Major International Events Research Articles

“A Barricade of Ships, Guns, Airplanes and Men”: Arming the Niagara Border, 1920–1930

On April 19,1929, Chief Boatswain's Mate Hubert E. Wilbur and Surfman Orville M. LaGrant, both members of US. Coast Guard, began routine patrol of Niagara River. The patrol, which nearly ended in bloodshed, provoked an international incident that took almost year to resolve. The episode resulted from United States' arming its borders to an unprecedented extent in an effort to win Canadian government's assistance in enforcing Prohibition laws. Perceived by Canadians as an integral part of American policies that took Canadian sovereignty lightly arming of border jeopardized U.S. treaty obligations and brought extraordinary violence to border communities. (1) This federal activity south of border threatened to negate local efforts to enhance along-successful borderlands community. Thus, Wilbur and LaGrant's experience illuminates seldom-told story of cross-border relations between United States and Canada. A number of historians point out that Prohibition was singularly divisive factor in relations between Canada and United States. The American desire to assert greater control over U.S. borders, they note, often conflicted with growing Canadian nationalism that sought to assert an independent identity. These historians approach issue in variety of ways: Richard N. Kottman comments that Canadian support for assisting Americans with Prohibition enforcement varied regionally. His analysis pays little attention to events on interior border as factor in Canadian-American relations, however; he focuses instead on U.S. Coast Guard's sinking of Nova Scotian schooner I'm Alone in Gulf of Mexico in 1929. Stephen T Moore elaborates on cross-border community between Washington and British Columbia, noting that violent activities of liquor hijackers, coupled with evidence of government corruption, threatened to disrupt local heritage of cross-border cooperation. That disruption, in turn, led to regional support for cooperating with United States in Prohibition enforcement. Sean T. Moore has considered ways in which outside law enforcement disrupted binationallocal economy in northern New York, causing locals to abandon support for Prohibition. (2) None of these historians takes into consideration extent to which United States tried to force Canadian public and political opinion into line with American government demands by posting heavily armed, uniformed military force along border. This article attempts to add another piece to puzzle. Prelude In public spectacle in summer of 1927, United States, Canada, and Great Britain showcased familiar story of cross-border relations. On August 7, 1927, before 100,000 people and an international radio audience that may have reached as many as 50 million, Edward, Prince of Wales, United States Vice President Charles G. Dawes, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, and host of other dignitaries (including governor of New York, premier of Ontario, and U.S. secretary of state) met at Buffalo to dedicate Peace Bridge, new commercial link facilitating automobile traffic between east coast of North America and interior. It was major international event. All of speakers praised 100-plus years of peace that had prevailed among United Stales, Great Britain, and Canada since War of 1812. The piers of bridge of friendship now replaced two hostile forts, Mackenzie King observed. Acknowledging recent exchange of ministers between United States and Canada, Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg observed that between two countries there are no racial animosities, no great international antagonism, and that differences can be settled with exercise of tolerance and patience, and application of good common sense. Calling it a bridge of understanding, Dawes said that Peace Bridge had been built upon both the firm bedrock of Niagara, and peace of English-speaking peoples. …

A retrospective observation of Elias Sime

Elias Sime is one of the most prolific living contemporary artists in Ethiopia. Elias' works have been exhibited in such major international art events as the 2004 Dak'Art Biennale; ’Green Flame‚ in the ’New Crowned Hope Festival‚ directed by Peter Sellars; ‘Flow’ curated by Christine Kim at the Studio Museum of Harlem; and ‘The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End’ curated by Alisa LaGamma at the Metropolitan Museum New York. In 2009 ‘Elias Sime: Retrospective, 1990 to present’ will be curated by Peter Sellars and Meskerem Assegued at the Santa Monica Museum of Art in Los Angeles. His wooden chairs will be the stage furniture for the opera Oedipus Rex with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra in the Walt Disney Concert Hall. This article is a pictorial analysis of the artist's work and life with detailed descriptions of selected pieces.

Hazmat disaster preparedness in Hong Kong: what are the hazardous materials on Lantau, Lamma, and Hong Kong Islands?

