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Knee-deep, pocket-deep:
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Don't it always seem to goThat you don't know what you've gotTill it's goneThey paved paradiseAnd put up a parking lot
- Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi
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DISCUSSION GUIDE*
1. Impermeable Solutions
2. A Civil Engineer is Born
3. Sculpting a Civilization
4. The Oscillations of an Ancient Civilization
5. Fast-forwarding to a Modern Day Comparison
6. The Great American Water Resource
7. Modern and Ancient Human-Environmental Impactions
8. Blue Gold, Black Gold, and Gold
9. The Civil Engineer, The Market, and The Politician
10. The Markets and Politics at War
11. Privatization in an Era of Globalization
12. In Hindsight and Foresight
13. Bibliography
* units in paragraph
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While brainstorming my shear force and bending moment diagrams for an
exam in my structural analysis course, I was confounded by why my bending moment
diagram did not conclude at zero, rendering the system to be statically unstable and
furthermore yielding an invalid solution to any structural engineering reality. Mysupport reactions indicated stability by equating the system to be zero and my shear
force diagram agreed. I assumed my error was in formulating my bending moment
equations for some section of the beam and I fruitlessly reevaluated the equations
until my time expired. In my haste, I overlooked an error in my algebra near the
beginning of my work. While two plus three equals five, another possible solution
may be seven minus two equals five. This demonstrates that additive properties such
as those displayed with shear may seemingly have more than one solution. My shearsolution was the wrong solution because it affected my bending moment to finalize at
a non-zero number. A simple error of having a positive number represented by a
negative number caused a handful of points to be deducted from my exam. However,
such a simple calculation error in reality would compromise a bridge or a skyscraper,
and moreover a career.
Often in life a problem will seemingly have many solutions. More often a
particular solution will prove itself to be the most sufficient of a set of solutions while
some solutions (perhaps some of the remaining ones) will cause further problems or
imprint problems that will later be recognized in hindsight. Several answers are
discovered in the classroom while many are learned throughout life experiences.
Numerous questions have been satisfied by our ancestors while countless still remain
a mystery to current generations. Ultimately, before any dilemma can be truly
resolved, the problem should be thoroughly understood. A hasty solution may
provide a short-term solution yet may additionally generate devastating and possibly
irreversible long-term effects. Similarly, before the topics of centralization and
privatization regarding public water works are debated, I invite you to the analysis of
the pressing concerns with the nations and the worlds water resources as well as in
the depths of history.
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Before engineering became subdivided into many distinct disciplines as it is
now, it was broadly the field of either civil engineering, pertaining to civilian or
public works, or military engineering, pertaining to military works. Amongst many
functions, civil engineers would build homes, towns, cities for civilians to live in,
roads, highways, bridges to transport people and goods between places, and water
treatment plants and water distribution plants to provide clean water to a population.
Civil engineers now customarily specialize in a civil engineering sub-disciplines.
Geotechnical and structural engineering focus on
designing the many foundations from which
structures stand and the many building frames that
provide shelter. Transportation engineering centers
various modes of transportation between rural and
urban areas for commercial and residential uses.
Environmental and hydraulic engineering aims to
restore and replenish natural resources and
distribute these resources in the most optimal ways
to support both the needs of mankind and the needs of the environment around us.
Current military engineers now commonly start their study as civil engineers
alongside civilians at accredited colleges and universities; where the duties eventually
diverge for example is providing shelter for the public or providing shelter for U.S.
troops. Conversely, where the duties converge is to the oath and obligation of
providing and protecting the general interests and the well-being of Americans.
Figure 1: Civil Engineering Students atWest Point. Founded in 1802, theUnited States Military Academy at WestPoint was the first school in the U.S. tooffer a formal program of instruction inengineering.
From ancient history to modern day, engineers are valued to be the strong
foundation of civilizations. Homes accommodate civilians with shelter for their
families and buildings supply merchants with a marketplace for their business. Roads
and bridges provide transportation for people and the goods people need in and out of
cities and towns, rural and urban alike. Irrigation systems, aqueducts, or dams were
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instruments utilized to transport water to lands for crops or to people for drinking,
bathing, cooking, and cleaning. All of these systems, buildings, transportation
systems, and producing fare, compile to form a functioning community and as one
part fails, the others are hindered or in many cases fail as well. As an engineer is
responsible for designing and constructing these means, if they prove to be
unsustainable and render to be eventually useless then the fault of that failure may
reflect on the engineer.
