-Have a community garden plot. Many cities have community gardens, which allow you a certain amount of space to plant vegetables and flowers for a small annual fee. You get a plot of ground and often access to tools and supplies for raising a small number of crops. It’s not necessarily organic, but at least you know where your food is coming from. It won’t be right in front of your house, but you’ll take a walk every day or so, to check on things. You get to go outside and get your hands dirty, even if you live in a building, like mine, without much greenery around it. Gardens can be great places to meet people, as well.
-Recycle. Many cities have a curbside recycling program. If yours does, participate. If not, start one. You’ll not only save space in your apartment, by no longer storing recyclables until you can drop them off, but you’ll help others in your area become more aware of ways they can help the environment.
-Skip the elevator. You may already do this, but don’t make those exceptions for heavy loads. Take a couple of trips to get your groceries upstairs, or get a friend to help. But be sensible: When you’re moving into or out of a building, don’t try to carry the couch up the stairwell!
-Talk to your landlord or building manager. Explain to prospective landlords that you’re interested in living lightly, and talk about ways you can do so in an apartment building. The landlord may give you a break on the rent if, for example, you say you’ll keep the heat off most of the winter. Suggest that those always-on hallway lights be equipped with energy-saving bulbs. Suggest that the hot water heater not be set so high (many landlords do this to be sure everyone has enough hot water). If your building has laundry machines, suggest that they be replaced (when they need to be) with more efficient models.
-Ask for what you want. If you decide that you really would like to install a low-flow toilet, or no longer need a built-in space heater, say so, and arrange to do the work yourself or have a person approved by your landlord to do the project. Don’t do this without consulting the building’s owner, but remember that if you speak up, others will benefit too.
-See the larger picture. You’re already aware of the impact humans have on the planet. Remember that you can do things to help the planet, even if they don’t help you directly. I try to save heat, though it’s included in the cost of my rent. I use less water, though that’s included too. I’m not saving myself any money, but I am helping the environment. I save cash on electric bills, and that’s nice to see. I also make maximal use of my parking space—I leave my car there when I’m around town.
A government freeze
Published in the International Press Institute's Global Journalist magazine
“There are times when it is better to not say anything,” said NSF’s Antarctic information manager Guy Guthridge.
Former editors of the Sun, including myself, aren’t so sure, though we agreed to the restrictions as a condition of our employment. Current Sun editors were unavailable for comment.
“There were some NSF managers who took the role as information flow manager to a level that was well above and beyond what was probably good for the NSF and for the people working (in Antarctica),” said Sandy Colhoun, who was the editor of the paper during the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 austral summer seasons.
Josh Landis was my colleague when we were editors of the paper in the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons. When asked about press freedom in Antarctica, Landis said, “It doesn’t exist.”
Landis qualified that by saying he’s not sure there needs to be press freedom within the U.S. Antarctic Program. “It’s a program to execute a series of goals,” Landis said. That focus, he said, “does create frustrations for journalists,” adding that we learned about restrictions during the hiring process and during employment orientation. “I felt like I knew what the rules were going in,” Landis said.
The Sun’s planning and reporting are similar to any newspaper. Though NSF and program officials would make suggestions about interesting subjects to cover, “they never told us what to write,” Landis said. And Sun reporters do get to travel around the continent at times, reporting on research and logistics at field outposts, though NSF controls who goes where and when.
It is near the end of the production process that NSF’s power becomes clear. The paper publishes a note about itself indicating that it is “funded by the National Science Foundation,” and further saying, “NSF reviews and approves material before publication.”
The senior NSF representative on the continent reviews a draft copy of the paper and has carte blanche to change content and even kill stories before publication. Though some in that position are helpful, all have the power to “kill anything for any reason and there’s no recourse,” Landis said.
Some stories did not get killed, though they might have been. The Dec. 19, 1999, issue discussed severe pollution in Winter Quarters Bay, right next to McMurdo Station. And the Oct. 29, 2000, issue included a picture of a sea urchin using a tampon as camouflage on the sea floor. Both of those stories were about NSF-funded scientific research into Antarctic pollution.
