F E ATU RE S
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"The Battle at
Croke Park"
’ '^V’ z'
Armed with little more than a
backpack, camera, computer and
bandanna. Maxwell George, former
layout editor for The Guilfordian,
is spending the spring semes
ter traveling by train throughout
Europe. Under the title “A Pilgrim
in Passing,” he hopes to find some
sense of the sacred in each stop
along the way. Look here each week
for a new anecdote from the road.
To see Max’s intended itinerary and
photos from the trip, and to share
your own feedback on the journey,
check out Guilfordian.com. For more
frequent dispatches and a more
direct connection to Max, hit up his
blog at mbgineurope.tumblr.com.
I'm not new to rivalry. Bom in
Boston, my hate for the New York
Yankees is hereditary. Raised in
Charlotte, I couldn't wear a blue
shirt without assuming basketball
allegiance to either Duke (dark) or
Carolina (light).
At Guilford I've experienced our
version of the classic cross-town
football feud with the annually
lackluster "Soup Bowl" against
Greensboro College. And with the
emerging Guilford-Elon contention
for D3 club rugby dominance I guess
I've even helped birth a rivalry.
Perhaps more importantly, last
year I cast my very first presidential
ballot in one of the most historic
additions to American bipartisanism.
The nature of rivalry is as natural to
me as a burger and fries.
In Europe in late Febmary I've
landed myself in prime position
for the annual Six Nations Rugby
Tournament, in which all-star sides
from England, Scotland, Wales,
Ireland, France, and Italy compete for
Northern Hemisphere domination in
the sport. Saturday was the ultimate
contest as Ireland hosted England at
Dublin's famous Croke Park.
Every year is important in
this historic rivalry, but 2009 has
afforded Ireland's first solid chance
at completing the rare Grand Slam
- by beating every team in the
tournament - since their last in
1961. Pregame tensions reached the
boiling point over the last two weeks
of preparation and the late disclosure
of a key line-up change for England
at flyhalf (like the quarterback in
mgby, see David McKindley-Ward)
had Irish fans salivating over the
prospect of a home field blow out.
Thrown off by the awkward
early evening game time (17:30?),
I was lucky to find an open seat
three minutes after kickoff in front
of the big-screen projection in a pub
called The Glimmerman. The place
was packed with pint-drinking
Irish supporters and one brave lady
cheering for England (much to the
chagrin of her green-clad husband). I
proudly donned my green Irish wool
scarf for the occasion and impressed
the few who would listen with my
knowledge of Ireland's backline.
From the first whistle Ireland
dominated the game, keeping
possession in English territory for
most of the first half. But missed
penalties by Ronan O'Gara's (have
a guess at whose side he plays for)
uncharacteristically unsure right foot
kept England within reach.
With each passing minute play
got rougher and with each big hit a
player or two could be seen taking
his time to collect the pieces of
himself now strewn about the pitch
(field). Brian O'Driscoll, Ireland's
captain and star center, took a couple
of gruesome blows to the head that
left him reeling for minutes, to which
The Glimmerman erupted with a
chorus of inaudible shouts followed
by the "Oh come off it lads, that was
clean" from the English woman then
followed by a wave of obscenities in
response and the heavy sigh of the
green-clad husband.
But the man-of-the-match,
O'Driscoll, refused to take a sub each
time and would eventually score the
only Irish try (think touchdown) and
the game's deciding points on an
MARCH 20. 2009
audacious drop-goal (three points,
kind of like a field goal but in open
play) in the second half. England
ended up with a couple of yellow
cards (they deserved one more) that
proved costly anci their kick-and-
chase try in the 79*^ minute of play
was not enough to top Ireland at
home, the final score 14-13.
The bloody contest Saturday at
Croke Park evoked the passion and
pride resulting from a thousand years
of rivalry between the two nations.
On the same ground where swords
were once drawn, wars won and
lost, the Irish rugby team, with the
audible support of an entire nation,
prevailed after 80 minutes of fight;
another battle between Ireland and
England to go down in history, the
rivalry even further cemented. The
parties in Dublin that night, starting
in the pubs and ending in the streets,
were in celebration of much more
than a single rugby match.
1 thought 1 knew rivalry before
that game, but compared to this
even the oldest of American feuds
falls embarrassingly short. 1 hate the
Yankees, but 1 don't think they ever
oppressed my Red Sox for hundreds
of years, millions of people weren't
killed in the name of the Tarheels,
and even the mightiest of Soup
Bowl's can't really compare with the
Irish War of Independence.
In Dublin they know rivalry, and
it's ok to tear up in the pub after your
country takes home a one-point win
to stay undefeated in the Six Nations
Tournament.
Here fries are called 'chips' and
they're served with fish, enjoy your
burger.
Forevergreen's film screening raises awareness of mountain top removal
By Paula Wilder
Staff Writer
The camera's eye pans the tree-lined moun
tains that tower above cloud-filled valleys.