For example when Austen Henry Layard, a British archaeologist, visited a
region rich with history since the times of Mesopotamia known as Nippur on detour
from his excavations in Assyria in January 1850, he sought the dunefields of Hilla
which were renowned to be formed within only the previous thirty years over what
once was fertile marshlands. Layard once
detailed, it was possible to go all the way to
Nippur by boat down the Euphrates, across
major branch canals and then across the
marsh. (Brandt 68) He boasted of the plant
life, wildlife, and communities which were
synonymous to numerous historical accounts
of that time. By 1889, Brandt later
documented that drastic changes had
occurred in the landscape. It was impossible to get supplies by boat from Hilla to
Nippur. The channels were almost completely dry, and the local inhabitants were
desperately digging wells in the river bottom. (68) Brandt concluded that Both
marshes and dune zones are prominent environmental features directly related to
irrigation agriculture and, more broadly, water managementDunes developed
around tamarisk stumps and seemed to begin as small piles of drifted material at the
edges of cultivation. For miles there was evidence of recent desertion of the land and
Figure 2: Canal at Bassorah
in Ancient Mesopotamia
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encroachment of dunes. (69) Where water thrives, produce thrives, towns and
businesses thrive, and civilizations both of small or grand size are born. The paradox
great civilizations have fallen before to wars over fertile land and once flourishing
civilizations that seemed impeccably sustained during their time have crashed from
over exhaustion at a magnitude just as grand or even greater than as they started.
Mesopotamia is considered one of the earliest technologically and culturally
advanced ancient civilizations and is credited for engineering the first wheel. In those
times, the civilizations needed water to farm those lands to furthermore feed their
families and commune in a society that revolves around this production. Civilizations
that prospered were ones that were able to engineer ways to yield and deliver
resources where necessary. While technology was booming in its time, technology
was still far from what is considered advanced now. Perhaps the people were not
excessive but the technology certainly was not sustainable. More likely the case now,
a US home and town will have an overabundance of food and choices. Americans in
these times will have refrigerators full of wasted foods (25% of all food is wasted or
about 96 billion pounds of annually wasted food in US N), cabinets stocked with
bottled water at hand (gallons of water consumed annually in the US increased from
less than 400 thousand in 1976 to over 3.3 million in 1997 to over 8 billion in 2006 N),
and many homes furnished with air conditioners, dishwashers, multiple bathrooms,
luscious lawns, or lavish swimming pools. Our needs are certainly sufficed. Our
energy and resource use is collectively excessive. Our technology is very advanced.
Our water resources are currently being depleted at an unsustainable rate. Many
people, especially Americans as a top world multiple-resource consumer, may afford a
comfortable life now but cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the diminishing and
mishandling of such a precious natural resource as water that will affect not only our
own future and civilization but mankind worldwide.
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Americans have tapped into a hidden,
massive treasure chest of water which spans
across eight states including Wyoming, South
Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas,
New Mexico, and Colorado the Ogallala
Aquifer. The region once called the Great
American Desert by conquistador Coronado
in 1541 is now called the Great Plains or the
High Plains; the semi-arid land, infertile
without the assistance of irrigation, was once
valued useless for farming is now considered
one of the leading agricultural areas of the
world. This underground ocean contains
enough water to fill Lake Erie nine times and
sprouting at the ground surface is over fourteen million acres of crops which
accumulate about one-fifth of Americas total annual agricultural harvest. (Ashworth
10) William Ashworth, author of Ogallala Blue, warns, Five trillion gallons of water
are drawn from the Ogallala annually - about 30% of all groundwater used for
irrigation in the United States Water is being pulled out much faster than it is being
put back in. Since widespread irrigation began in the 1950s, the Ogallala has sustained
a net loss of as much as 120 trillion gallons 11 percent of its original volume. (11)
This water is used to irrigate land (mostly semi-arid), to grow produce, to feed
livestock, to provide drink and to fuel recreation. The water in Ogallala Aquifer,
which is considered a renewable resource, is originally a result of the melting glaciers
of the Ice Age and can be replenished by groundwater discharges or seepage from
precipitation. The significant reduction of this resource is due to a faster depletion
rate than its recharge rate.
Figure 3: Outline of the Ogallala Aquifer
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Figure 4: The decline of water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer from 1980-1995
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Strikingly similar to Mesopotamia with water resource fatigue is the
agricultural and municipal standard of living which is demonstrated by Karl W.