Other stories, though, never see the light of day. Landis secured a series of interviews with people who had wintered at the South Pole with Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the doctor who discovered she had breast cancer while at the Pole in 1999.
“I probably had better access than anybody to get the details of the story,” Landis said. “When the NSF found out about this, it was very quickly ended.”
“I actually ended it when it became apparent that any final version would be so heavily edited for the purpose of removing things that I knew it wouldn’t be satisfying,” Landis said.
January 2002: Artur Chilingarov, a deputy chairman of the Russian Duma and a towering figure in Russian Antarctic research, was stranded at the South Pole because of mechanical problems with his aircraft. A Sun staffer was at the Pole at the time, but the paper carried less than a paragraph about the visit, making no mention of Chilingarov’s name or position.
November 1999: An LC-130H “Hercules” aircraft had to take a 12-hour trip in attempt to land at several runways due to whiteout conditions. The story ran, but with some restrictions. “That story was a perfect example of how censorship can be acceptable,” Landis said. All the facts in the story were accurate, but “I stayed away from certain things that might upset people about the flight,” Landis said, meaning not only officials in the program but employees who needed to get around the continent. “You don’t want everybody flying on a Herc for the rest of the season to be afraid,” he said.
November 1998: An Air National Guard plane went into a crevasse, with no injuries and only minor damage to the plane. “I wanted to get that story out right away, and I wasn’t allowed to,” Colhoun said. He had a photo of the plane in the crevasse the day the accident occurred, but “they wouldn’t let me use it,” Colhoun said, offering a possible explanation: The Air National Guard had just begun taking over Antarctic flying from the Navy, which had flown for the program since the 1950s. Air Guard officials had been reluctant to take Navy advice before the accident, and could have been embarrassed by the story.
Not only the big stories were cut, though. A short piece about a cave of boulders built for McMurdo’s rock-climbing community’s use was struck from the paper in October 2000. No reason was given for the large X on the proof page. Though that was more the exception than the rule, it and the other restrictions provide a look at what governmental control over media can do.
“It’s not an independent publication,” said Valerie Carroll, the Sun’s publisher and communications manager at Raytheon Polar Services, NSF’s Antarctic contractor. “We’re being paid by a client to put out a newsletter-slash-newspaper,” Carroll said.
NSF may have its own publicity plans, she said, and “it wouldn’t look good for us to scoop them,” Carroll said, adding that there are “other perspectives we’re not aware of and don’t need to be.”
Colhoun and Landis offer kudos, though, for some openness on the part of the NSF. “For their culture, for them to allow even what we did was pretty remarkable,” Landis said. “In general, you weren’t censored.”
“The NSF feels like they let you have 70 percent freedom,” Colhoun said. He wanted to show a complete picture of what was going on in Antarctica — good and bad. “That agenda was not the one that the NSF wanted for that product,” Colhoun said. “I was owned by the NSF. They were the editorial power.”
Guthridge agrees. All NSF publications must go through an official approval process, he said. The Sun’s process is streamlined because of the distance and time difference between McMurdo and Washington, as well as the volume of material published in the Sun each week.
“We’re using public dollars here to put out something, and so we’re responsible to the larger public,” Guthridge said. For him, that means keeping some things quiet.
Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, said it is reasonable to expect that the government would spend money on a publication to serve its purposes. But, he said, they run the risk of improving short-term image at the expense of long-term credibility.
“The more frank and open the government is in publications of that kind, the more valuable they are,” Jones said. “The long-term best interests are in being open and honest.”
All parties agree that the Sun is not in the role of watchdog of the U.S. Antarctic Program, though there isn’t any other organization that is or could be. Logistics are the main problem. “Journalists can’t just hop on a plane and go talk to who they want to,” Carroll said.
The Sun staff is based at McMurdo and has limited access to field camps and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, giving them better access to Antarctic information than any other U.S. journalists.
“It’s not meant to be what (a newspaper) is in the world,” Landis said. “NSF gets to control what facts become public.”
Other journalists do come to the continent, after applying to NSF and having their plans approved. Some of these have included staff members from U.S. News & World Report, the Baltimore Sun, and National Geographic.