Hazmat disaster preparedness is critical, especially as Hong Kong prepares for major international events, such as the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Games. No published medical study describes the identities and quantities of hazardous materials (HMs) in Hong Kong and lists what antidotes are needed for these dangerous goods (DGs). This study describes what HMs are most common in Hong Kong to prioritize disaster preparedness and training. A descriptive, cross-sectional study. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, specifically Lantau, Lamma, and Hong Kong Islands. The Hong Kong Fire Services Department (HKFSD) Dangerous Goods Database (DGD). Descriptive statistical analyses with Stata 9.2. Identifying and quantifying HMs in the HKFSD DGD. Most HMs do not have antidotes. The most common HMs with recognized antidotes are carbon monoxide, methylene chloride, fluorides, cyanides, nitriles, hydrazine, methanol, and nitrates. The most common categories of DGs are substances giving off inflammable vapors, compressed gases, and corrosive and poisonous substances. Hazmat disaster preparedness and training should emphasize these most common categories of DGs. Disaster planning should ensure adequate antidotes for HMs with recognized antidotes, ie, oxygen for carbon monoxide and methylene chloride; calcium gluconate and calcium chloride for fluorides; hydroxocobalamin or amyl nitrite, sodium nitrite, and sodium thiosulfate for cyanides and nitriles; pyridoxine for hydrazine; fomepizole or ethanol for methanol; and methylene blue for methemoglobinemia produced by nitrates. Supportive care is essential for patients exposed to HMs because most DGs do not have antidotes.

Hazmat Emergency Preparedness in Hong Kong: What are the Dangerous Goods in Kowloon?

IntroductionHazmat emergency preparedness is critical, especially as Hong Kong prepares for major international events, such as the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Games. No published medical study has described the identities and quantities of dangerous goods (DG) in the Kowloon area and listed what antidotes are needed for these DG. This study describes what hazardous materials are most common in Kowloon to prioritise emergency preparedness and training.Materials & methodsDesignA descriptive, cross‐sectional study.SettingThe Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, specifically Kowloon.SampleThe Hong Kong Fire Services Department (HKFSD) Dangerous Goods Database (DGD).InterventionsDescriptive statistical analyses with Stata 9.2.Chief outcomeIdentifying and quantifying dangerous goods in the HKFSD DGD.ResultsMost DG do not have antidotes. The most common DG with recognised antidotes are carbon monoxide, methylene chloride, fluorine, fluorides, fluoroboric acid, cyanides, nitriles, methanol, nitrobenzene, nitrites, and nitrates. The most common categories of DG are substances giving off inflammable vapours, compressed gases, and corrosive and poisonous substances.ConclusionsHazmat emergency preparedness and training should emphasize these most common categories of DG. Disaster planning should ensure adequate antidotes for DG with recognised antidotes, i.e., oxygen for carbon monoxide and methylene chloride; calcium gluconate or calcium chloride for fluorine, fluorides, and fluoroboric acid; hydroxocobalamin for cyanides and nitriles; ethanol for methanol; and methylene blue for methaemoglobinaemia produced by nitrobenzene, nitrites, and nitrates. Supportive care is essential for patients exposed to hazardous materials because most dangerous goods do not have antidotes.

Environmental change, geomorphic processes and land degradation in tropical highlands

Abstract The international symposium ‘HighLand2006’, held in Mekelle (Ethiopia), from 21 to 25 September 2006, was the second time that Ethiopia could host a major international scientific event on geomorphological processes. HighLand2006 created a forum for those conducting research on the impacts of environmental change on geomorphic processes and land degradation in East African highlands as well as in similar regions around the globe. Discussions of results and exchange of experiences during indoor sessions as well as excursions have resulted in this distinctive set of scientific papers. The two main questions addressed in this special issue, through case studies in tropical mountain areas on all continents are: 1. How have environmental changes impacted the type and intensity of geomorphic processes in tropical mountains since late Pleistocene times? The answer to this question is strongly linked to our knowledge on changes in climate, vegetation cover, human activities, hydrology, hillslope and fluvial processes for such environments. 2. Which factors control the intensity of land degradation, its on-site and off-site impacts in tropical mountains? This question addresses the role of natural and anthropogenic factors in the degradation of the vegetation cover and in controlling the intensity of hydrological processes, soil erosion, landsliding, reservoir sedimentation and flooding. In parallel with this special Catena issue, a number of selected papers on land degradation and its mitigation in tropical highlands are presented in a special issue of Soil & Tillage Research.

Understanding strategic alignment for destination marketing and the 2004 Athens Olympic Games: Implications from extracted tacit knowledge

Major international hallmark events, especially the Olympic Games, represent a significant opportunity for marketing tourism to the host country. Due to the scale and importance of the event, the coordination between the Olympic organizing committee and the destination marketing organization of the host country becomes a knowledge-intensive and exceptionally complicated task. Analyzing on-site interview data collected from top executives of the two major organizations involved in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games (ATHOC and GNTO), this research achieved two objectives: (1) extracted and organized the tacit knowledge from both organizations to discover major issues concerning the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and (2) identified the strategic alignment issues between the domains of Olympics planning and destination marketing and proposed a conceptual framework for the future Olympic host countries.

