Cornell Science Inquiry Partnerships
Cornell University
http://csip.cornell.edu
Additional Controversial Issues
(With References!)*
Rebuilding New Orleans
Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. No place seemed to suffer as much
damage as New Orleans, a richly unique city at the outlet of the Mississippi River. Levees
failed, acres flooded, thousands of people were displaced and hundreds were lost forever.
The days, weeks, and even months following Hurricane Katrina served as a shocking display
of how difficult, costly, and traumatic disaster response can be. The city has slowly been
recovering and although Mayor Ray Nagin insists the city will be “chocolate” in the future,
a new study suggests only 20% of former African-American residents might return. With a
disaster that cost hundreds of millions of emergency response dollars and a rebuilding that
could cost hundreds of billions of dollars, is it worth it to rebuild New Orleans? Do the
benefits of rebuilding one of the nation’s most cherished cities outweigh the risks of similar
disasters striking in the future? Or should New Orleans be abandoned and our tax dollars
spent elsewhere?
Reference:
 Morning Edition on New Orleans flood control
(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4976688)
Endangered Species
Provisions of the Endangered Species Act that would potentially privatize wildlife
protection are currently being debated in Congress and hotly contested by environmental
groups. This comes only a few months after Cornell researchers have proposed “ReWilding” the American Midwest back to the Pleistocene Era by reintroducing elephants and
mammals. Meanwhile, researchers from Cornell have inspired a treasure hunt that involves
ornithologists from all over world, acres upon acres of swampland and one little
woodpecker. What is going on with wildlife in this country? In terms of natural species, are
we “missing the forest for the trees?” Should the Endangered Species Act be repealed?
References:
 Talk of the Nation with Cornell’s Josh Donlan
(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4806987)
 The Role of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in Protecting Biodiversity
(Curriculum resource developed by CSIP Fellow Jamie Nelson)
http://csip.cornell.edu/Curriculum_Resources/CSIP/SKillen/Skillen.asp
Wal-Mart
Profits and controversy surround the world’s largest corporation. In recent years, several
communities across the U.S. have waged campaigns to keep Wal-Mart out of their
*
For use with Debating Controversial Issues: Integrating Science and Current Events (available at
http://csip.cornell.edu/Curriculum_Resources/CSIP/Dudley&Schneider/Dudley_Schneider.asp)
1
Cornell Science Inquiry Partnerships
Cornell University
http://csip.cornell.edu
neighborhoods. What is this all about? Why is Wal-Mart unwelcome? What can we
understand about other “big box retail” development from the case of Wal-Mart?
Reference:
 Wal-Mart Watch, dedicated to reveal the harmful impacts of Wal-Mart
(http://walmartwatch.com/)
NASA
President Bush wants to explore space, which has lead NASA to propose a budget of $16.2
billion for the 2005 Fiscal Year. Congress says the President wants too many things and
wants to cut the national budget by hundreds of millions of dollars. NASA has seen their
share of successes recently, capped by the ongoing Mars Rover Expedition supported by
Cornell researchers as well as the recent capture of comet samples. NASA has also seen
their share of failures, with the loss of the Columbia only three years ago still etched in
public memory. With the sudden boom of privatized space travel and increased budget
concerns, is NASA too costly and superfluous to the American public to keep? Should
NASA and the American space program be cut?
Reference:
 Space Scientists Battle NASA budget cuts
(http://www.space.com/news/060314_lpsc_budget.html)
Mad Cow Disease
A new case of mad cow disease was detected this month in Canada. Japan has refused to
accept beef imports from North America. What is mad cow disease? How is it detected,
and can it be treated? Why are people in Japan afraid to eat beef that might be
contaminated?
Reference:
 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association response to beef safety issues
(http://www.beefusa.org/NEWSNCBAStatementonAmicusBrief21686.aspx)
Mine Safety
In the winter of 2006, 14 miners perished in underground West Virginia mines. Following
the tragedies, the West Virginia Senate passed several new mine safety proposals. Yet the
Sago Mine, where 12 miners died following an explosion in early January, has been cited for
hundreds of safety violations since it opened in 1999. At least 16 of these involved the
buildup of explosive gases. Whose responsibility is it to protect people within their
environment, whether they are workers in a mine or residents near a chronic polluter? How
much social and environment responsibility should industry assume, or is legislation
necessary to cover the welfare of U.S. citizens?
Reference:
 USA Today article on mine violations (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-0104-mine-violations_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA)
2
Cornell Science Inquiry Partnerships
Cornell University
http://csip.cornell.edu
Drilling ANWR
The butterfly effect posits that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Tokyo could cause a tornado
in California (meaning that complex systems like global weather patterns could be greatly
influenced by small variations in initial conditions). Oil prices AND consumption are
increasing, scientists are blaming global warming for killing species, and “Not in my
Backyard” is becoming globally irrelevant. Can we ensure that drilling in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge won’t affect the world as we know it? Or does the amount of oil
and the potential independence from foreign supplies outweigh any potential risks?
Reference:
Sierra Club’s all things ANWR site (http://www.sierraclub.org/arctic/justthefacts/)
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker controversy: Extinct or Rediscovered?
The ornithology world has recently been rocked by claims that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
has been rediscovered in the wetlands of Arkansas. The bird, which was the inspiration for
the cartoon character Woody the Woodpecker, has been assumed extinct since the 1940s. In
the early part of the century the Ivory-billed Woodpecker population crashed following
many years of over hunting and habitat loss from logging. Since then, there have been no
widely-accepted sightings of an Ivory-bill. In 2004, a biology professor captured a large
Ivory-bill like bird on video while canoeing through an Arkansas swamp where
ornithologists had recently reported sightings. The problem is: the video is quite out of
focus! Some scientists believe the video provides good evidence that the bird is not extinct,
others believe the bird on the video could easily be the look-alike Pileated Woodpecker.
Another group thinks that audio recordings provide enough proof that a few birds are still
alive. The rediscovery debate has been a high-profile event in the media and scientific
literature.
References:
 Evaluating the strength of scientific evidence: The rediscovery of the Ivory-billed
woodpecker (Curriculum resource developed by CSIP Fellow Mya Thompson)
http://csip.cornell.edu/Curriculum_Resources/CSIP/Thompson/Thompson.asp
 Getting to know the Ivory-billed Woodpecker http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory
This material was developed through the Cornell Science Inquiry Partnership program (http://csip.cornell.edu), with
support from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program (DGE #
0231913 and # 9979516) and Cornell University. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed
in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
3