Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Thursday October 1

Greetings,

Please read the assigned sections of the Nick Jans book, The Glacier Wolf, and post a reading question in the comments section here prior to class on Thursday. As I announced in class today, we'll skip the assigned reading by Bill Sherwonit.


Two other reminders:

1) you should be working on your notebooks (and you should remember to bring these to class everyday).


2) you should also read the yellow sheet that I distributed in class today describing your writing assignment for this portion of the course. I'll go over this in more detail on Thursday, but it'd be good if you could come with questions.

I'm looking forward to hearing the best arguments about Grizzly Man.

kevin

35 comments:

  1. Can Romeo still be found out at the Glacier in November? Why is there such a phobia of wild animals? It seems that people are really quick to think that wild animals should be killed, instead of the people modifying their behavior.

    Chelsea Green
    J03

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  2. Is there a written, or even unspoken, law of how close one can fish from a bear in the same stream? Would the logistics of who was fishing first come into play? I also second Chelsea, has anyone seen Romeo recently?


    Nicole Lopez
    J03

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  3. Not a very in-depth question, but I'm honestly wondering what happened to the reward money that was collected. Did anyone receive it, since the wolf that was actually killed wasn't Romeo?

    Chelsey Welch
    J02

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  4. Jans describes how Romeo longs for 'canine companionship'. I was wondering, why dogs? Wolves are very capable of traveling long distances without ceasing if the need arises. Why did he not seek out others of his kind?

    J03

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  5. Many people disliked the idea of Timothy Treadwell being close to bears but encourage the idea of a playful wolf. Is it wrong wrong for a person to cross the boundary but acceptable for an animal to cross over? Is it fine for Romeo to interact with humans?

    Danielle Orbistondo, J01

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  6. We have all sorts of wildlife right on our doorstep here. My questions is: Why would Romeo be such a debated subject? Are people just scared of him? Or, like in the case of Timothy Treadwell, do they feel it's not right to be in such proximity to such wild(and in some cases, deadly)animals?

    Emily Cummins, J02

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  7. Do wolves ever eat garbage or scavenge like bears do? Do you think that once Romeo left, the reason was he found a mate or did we scare him off? He did turn into an icon that everyone wanted to see and pet. Do you think the people here drove him away?

    Kelly Fernandez, JO4

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  8. i know certain bears stay close to high traffic tourist locations for protection from other bears. i wonder if maybe this Romeo is staying close to humans to avoid the wolf packs higher in the mountains?
    travis johnson j01

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  9. My question here is based on the level of Nick Jan's writing. In Grizzly Maze, Nick Jans seems to almost slam Timothy Treadwell, who gets to know the bears. While most would agree that Timothy Treadwell was certifiable, it would seem that Nick Jans has a friend or two himself that are bears. In the last section of the readings, Jans speaks of his "friend" the bear that fish's with him. It would seem that many Juneau residents treat Romeo the wolf the same way. So beyond Treadwell's apparent extremism, is he wrong?

    -Nathaniel Bodenstadt,
    J04

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  10. About how many people move to Alaska per year?

    Edith Grover J04

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  11. What was different that night that Aimee and Tim were killed? We know that there were different bears in the area, the ones that Tim and Aimee knew well had moved on. What was the food table like? Was there less to eat than normal? In the reading Nick Jans revealed that they often kept food in their tent, did they have food in their tent that night? We know that bear attacks are generally abstinent unless the bear has been provoked. We've seen on video that Tim had plenty encounters with bears and for thirteen years managed to stay out of harms way. I'd like to know more about the species of bear, are they more carnivorous? I wouldn't assume so being that Katmai and Kodiak are maintain a high fish population. Furthermore, was it a female or male bear? If it was female, did it have cubs?

    J03
    Callie Dietrich

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  12. In Grizzly Maze, Treadwell was frowned upon when he had is interactions with bears. Why does interactign with wolves making at any better than when Treadwell was "protecting" the bears. Wolves need a certain amount of food per week, and if they do get the equivelance of their need, does it make it dangerous for humans to interact?

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  13. ^^^
    Xuyen Nguyen J04

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  14. Where do we cross the line with animal contact? Since the world is becoming more crowded with people and animals are becoming less numerous isn't it inevitable that animals and humans are going to interact? I wonder if years from now if all animals will just be habituated. It's sad to think about, but logical, at least in my mind.

    Hannah Massey J04

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  15. There seems to be a lot of blurred lines between what is nature and what is human and how we must keep the two separate. Why do you think that people as a whole find it so hard to draw the line between being too close and being out to destroy anything that can't be readily controlled?

    Stephen Bishop J03

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  16. Timothy Treadwell lived with bears, become very familiar with them, and began a very strong relationship with these wild animals. Why was this? Was there something that Treadwell could see in the bears that we could not see. Here was a man who would walk up to a bear, talk to it, and we would call him crazy but here is a wolf called romeo who is also very wild and dangerous but had loveable qualities that enabled so many people to place trust in this wild animal. Is romeo a way to look at how Timothy Treadwell saw bears as connection to the wild.