Introduction to the special issue on telecommunications techno-economics

The growing interest in techno-economics for services and networks has given rise to a number of studies to support strategic decision making by telecommunication operators, service providers, manufacturers, and regulators. The emergence of fourth-generation systems, the fast evolution of Internet technologies as well as the convergence of future wireless and fixed networks challenge the telecommunication community to acquire innovative business concepts via a financial and technology blend. Techno-economics refer to the decision support providing managers and policymakers with early, quantitative information enabling them to arbitrate among a variety of investment projects. This special issue of Netnomics aims to contribute to the key concepts and criteria used by policymakers, network operators, and service providers to evaluate profitability in the telecom and information technology market. The issue hosts original contributions based on presentations given during the 5th Conference on Telecommunication Techno-Economics (CTTE2006) held in Athens, Greece on 8th and 9th of June 2006. The 5th CTTE (http://www. ctte-conference.org/2006/) was dedicated to economics of new telecommunication services and technologies and was the fifth in a series of international conferences/workshops, launched in 1997. Aiming to act as the major international event for the presentation of original and fundamental concepts and studies in the field of telecom techno-economics, it also serves as a forum for

International Heliophysical Year 2007

The International Heliophysical Year (IHY), an international program of scientific collaboration to understand the external drivers of planetary environments, will be conducted in 2007. This will be a major international event of great interest to the member States. The M Y will involve the deployment of new instrumentation, new observations from the ground and in space, and an education component. The IHY 2007 will coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957. The IGY was organized to study global phenomena of the Earth and Geospace involving about 60,000 scientists from 66 nations, working at thousands of stations, around the world to obtain simultaneous, global observations from the ground and space. Building on results obtained during IGY 1957, the IHY will expand to the study of universal processes in the solar system that affect the interplanetary and terrestrial environments. The study of energetic events in the solar system will pave the way for safe human space travel to the Moon and planets in the future, and it will serve to inspire the next generation of space physicists.

The Four ‘Knowns’ of Sports Mega‐Events

This article uses a piece of writing in The Guardian newspaper by the philosopher Slavoj Zizek (’The empty wheelbarrow’, 19 February, p. 23, 2005) about the former US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, as a framework by which to reflect critically on major international sporting events, or sports mega‐events. It suggests that it is an academic’s duty to look critically at the assumptions, beliefs and misrepresentations that are often suppressed, or, perhaps more accurately, repressed, about sports mega‐events. The article is based on an analysis of research and writing about sports mega‐events, some of which offer more comprehensive reviews of the literature. It is argued that in their enthusiasm to host and support sports ‘megas’, politicians, senior administrators of sport, corporate leaders and even some academics may often encourage the pretence that we do not know as much as we do about things that actually form the background to them. Information is used from studies of sports mega‐events that have taken place, or are planned, in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America to illustrate the four ‘knowns’, but the main focus is on the ‘unknown knowns’.

Q&A with Valery Isaakovich Graifer, Chairman of the Board of Directors, JSC Lukoil

As Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the first SPE Russian Oil and Gas Technical Conference and Exhibition, could you outline the basic aims of the event? The 2006 SPE Russian Oil and Gas Technical Conference and Exhibition will be a major international event for the upstream oil and gas E&P community. It is being organized by SPE and Spearhead Exhibitions Ltd., the partnership responsible for the Offshore Europe conference in Aberdeen. The conference theme is "Technology for World-Class Resources." The theme speaks for itself and reflects the wide historical industry perspective, rich intellectual resources, and unique natural resources of Russia. The exhibition held jointly with the conference will be dedicated to innovative and existing technologies as well as to their optimal application to further develop the oil and gas industry of Russia at the world level. The conference addresses the need for an event that focuses on technology and knowledge exchange and will promote communication among oil and gas industry professionals who will find and produce future energy resources. This event will provide a unique opportunity for all its participants—managers, technical specialists, scientists, and students—to share their experiences and achievements in E&P. The conference will illustrate the technology needed to extend the resource base. Much more oil and gas will be produced from western Siberia and the Volga-Urals basins, and the development of new oil and gas basins in the Arctic offshore, eastern Siberia, and east Asia will replenish the mineral resources of Russia. High-quality mineral resources are quite scarce in all the branches of the mining industry; there are many more resources that have relatively lower quality or that are difficult to produce and for which more efficient technologies should be developed. It is the so-called "resources pyramid concept." Both in Russia and worldwide, the more resources that are produced, the worse their structure gets. In the past, in western Siberia and in the Volga River basin, we used to actively develop Cretaceous and Devonian deposits and had not been actively involved in development of resources of under-gas-cap zones, thin oil-pay fringes, and low-permeability reservoirs. Today, we have to develop the resources of low-permeability reservoirs of the Jurassic and Achim deposits of western Siberia as well as viscous-oil carbonaceous deposits and the resources of Permian deposits of Tatarstan natural bitumen. For Tatarstan and Bashkiria, it is very important to develop bitumen resources, but it is not possible to do it using the open-cut mining method as it is being done in Canada because the strata are deposited deeper and much plowland would be sacrificed. These difficult practical tasks will be solved by today's generation of engineers and scientists. Consequently, the aim of our conference is to solve practical tasks; it is not just academic sessions. It is very important to integrate the technological advances of the E&P industry all over the world with the unique resources of Russia to secure the energy future of our planet under the conditions of growing hydrocarbon costs.