Butzer in his commentary of Human Impact on the Environment: Ancient Roots,
Current Challenges. He states, The implications of agricultural lifeways for new
environmental adaptations are illustrated [one] example is ancient Mesopotamia,
where overirrigation during the period of centralized control under the Ur III
Dynasty led to salinization and declining productivity from 2400 to 1700 B.C. [The
Ur III] efforts represent metastable systems predicated on centralization and
maximization, and their collapse led to scaling back and diversification that better
served long-term productivity. (176) Likewise, if Americans cannot learn to well
manage the use of our natural resources, we may be forced to manage or mitigate by
nature.
The World Health Organization reminds us that in a world with a population
Figure 5: Global Water Stress 1995 (actual) and 2025 (virtual)
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of over six billion people, over one billion people do not have access to potable
drinking water. (3) The modern awareness of the limited resource of potable water
has rightfully earned water the label blue gold just as petroleum currently wears the
label of black gold. Ashworth concurs, Groundwater is a mineral, and like most
minerals it has practical value. Mining it is a means to realizing that value. (11) Gold
propelled people out on mining frenzies for its value in the market. Petroleum has
fueled territorial wars for decades. However, gold in contrast to petroleum and water
is a luxury not necessary for life to exist. Petroleum though a highly dependable non-
renewable resource can be greatly reduced in demand by alternative energy sources,
recycling of petroleum based products such as rubber, and better energy efficient
technologies. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Americans
consume 35% of the worlds oil production with 20,687 thousand barrels expended a
day. In comparison, Americans alone trump the remaining fourteen top world oil
consumers averaging at 2,756 thousand barrels a day by 17,931 thousand barrels. If
water takes on a prized value as petroleum has when its demand skyrocketed past the
supply, we can anticipate similar challenges. Petroleum, in the end, can be replaced
with alternative energy sources while water will always be in demand as it is essential
for life. Ashworth reiterates, WATER IS LIFE. It is our primary support system, the
chief component of our tissues, and the only substance that all living things must
have or die. There are bacteria that can live without oxygen; there are cave creatures
and deep-sea dwellers that can live without sunlight. Nothing can live without
water. (9) The depletion of gold was a factor in the inflation of the US dollar by the
overproduction of quantities of money insufficiently based on the obtained quantity
of gold in response to augmented demand. The wasteful usage of petroleum may
eventually force Americans to reinvent their lives to environmentally practical
measures if we do not reevaluate our current overuse and high demands. Water,
being almost absolutely inelastic in comparison, however will not have as much
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mercy. Ashworth agrees, Groundwater overdraft is not an accident here; it is a way
of life. But because it means that the water will someday disappear, it is also a way of
death. (11) The analysis of water consumption should be a concern of today and not
tomorrow. If we run out of petroleum we would not even have the energy to sustain
desalination plants with our currently practiced technologies which furthermore
negatively impact marine ecology. It is an imperative to manage a sustainable usage of
water now and to exercise viable demands that cater primarily to our needs rather
than our wants.
When presently examining a development, project managers and authorities
subdivide the efforts needed to complete the endeavor and will delegate duties
accordingly. An engineering plan will customarily circulate through planning, design,
and construction phases. Depending on what sub-field or related field of engineering
is of tailored concentration per a particular person determines the scope of work for
that person and it is not conventionally practiced to overextend ones delegated
duties. Similarly, a market and a government serve a purpose and neither should truly
behave like each other or breach their scope of work. A market serves a society and
without people a market is not sustained. A government serves a people and without a
government a society, as history defines, is not
conventionally sustained. A market is profit driven
and a government is need driven. A market
stimulates economic growth, the growth of a
business, and the growth of a city or town. A
government protects the well-being of a people, their
businesses, their cities and towns, their lives and
prosperities. Water is a resource and not a product,
and furthermore water is a necessity and not an
amenity. With this in mind it is easy to determine the realm of work should be
Figure 6: Water bottles are moneyconsumers.
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allocated to the government. Our water should be protected and be available equally
to all persons. All people have the right to water and businesses should never
challenge that right.
America seems to be fiscally deteriorating. Concerns are debated over the
expenses of our country being at war. Economists loom about the fragile market. Sick
citizens often cry for more aid with their health bills than their health. Meanwhile
our Earth is suffering and our environments are oversaturated, polluted, and
unsustainable. If we were cautious as a society of the pollutants that we put in the air
by emissions and that we put in the water by chemical treatments of our soils or by
erroneous disposing of our wastes perhaps our health and the ecology surrounding us
would not be compromised. If we were conservative with how we spent our money,
with how much energy our homes, cars and lives consume or with how much
unnecessary cosmetics or products we collect that take immense amounts of energy
just to be made available, we would have a significantly lower demand for goods and
resources in the market and our market would furthermore not be so easily shaken.