When journalists do come from outside organizations, Guthridge said, “They do what they want,” Guthridge said.
The time they are allotted, Colhoun said, is often too short for real reporting. Weather delays, survival training, and other commitments can mean there is little time to get into issues of waste or mismanagement on the ice, he said. “The only kind of reports that can come back are happy reports,” Colhoun said.
Guthridge said all signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty are required to publish annual plans and reports on their activities. Countries can verify that information by appointing observers who have free access to the stations and equipment of other nations. The public, though, has little access to the U.S. Antarctic Program, only experiencing life and work at research stations when in the employ of government organizations or their contractors.
“It’s their show, they make the rules,” Landis said, adding that being more open would help. “More press freedom would create better dialogue in the Antarctic community,” Landis said.
Reporters are to receive approval (for stories) from their editor, who will obtain National Science Foundation concurrence for all proposed stories to insure [sic] they meet U.S. government standards. — Guidelines for Editorial Employees of the Antarctic Sun.
Except, there are no written standards given by the National Science Foundation. The Antarctic Sun is an information outlet with significant access to the U.S. Antarctic Program, employing professional journalists and reaching members of the general public and even world media organizations. But the NSF sees the weekly newspaper as a “house organ,” analogous to a corporate newsletter providing the company line on events.“There are times when it is better to not say anything,” said NSF’s Antarctic information manager Guy Guthridge.
Former editors of the Sun, including myself, aren’t so sure, though we agreed to the restrictions as a condition of our employment. Current Sun editors were unavailable for comment.
“There were some NSF managers who took the role as information flow manager to a level that was well above and beyond what was probably good for the NSF and for the people working (in Antarctica),” said Sandy Colhoun, who was the editor of the paper during the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 austral summer seasons.
Josh Landis was my colleague when we were editors of the paper in the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons. When asked about press freedom in Antarctica, Landis said, “It doesn’t exist.”
Landis qualified that by saying he’s not sure there needs to be press freedom within the U.S. Antarctic Program. “It’s a program to execute a series of goals,” Landis said. That focus, he said, “does create frustrations for journalists,” adding that we learned about restrictions during the hiring process and during employment orientation. “I felt like I knew what the rules were going in,” Landis said.
The Sun’s planning and reporting are similar to any newspaper. Though NSF and program officials would make suggestions about interesting subjects to cover, “they never told us what to write,” Landis said. And Sun reporters do get to travel around the continent at times, reporting on research and logistics at field outposts, though NSF controls who goes where and when.
It is near the end of the production process that NSF’s power becomes clear. The paper publishes a note about itself indicating that it is “funded by the National Science Foundation,” and further saying, “NSF reviews and approves material before publication.”
The senior NSF representative on the continent reviews a draft copy of the paper and has carte blanche to change content and even kill stories before publication. Though some in that position are helpful, all have the power to “kill anything for any reason and there’s no recourse,” Landis said.
Some stories did not get killed, though they might have been. The Dec. 19, 1999, issue discussed severe pollution in Winter Quarters Bay, right next to McMurdo Station. And the Oct. 29, 2000, issue included a picture of a sea urchin using a tampon as camouflage on the sea floor. Both of those stories were about NSF-funded scientific research into Antarctic pollution.
Other stories, though, never see the light of day. Landis secured a series of interviews with people who had wintered at the South Pole with Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the doctor who discovered she had breast cancer while at the Pole in 1999.
“I probably had better access than anybody to get the details of the story,” Landis said. “When the NSF found out about this, it was very quickly ended.”
“I actually ended it when it became apparent that any final version would be so heavily edited for the purpose of removing things that I knew it wouldn’t be satisfying,” Landis said.
January 2002: Artur Chilingarov, a deputy chairman of the Russian Duma and a towering figure in Russian Antarctic research, was stranded at the South Pole because of mechanical problems with his aircraft. A Sun staffer was at the Pole at the time, but the paper carried less than a paragraph about the visit, making no mention of Chilingarov’s name or position.