Decadence, Decline and Celebration: Raphael Meldola and the Mauve Jubilee of 1906

A century ago chemistry was the pre‐eminent academic and science‐based industrial pursuit, mainly as a result of the introduction of synthetic dyestuffs. The German dye‐making industry had just introduced synthetic indigo, following the longest and most expensive academic–technological campaign ever known and, as a follow up, novel fast vat dyes. The relevant coal tar, or aromatic, chemistry also heralded major breakthroughs in pharmaceuticals. The economic ramifications were enormous. It seemed appropriate then to celebrate the jubilee of the foundation of the dye industry by William Henry Perkin in 1856 with a major international event in London. Here the background to the jubilee is described and, by entangling key personalities in its organisation and their perspectives and opinions, I demonstrate how success in Germany and decline in England became one of the most compelling reasons for exploring issues related to the early debate over technical education in England.

‘A Small Country with a Big Ambition’

This article examines the way aspects of Portugal and Portuguese culture and society are talked about in and around the media coverage of a major international sporting event. It focuses on how things other than sport get talked about against the backdrop of a major international sporting and media event, and how these discourses connect with wider political, economic and cultural frames of reference. The research draws from newspaper coverage of Euro 2004 in the Portuguese and British newspaper markets. It examines the distinctive news sports agendas in both countries and shows how there is a growing distinction between the more European style of sports journalism in the British broadsheet/compact market and that of the tabloid newspapers in this country. It also outlines the differing versions of Portugal presented to the world from within two differing European newspaper markets.

The ‘inclusion’ of elite athletes with disabilities in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games: An exploratory analysis of British newspaper coverage

The XVII 2002 Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England, was the first major international multi-sport event to include elite athletes with disabilities (EADs) in its main sports programme and medal table. In this exploratory article we seek to examine some of the complex issues surrounding the inclusion of EADs in the Manchester Games by analysing the coverage afforded those athletes by six national British newspapers. The results suggest that: (1) there was a tendency by the British media to discuss the performances of EADs in terms more-or-less consistent with a medicalized understanding of disability; (2) the inclusion of EADs in the Games signalled the ‘end of a sporting apartheid’ between ‘able-bodied’ athletes and EADs; and (3) that the participation of EADs in the Games was said to reflect the alleged growing ‘inclusion’ of people with disabilities in the wider society more broadly. The paper concludes by discussing some of the unintended consequences of including EADs in the Games, including those brought about by the classification system used to group athletes into events according to their particular impairment. Those which were associated with the supposed need for greater media coverage of EADs in ‘able-bodied’ sports competitions such as the Commonsealth Games.

Strategic planning – implications for the bidding of sport events in South Africa

This article will argue that a coordinated bid for the hosting of major international sport events would be more beneficial to the development of a sustainable sport tourism industry in South Afric...

Sporting sign wars: advertising and the contested terrain of sporting events and venues

Local sporting stadia exist as sought-after promotional platforms for multinational corporations to associate their brands with major international mega-sporting events. However, in conjunction with a global climate of corporate sign wars (Goldman and Papson, 1996) and the continued threat of ambush marketing, these sporting spaces exist as contested terrains where a range of power relations are effectively played out at the global-local nexus. In this paper, we examine issues pertaining to ambush marketing and the brand protection/clean venue policies employed by local organising committees in two case studies: the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 1999 FIFA Under-17 World Soccer Championships in New Zealand. We identify similar strategies utilised at both sporting events to protect official sponsors while discussing some of the implications of these issues on the lived experiences of spectators and citizens who are inevitably connected to the wider structures of power operating within and through these local sporting spaces.