We are fighting a war in a country that does not even have access to clean water, that
does not have reliable electricity, that does not have adequate schools for their
children, that has an extremely outdated infrastructure, that considers meat a rare
luxury and struggle to feed their war-broken families, and the list goes on. These same
Iraqis have endured decades of oppression from the radicals amongst them. These
Iraqis are the people we are fighting to secure, by rebuilding their unstable
infrastructure, by providing water treatments plants to offer them potable water to
drink, by providing electricity to hospitals, police stations, and homes, by providing
schools with actual floors and roofs for children to learn within, by providing security
to the community so they may run their own markets, their own churches and
hobbies in peace. By retreating now, it would be like taking the crutches away from
someone whose legs have not healed yet. While we have the luxury to exercise our
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liberties and enjoy the comforts our society offers even while we are in what is
considered a financially challenging state, we should consider the good that may
come out of our adversities and learn from the things that have proven to be
hindrances. By securing them and building a foundation of peace overseas, we hope
to be securing ourselves from the radicals that oppose our lifestyles and that have
successfully targeted our soils. In marketing terms, we should view our efforts in Iraq
as an investment with long-term benefits and a retreat as a quick-fix that may have
short-term benefits but additionally long-term instabilities.
Privatization during an era of globalization does not go merrily together unless
you are on the profit receiving end of the bargain. Maude Barlow of the International
Forum on Globalization contributes, Everything is for sale, even those areas of life
once considered sacred, such as health and education, culture and heritage, genetic
codes and seeds, and natural resources such as air and water. Increasingly, these
services and resources are controlled by a handful of transnational corporations who
shape national and international law to suit their interests. The Washington-based
Institute for Policy Studies reports that the top two hundred corporations are now so
big that their total sales surpass the combined economies of 182 countries and they
have almost twice the economic clout of
the poorest four-fifths of humanity. Of
the 100 largest economies in the world,
53 are now transnational corporations
The richest fifth of the world's people
consumes 86 percent of all goods and
services, while the poorest fifth
consumes just over 1 percent.
Privatizing the resources needed for life
make the market the referee amongst
Figure 7: Men struggle to draw water from a drying
well in Rabdore, Somalia, where rival clans fought a
two-year war over the water supply.
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battling consumers, a referee who profits from that high demand. That battle could
translate into wars as it already has demonstrated in third-world or poor countries.
Our focus should be on maximizing governments efficiency not on transferring the
reins of control. The time wasted in transition could be better used to fast-forward
the current research and technologies to implementation. Incentives should be
encouraged in Congress as well as practiced in our law. On an individual level, we
should re-evaluate our personal energy and resource consumptions and live
conservatively, not only for the sake of our disadvantaged counterparts but for our
future.
In conclusion, the rise and collapse of civilizations has repeated itself
throughout the course of history. This paper attempts to analyze the trend. Are
societies governed by capital or resources? If there were no valuable resources would
there be any capital? Capital will likely mitigate as it has to another region that offers
resources. However, while water is a resource people cannot afford to deplete, capital
would not have anywhere to mitigate if its supply was diminished and furthermore
life could not be sustained. While America might not endure the pressures of
insufficient water supplies now, it is a fair and probable possibility we will. Ashworth
warns, Some of the consequences of groundwater mining are environmental: springs
dry up, rivers diminish, the numbers and varieties of plants and animals are reduced.
Some are economic: increased pumping costs as wells deepen, increased food costs
and decreased land values as crops shrink. And some are human. The human costs
may include bankruptcies, foreclosures, and forced migrations. They may include
failed businesses and abandoned towns. They are not likely to include thirst
municipal water systems will be among the last users of Ogallala water but they
may well include starvation. (12) While wars spread through poor countries like
viruses, others look to us for aid. Many of them are environmentally and
economically torn, suffering from starvation and thirst and facing fallen markets and
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fighting for their homes and lives. As a wealthy
nation we may not be responsible for assisting
other nations in need, but as humans and for the
sake of humanity we need to place our values
primarily on life and consider the positive effect
we can have with assisting our neighbors as well
as the negative effects that may translate over
political boundaries. While lending a fraction of
our wealth to the needy, we need to invest the
remainder into our own domestic sustainability.
It is imperative that America shifts from a nation
that strictly abides by intervention rather than
prevention. Critics may argue that the government contributes to the issue. Subtract
the government out of the scheme and inevitably by our lifestyles, the issue still
exists. Rather, the government provides solutions and programs to preserve or protect
the American ways of life and our interests. Improving the implementation of
preserving our resources and using them wisely, as well as maintaining the foresight
of the future for generations ahead, is a necessary objective of our government and
must be taken into serious priority now while the great seeds of our future must be
sown.
