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Seismic St. Louis

Emily Sekine

I'm interested in better understanding the ongoing geological processes that shape St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley region. So far, I've been looking into the history of seismicity in the region, focusing on the fascinating but little known history of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 -- the most devastating earthquakes to have hit the US east of the Rockies. I've also been exploring how St. Louis and surrounding areas are dealing with the possibility of another earthquake occurring in the future. According to one article I read, one of the biggest uncertainties is what would happen to the heavily engineered Mississippi River in the case of another major tremblor. The shaking could break the levees, flooding wide areas along the river and creating cascading effects. The flow of the river might also reverse completely, as occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes.

On these possibilities and the lack of scientific consensus surrounding intraplate seismicity in this zone, see this article in The Atlantic.

On current efforts to create earthquake hazard maps in St. Louis, see this overview on the US Geological Survey site.

For a deeper dive into the history of the New Madrid earthquakes, see this book by historian of science Conevery Bolton Valencius. 

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tamar.rogoszinski

I researched,

  1. what actually caused the collapse of the World Trade Centers
  2. John Ripley Freeman and the creation of Underwriters Laboratories. 
  3. The Hague Street Explosion

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tamar.rogoszinski

The data presented is from governmental texts, but we do not have a bibliography to assess. However, from the references and quotations made within the chapter, I can deduce that Fassin did a lot of research using extensive resources to gather information for this chapter. 

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tamar.rogoszinski

I was able to find that this article was cited in 51 other publications or papers. While many of the publications also discuss the shortcomings of disaster response in Katrina, others citation examples include studies involving anthropology, aging, or security issue. This article also is used as a way to highlight Katrina and how to prepare for future disasters. 

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tamar.rogoszinski

Through her field work, the author is able to create a concise argument by using interviews and anecdotes by those affected by the disaster in Chernobyl. She also highlights aspects of the disaster itself, highlight pre, peri, and post events that had an impact on the area and populations exposed. She also provides some data regarding an increase in clinical registration of illnesses that have occurred under the title "symptoms and other indequately known states", that show a sharp increase after the event. 

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tamar.rogoszinski

1. I looked into the concept of 'atomic priests' mentioned on page 196 that was proposed in the 70s and 80s. I thought it was interesting when I saw it in the title of this report, and was interested to learn more about what it was. 

2. I looked on the website for IEAE, since Schmid mentioned them for a while. 

3. I also looked into the organization Spetsatom, since it sounded as if they may have had the right idea about emergency response, but the website is in Russian, so it was hard to understand. 

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tamar.rogoszinski
  1. "..."that is the perceptual world in which we find outselves and to which we are oriented, is organized through language and symbolic forms, as well as through social and institutional relations and practical activities in that world."
  2. "His illness had a powerful and meaningful beginning, which gave shape and coherence to the larger narrative."
  3. "It is tempting for a medical social scientist to enumerate the cultural beliefs concerning the cause and workings of epilepsy, then compare these with beliefs in other societies. People of course reason about illness, and culture provides the logic of that rationality."

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tamar.rogoszinski
  1. I looked up how many people have been affected by cholera and found an article where the UN did admit responsibility in the cholera outbreak. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/18/490468640/u-n-admits-…
  2. I also looked further into the NGOs that sought to help, since some of them were fraudulent. http://www.globalresearch.ca/haiti-5-years-after-the-earthquake-fraudul…

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tamar.rogoszinski

This study contains findings by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. It is written by  Jaime M. Grant, Ph.D., Lisa A. Mottet, J.D., and Justin Tanis, D.Min. With Jody L. Herman, Ph.D., Jack Harrison, and Mara Keisling.