Athens 2004 Olympic Games' Transportation Plan: a missed opportunity for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) integration?

During the 1990s, a considerable debate on the integration of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) with the policy, plan and programming process took place among scholars throughout the world. This debate is relevant today, especially in the context of Sustainable Development (SD) as it is maintained that the integration of environmental concerns in policy, plan and programme (PPP) making, is a step towards sustainable planning practices. This is also the rationale behind the recent enactment of the European Union (EU) Directive on the `assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment' (or `SEA Directive') which requires that following the 21st July 2004, all member states' authorities preparing certain formal plans or programmes should undertake SEAs by preparing an environmental report describing the potential effects of plans and programmes upon the environment. This paper applies an integrative SEA/PPP framework, to the transport planning process of a major international athletic event: the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. It was found that despite the lack of a formal SEA in place, there are positive signs for its future integration in similar studies in Greece. Furthermore, it is recommended through comparison with other SEAs for Olympic Games, that weight should be given to the co-ordination of the common stages of the PPP and SEA processes, if SEA practice is to be encouraged in countries with underdeveloped SEA systems such as Greece.

City image and major international events: A new tool for urban strategy and planning

The author, Emeritus Professor at the Picardie-Jules Verne University , Amiens, France, has extended teaching experience also at the universities of Lille, Paris IV (Sorbonne), and at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers of Paris. She has undertaken lengthy investigations into Italy, and obtained her Ph. D on the planning of Mezzogiorno and its results on the territory of Puglia, published by the Ecole Française de Rome. Over 80 major publications by her focus on the evolution of the Paris area and North European metropolitan strategies; industry and transport crisis and general technology evolution; Italy especially industrial and regional planning and Mezzogiorno; and Mediterranean cities, traditional urban heritage and new strategies. Her latest important publication is Une Mer entre Trois Continents: La Méditerranée (Paris, Ellipses Ed., December 2001).

City image and major international events: A new tool for urban strategy and planning

The author, Emeritus Professor at the Picardie-Jules Verne University , Amiens, France, has extended teaching experience also at the universities of Lille, Paris IV (Sorbonne), and at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers of Paris. She has undertaken lengthy investigations into Italy, and obtained her Ph. D on the planning of Mezzogiorno and its results on the territory of Puglia, published by the Ecole Francaise de Rome. Over 80 major publications by her focus on the evolution of the Paris area and North European metropolitan strategies; industry and transport crisis and general technology evolution; Italy especially industrial and regional planning and Mezzogiorno; and Mediterranean cities, traditional urban heritage and new strategies. Her latest important publication is Une Mer entre Trois Continents: La Mediterranee (Paris, Ellipses Ed., December 2001).

11 September 2001 and the media

The attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 went beyond the culminating point of victory, pushed the US into declaring war on its enemies, and immediately united sections of the elite media across the world in horrified denunciation of the terrorists. The various national media usually react very differently to major international events, interpreting them according to their national interests and dispositions. However, until President Bush's State of the Union address at the end of January 2002 criticised the so-called axis of evil, condemnation of the attacks and sympathy for the US largely united those sections of the elite media in Japan, Britain, Pakistan and India, which are the subject of this essay.

The Words that Predict the Outbreak of Wars

McClelland has shown how passionate reformist zeal for social justice is often the link between an “imperial motivation pattern” (i.e., high need for power and low need for affiliation) and subsequent wars. If we could predict the outbreak of past conflicts from observing the gap between affiliation and power in stories and documents of the past, we could also analyze documents of the present and point at the gap as a signal of alert of future conflicts. With the help of the new computer-readable MOTIVE DICTIONARY, I content analyzed literary stories and real-life documents concerned with war and conflict. The dictionary rests on three axes, which are: the need for achievement, the need for affiliation, and the need for power. Examples of such narratives and documents are William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, Tolstoy's War and Peace, a 373-page document produced in Washington in 1944 under the title of Events Leading Up to World War II. Chronological History Of Certain Major International Events Leading Up To and During World War II with the Ostensible Reasons Advanced For Their Occurrence. 1931-1944, and Robert F. Kennedy's Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. With close to impeccable precision, the gap between affiliation and power widens as the conflicts develop, with power higher than affiliation, and narrows if and when serenity resumes.