Figure 8: Energy Conservation Evolution
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BibliographyAshworth, William. Ogallala Blue: Water and Life on the High Plains. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006.
Barlow, Maude. The Impact of Globalization. International Forum on Globalization.
25 February 2008
Bottled Water : Pure Drink or Pure Hype? Natural Resources Defense Council. 26
February 2008
Brandt, Margaret Catlin. Nippur: Building an Environmental Model. Journal of Near
Eastern Studies 49.1 (1990): 67-73. 05 March 2008
.
Butzer, Karl W.. Rev. of Human Impact on the Environment: Ancient Roots, Current
Challenges. By Juditch E. Jacobson and John Firor. Ethnohistory, 43.1 (1996): 175-177. 01 March 2008
.
Newman, Chris. US EPAs Food Waste Activities. United States Environmental
Protection Agency, Chicago, Region 5. 26 February 2008
Meeting the MDG Drinking Water and Sanitation Target: The Urban and Rural
Challenge of the Decade. World Health Organization and UNICEF. 26 February
2008
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http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Water/Impact_Globaliz_BG.htmlhttp://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asphttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00222968%28199001%2949%3A1%3C67%3ANBAEM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Whttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00222968%28199001%2949%3A1%3C67%3ANBAEM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Whttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00141801%28199624%2943%3A1%3C175%3AHIOTEA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00141801%28199624%2943%3A1%3C175%3AHIOTEA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23http://www.epa.state.oh.us/ocapp/food_scrap/Newman-slides.pdfhttp://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmpfinal.pdfhttp://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmpfinal.pdfhttp://www.epa.state.oh.us/ocapp/food_scrap/Newman-slides.pdfhttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00141801%28199624%2943%3A1%3C175%3AHIOTEA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00141801%28199624%2943%3A1%3C175%3AHIOTEA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00222968%28199001%2949%3A1%3C67%3ANBAEM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Whttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00222968%28199001%2949%3A1%3C67%3ANBAEM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Whttp://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asphttp://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Water/Impact_Globaliz_BG.html8/3/2019 Knee Deep Pocket Deep: Waters role as a resource and waters promise as a product
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Mitchell, Joni. Big Yellow Taxi. Ladies of the Canyon. Reprise, 1970. 6 March 2008
Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government: Country Energy Profiles. U.S.
Energy Information Administration. 25 February 2008
Index of FiguresFigure 1: West Point Bridge Design Contest. United States Military Academy. 13
March 2008
Figure 2: Ancient Mesopotamia. Karens Whimsy. 13 March 2008
Figure 3: The Ogallala Aquifer. High Plains Underground Water Conservation
District No. 1. 11 March 2008
Figure 4: Worm, Kally. Water is Life: Workwater Drawdown. Evergreen State
College. 11 March 2008
Figure 5: The Human Apocalypse: People as Agents of Geological Change. UN
Environment Programme. 8 March 2008
Figure 6: Money saving tip of the day - do not buy bottled water. Frugal 4 Life. 13
March 2008
Figure 7: Wax, Emily. Dying for Water in Somalia's Drought: Amid Anarchy,
Warlords Hold Precious Resource. Washington Post Foreign Service. 14 April
2006: A01. 8 March 2008
Figure 8: Shah, Deepal. Sustainability. University of Hertfordshire. Image Earth
Photo Competition 2006. 13 March 2006
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http://jonimitchell.com/musician/song.cfm?id=BigYellowTaxihttp://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfmhttp://bridgecontest.usma.edu/purpose.htmhttp://karenswhimsy.com/ancient-mesopotamia.shtmhttp://www.hpwd.com/ogallala.asphttp://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/WORMKA/http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Geo/alums/http://www.frugal4life.com/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041302116.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041302116.htmlhttp://sitem.herts.ac.uk/sustainable/image_earth_2006_photos.htmhttp://sitem.herts.ac.uk/sustainable/image_earth_2006_photos.htmhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041302116.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041302116.htmlhttp://www.frugal4life.com/http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Geo/alums/http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/WORMKA/http://www.hpwd.com/ogallala.asphttp://karenswhimsy.com/ancient-mesopotamia.shtmhttp://bridgecontest.usma.edu/purpose.htmhttp://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfmhttp://jonimitchell.com/musician/song.cfm?id=BigYellowTaxi