Dawn breaks through the darkness.
This scene began the screening of the docu
mentary "Mountain Top Removal" produced
and directed by Michael O'Connell.
Forevergreen sponsored the film in order
to raise awareness of the devastation in
Southern Appalachian due to dragline min
ing of coal.
Dragline mining starts at the top of the
mountain by clear-cutting trees. Explosives
blast away the topsoil. Artificial lakes are
created in the valleys below to contain the by
product called "coal slurry" that is released
from dynamiting mountain peaks and sepa
rating tihe coal from the core.
Forevergreen hopes to raise awareness
and enact change in the Guilford community
about issues such as dragline mining and
other environmental concerns.
"The way we have the club set up is
to have themes for each semester in order
to educate and to bring people together,"
said first-year Daryn Lane. "This semester's
theme is environmental justice."
Lane knows O'Connell and invited him
to share "Mountaintop Removal" because it
is an important issue that fits well with the
club's focus.
O'Connell was asked by an attendee if he
experienced any resistance during filming.
O'Connell said, "Some of the younger people
were nervous about me coming in. I didn't
know anyone and I just showed up at one of
their meetings."
"It was a little nerve-wracking at first,"
O'Connell said. "But the people are angry
because this is happening in their backyard
and it is pretty emotional."
Just on the other side of the beautiful moun
tain that opened the film, lie other mountains
laid waste by dragline mining. Mountains
that used to stretch toward the skies now lie
shorn of their trees and their soil. Gray pla
teaus replace the towering peaks.
One of the main focuses of the film centers
on Marsh Fork Elementary School, which sits
400 yards from a 2.8 billion gallon capacity
coal sludge dam and 225 feet from a coal
processing facility.
A spokesperson of Massey Energy, the
company that owns the mine in Marsh Fork,
describes slurry as "nothing more than dirt
and rock." He stated that since the coal slurry
is indigenous to the mountains, it is com
pletely harmless.
In contrast, a scientist from Duke University
states that in their natural form, rocks contain
levels of arsenic, lead, and mercury that are
harmless, but because the rock has been
disturbed and ground into smaller particles,
toxic levels of the poisons have been found
in the slurry.
The film focuses on the story of Ed Wiley,
who walked from Charleston, W.Va., to
Washington, D.C., to raise money for a new
school in Marsh Fork that would be built at
a safer distance from the lake and processing
facility.
People in the town experience constant
headaches, kidney failure, numbness in arms
and legs. Many pregnancies have ended with
stillbirths, wells produce gray water that
stains whatever it touches, and all around
the town creeks flow with black water from
coal slurry.
President of Forevergreen Alyzza Callahan
said, "The fact that water is such a huge
resource is often overlooked."
"Without proper care it will be the next
endangered species" said Callahan. "In the
corporate interest the water is being polluted
for pure capitalistic gain."
Other problems related to streams and riv
ers exist due to the changes in the landscape.
Under natural conditions, the streams and
rivers would be able to dispel heavy rainfalls
and melting snow, but with tree and soil
removal, flooding occurs more often.
One woman in the film said that her land
flooded seven times since the mountain near
her home was draglined and that five acres
had completely washed away.
She said, "(Coal companies) are hacking
away at the foundation of your life. You fight
against it, but they think it's OK for me as a
hillbilly to live in the middle of this."
Professor of Environmental Studies and
Geology Angie Moore attended the event
and said, "I don't think people who make
money are evil, but the problem here (in
the film) is that the companies are making
the money and someone else is paying the
price."
"As consumers, if we don't know where
our energy is coming from, then we are just
as responsible," said Moore.
O'Connell admitted that when he began
his research, he did not even know that
power plants still used coal. What he found
was that coal-fired power plants produce 40
percent of the nation's electricity. 30 percent
of that coal comes from surface-mined coal.
O'Connell hopes to promote the "Pennies
of Promise" campaign that Wiley began with
his walk to Washington, D.C., in order to
raise money for the new school in Mareh
Fork. On June 19-20, Grammy-award win
ner and West Virginia native, Kathy Mattea
will host and perform at a fundraiser called
"Mountain Aid" at Shakori Hills in Chatham
County, N.C. All proceeds and donations will
go towards the eight million dollars Marsh
Fork needs to relocate their school.
O'Connell said that, according to Duke
Energy, North Carolina is the number two
consumer in the nation of mountain top
removal coal. Besides raising awareness and
educating the Guilford community about
dragline mining, Forevergreen hosted the
film with the hope that students, faculty, and
staff will feel inspired to help enact change
participating in the "Pennies of Promise"
campaign. Visit penniesofpromise.org to find
out how you can help.
You can learn more about mountain top
removal at hawriverfilms.com.
Forevergreen invites you to join them each
Monday on the second floor of Founders Hall
at 8 p.m.