November 1999: An LC-130H “Hercules” aircraft had to take a 12-hour trip in attempt to land at several runways due to whiteout conditions. The story ran, but with some restrictions. “That story was a perfect example of how censorship can be acceptable,” Landis said. All the facts in the story were accurate, but “I stayed away from certain things that might upset people about the flight,” Landis said, meaning not only officials in the program but employees who needed to get around the continent. “You don’t want everybody flying on a Herc for the rest of the season to be afraid,” he said.
November 1998: An Air National Guard plane went into a crevasse, with no injuries and only minor damage to the plane. “I wanted to get that story out right away, and I wasn’t allowed to,” Colhoun said. He had a photo of the plane in the crevasse the day the accident occurred, but “they wouldn’t let me use it,” Colhoun said, offering a possible explanation: The Air National Guard had just begun taking over Antarctic flying from the Navy, which had flown for the program since the 1950s. Air Guard officials had been reluctant to take Navy advice before the accident, and could have been embarrassed by the story.
Not only the big stories were cut, though. A short piece about a cave of boulders built for McMurdo’s rock-climbing community’s use was struck from the paper in October 2000. No reason was given for the large X on the proof page. Though that was more the exception than the rule, it and the other restrictions provide a look at what governmental control over media can do.
“It’s not an independent publication,” said Valerie Carroll, the Sun’s publisher and communications manager at Raytheon Polar Services, NSF’s Antarctic contractor. “We’re being paid by a client to put out a newsletter-slash-newspaper,” Carroll said.
NSF may have its own publicity plans, she said, and “it wouldn’t look good for us to scoop them,” Carroll said, adding that there are “other perspectives we’re not aware of and don’t need to be.”
Colhoun and Landis offer kudos, though, for some openness on the part of the NSF. “For their culture, for them to allow even what we did was pretty remarkable,” Landis said. “In general, you weren’t censored.”
“The NSF feels like they let you have 70 percent freedom,” Colhoun said. He wanted to show a complete picture of what was going on in Antarctica — good and bad. “That agenda was not the one that the NSF wanted for that product,” Colhoun said. “I was owned by the NSF. They were the editorial power.”
Guthridge agrees. All NSF publications must go through an official approval process, he said. The Sun’s process is streamlined because of the distance and time difference between McMurdo and Washington, as well as the volume of material published in the Sun each week.
“We’re using public dollars here to put out something, and so we’re responsible to the larger public,” Guthridge said. For him, that means keeping some things quiet.
Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, said it is reasonable to expect that the government would spend money on a publication to serve its purposes. But, he said, they run the risk of improving short-term image at the expense of long-term credibility.
“The more frank and open the government is in publications of that kind, the more valuable they are,” Jones said. “The long-term best interests are in being open and honest.”
All parties agree that the Sun is not in the role of watchdog of the U.S. Antarctic Program, though there isn’t any other organization that is or could be. Logistics are the main problem. “Journalists can’t just hop on a plane and go talk to who they want to,” Carroll said.
The Sun staff is based at McMurdo and has limited access to field camps and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, giving them better access to Antarctic information than any other U.S. journalists.
“It’s not meant to be what (a newspaper) is in the world,” Landis said. “NSF gets to control what facts become public.”
Other journalists do come to the continent, after applying to NSF and having their plans approved. Some of these have included staff members from U.S. News & World Report, the Baltimore Sun, and National Geographic.
When journalists do come from outside organizations, Guthridge said, “They do what they want,” Guthridge said.
The time they are allotted, Colhoun said, is often too short for real reporting. Weather delays, survival training, and other commitments can mean there is little time to get into issues of waste or mismanagement on the ice, he said. “The only kind of reports that can come back are happy reports,” Colhoun said.
Guthridge said all signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty are required to publish annual plans and reports on their activities. Countries can verify that information by appointing observers who have free access to the stations and equipment of other nations. The public, though, has little access to the U.S. Antarctic Program, only experiencing life and work at research stations when in the employ of government organizations or their contractors.
“It’s their show, they make the rules,” Landis said, adding that being more open would help. “More press freedom would create better dialogue in the Antarctic community,” Landis said.
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