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  17. Sorry above is Freddie Munoz JO1

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  18. do you think treadwell is like romeo in the sense that they are two of gods creatures living in a habitat that is differnt than their usual type
    michael caruso jo2

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  19. I am new to Alaska so i was didnt know that wolves did come to juneua is their ever any attacks on humans by wolves? and what happened to romeo is he stil around could I possibly see him this winter or does the writer make it seem thier were more sightings than their really were
    Malcomb Vrecenar

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  20. Have bears been able to do thier acivities close to humans for many years? or were they very affraid or violent to them?

    Westin Dollmont J01

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  21. When Nick Jans is taking about his house in Juneau he talks bout all the animals that he sees and mentions that he seen a goat. I didn't even know that there were goats in Juneau. Are there goats here? or was he talking about some where else?
    Jolene S Jo1

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  22. Who was the lady who took a picture of the trapped wolf she freed with her hands? Can we see that picture?

    I just wanted to emphasize the 'obsessions' of Jans & Treadwell.

    I was wondering why the wolf wasn't in a pack and why did it feel so comfortable around domesticated dogs? Or even why did the dogs feel comfortable around this wolf?
    I thought that the two generally avoid each other.

    That is sad that the Black Wolf, was blamed for disappearances.

    We are the Enemy or people are the enemy- Interesting perspective. We as human beings don't realize enough that without our brains, we would be on the lower end of the food chain. Without our weapons, we are on the lower end of the food chain, meaning that we naturally don;t have the means to survive like other furry animals do.


    LaTia Jackson, J03

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  23. Why does it seem right to criticize Tredwell when he was doing the same exact thing the locals in Juneau were doing with the glacier wolf? Should we just call our selves hypocrites?

    Jenny Danner J03

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  24. It's sad how much the stories of romeo and treadwell intertwine. I'm interested in Jans' fascination with Romeo. Would any of the people in HUM120 act as he did, actively seeking the wolf out, regardless of warnings?


    Richard Ringle JO2

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  25. In The Grizzly Maze- Why are people judging him on how his interest, he is just working with bears? Can't we do what we love to do? His a man who loves bears and is willing to keep them safe from getting killed, pouched, or even getting thrown with rocks, but yet he just let people hit that animal with rocks and he was mad at them but he was thinking they would like fight him for being with the animals and they thought he was like crazy for loving them and naming them. But yet it's like bothering the animals by going near them while they are eating, or swimming. The bears could understand differently after they get use to being around Treadwell and if they get use to him they could read that ALL humans are nice just because they got use to being around Treadwell. And yet here some of us human beings are scared of them.

    Anastasia Brink, J01

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  26. I want to know where the author, Nich Jans moved from because he said that he had to pack his own water and use an outhouse for a bathroom. I know it is further up north, but I am wondering why is his so estactic at the amount of rain we get? Because up north the cold weather of 30-40 below zero would seem more stressful and difficult to live with.

    Katrina Moran, JO4

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  27. What I can't seem to wrap my head around is, if Treadwell wanted to protect these animals so badly why expose them to the outside world? In my not so humble opinion it seems that Treadwell was foolish in the way he went about his so called "cause" and wound up causing more problems for the bears if anything. Treadwell's story is the story of a want to be hero who got in over his head. Tragic truly.
    ----Dakota McLaughlin

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  28. In the book Jans says he only got one shot of the wolf, is that the picture on the front of the book?

    Jans says that his interest in the wolf became an obsession, was his obsession with the wolf similar to Tredwell and his obsession with the bears? And do men seem to have more of an inerest with wildlife than females do?

    Johanna Christensen - J01

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  29. In the last reading, why would he tell the guys with the guns which way the bear went if he was so concerned with how the bear's well being was going to be after the fact? I mean if he is going to feel guilty about it then I don't see what the big deal was by him just not telling them.

    Chelsea Durham J03

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  30. The first eighteen pages put a lot of focus on the weather and the differences between northern and southeastern Alaska. Jans says that when people think of Alaska, they picture the northern part of the state. Why, then, do so many tourists come to southeast Alaska? Do they want to see the capital? Are they aware that southeast Alaska is actually a rainforest prior to their coming?

    Kimberly Watt
    J02

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  31. Just like Jans said in his book, there are people who are very dedicated defenders of nature, and those who could care less about protecting it and its inhabitants. What about those of us in the middle? Are we bad people because maybe we recycle and want to lower our carbon emissions, but maybe go hunting for moose that we mount on our wall, but also eat for dinner. If there is a line of hypocrisy in nature and your feelings toward it, where is it, and how does this represent what kind of person you may or may not be?

    Sammy Becker
    JO3

    Sorry I posted it this morning Kevin, my internet wasn't working last night :)

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  32. April Henderson JO4

    Do you think that because Romeo is the one making contact with people we think that it's acceptable, whereas what Timothy Treadwell did was not? Is it okay in society for nature to contact us, but not for us to contact it?

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  33. Treadwell messed with the balance of nature while in Katmai, among them desensitizing the bears to humans and interferring with the natural "pecking" order of predator & prey. What is the difference in what Treadwell was doing and what nick Jans' wife, Sherrie, was doing by hand rearing injured birds and animals?

    Deema Ferguson J02

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  34. I thought I answered this one but threa re to many post to go through.So I will post again.

    Why wasn't Tredwell in a mental institution?

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  35. I want to know how he got all that money to travel back and forth?

    Nani Toetuu

    J02

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