March 12, 2016 by Kayla Pollard 3 Comments

I don’t think the Tohono O’odham people had been treated truly fair after the Gadsden Purchase. Their land got divided and they had to work and relocate in order to keep their people and their traditions together. Luckily they were able to continue to go to school, and have the right to practice their religious beliefs, along with having access to more than one type of church.

From an ethical standpoint I think it is unfair for outside sources to demand that they need to move around to suit whatever the outside source needs. By treating a group of people this way it sends a message that they are not important, and all of the work they put into establishing a place to live is disposable.

Looking at the legalities that were put into effect for the Tohono O’odham Nation it was disappointing to see that in the 1980’s they had to discover a legal decision that was made in 1908 called the Winters Doctrine that gave them rights to much of the ground water in their area. This Doctrine should have been overlooked and found later on, the country should have been working to make sure that not only the Tohono O’odham Nation, but all reservations, were receiving all of their rights. Once they had discovered that they weren’t receiving all of the things that were legally promised to them the president at the time, Jimmy Carter, encouraged them to use less water because the water was needed elsewhere.

The Tohono O’odham Nation some positive things going for them, but in the grand scheme of things were not treated correctly and both a legal and ethical level. They should be treated as citizens, and should have access to everything that they were promised.

https://www.engineeringthepast.com/1247-2/

March 6, 2016 by Kayla Pollard 2 Comments

In the past Syria knew of their high temperature climate, they might not have known how much hotter it was going to get over the years but it would have made sense to plan for a drought. Irrigation at the time may have seemed liked a reasonable thing to do, but they needed to start adjusting when they noticed water supply decreasing. Assuming there would be drought just focusing on water being used for citizens rather than agriculture reasons would have been wise. It is not ideal to have to import foods and other things but sometimes it is needed for them to survive, in order to do this it would be important to keep good external and internal relationships in the country. Irrigation takes up a lot of water that could be going to different people. Many people established jobs as farmers because the country did not take into consideration that water might not be a supply in later years. The country should have established a water system, close to what they have now with their underground water aquifers and made it strictly for bathing and drinking purposes. I think if I tried to make the water sources mainly for consumption and hygiene, leaving food to be imported it would be hard to convince the leaders to do this. I’m not sure how external relations were in the past but now it would be hard to convince them to rely on outside town and cities for their food. Now that I think about it, that could be hard on the citizens that are oppressed in the country because their food not be accessible in the country.

If this topic were to be turned into a research paper I would need to know the following:

How Syria’s political climate was in the past
What kind of farming they were doing, and what kind of farming can be done in such climate
How the underground aquifers work in Syria

To learn about the past in Syria, I would take to some news sources along with peer reviewed articles that I would find on Albertson’s Library website. I’m a visual person so finding pictures of how the aquifers and what kinds of farming Syria did it would help me have more of an understanding of what they are dealing with.

https://www.engineeringthepast.com/1228-2/

Final Resting Places

February 27, 2016 by Kayla Pollard Leave a Comment

Throughout the semester I found that I was really interested in the sections where talked about mausoleums or tombs. The Hagia Sophia assignment was very interesting, and after watching the video about the Taj Mahal I thought this would be the most interesting topic for me to choose. We have not gone over the Egyptian Pyramids but they are some of the most popular tombs in the world.

In all of these cultures the final resting places were for people to be buried with their loved ones. These sites were often sacred to the culture, and often times are still sacred today. However, not every person in these cultures had the pleasure of being buried in such elaborate tombs. The people who were buried in these massive sites were noble and/or wealthy. These elaborate exteriors bring people from all over the world to look at them in awe.

These mausoleums were often built for specific people. The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan after his beloved wife died so she was have a gorgeous resting place. Sultan Selim II whose mausoleum is at the Hagia Sophia called in one of the best architects to build his resting place, knowing that it would be finished three years after his death.

Every person who commissioned these grand places wanted to pay tribute to themselves or others. These architectures show the passion people have in their beliefs, and the dedication they have to completing such intense tasks.