Policy As It Applies to Technology, Communication, and Education

By: Shane Stephen Holbrook

Imagine you just survived a major earthquake, the worst is over right? Then little do you
know you are being evacuated from your home due to a nuclear meltdown. After months away
you are not only out of a home, but also a job. So you are hired to go back to that same site to
work for pennies, to clean up waste. This happens all too often all over the world; people seek
the less expensive source for everything, whether it is cleanup such as that in Fukishima, or
seeking energy such as the fracking process in America. Chernobyl serves as a reminder to many
of the dangers of nuclear energy. Even after Chernobyl we are still using humans to clean up the
waste that is left after such a disaster, and little communication about information is given, and
the people doing the work, often do not have the education to know the risks. Nor do they have
the resources to find out about what is going on. However, there are alternatives to the risks;
there are possibilities to bypass the dangerous of the less fortunate people of the world who do
not have access to education. By simplifying the processs in which we act, we can eliminate the
risk, although even so there are still sacrifices. In this article, and the sources cited from, which
covers many points, the most valid however will be, communication, which will vary from given
information to the public from government and businesses, to communication during emergency
situations such as that at the World Trade Center. Education as it pertains to individuals and the
benefits of knowing the risks, and having access to knowledgeable sources. The last valid topic
will be energy, and the risks and alternatives we have within it. First lets examine the past,
because the past often serves as valid reminders for the future.

In one of the most memorable instances of a nuclear disaster, Chernobyl is forever burned
in many of our minds. In 1986 Chernobyls nuclear power plant experienced a meltdown.
Explosions and emissions eventually subsided however, the issue that many face there now is
still a catastrophe. It took nearly 600,000 contracted workers to cover Chernobyl in cement and
rock. Although it is estimated now that the building will collapse, this serves many other issues.
The area inside of Chernobyls sarcophagus is still highly radioactive and dangerous. Even more
still, workers commute to the area outside on a daily basis, and within range of the sarcophagus
is a city. Although the workers outside dont appear to be bothered by the sarcophagus, its the
lack of information that causes them to not fear the issue. Scientist working there are monitoring
its levels, determining exactly what is going on inside. To say the least, if Chernobyl was to fall,
the entire area would be covered in dust and workers would be at risk as well as the environment.
These scientist do not explore this area with any special devices, they explore on their own with
limited proper protective equipment. The issues faced in Chernobyl are lack of communication
with the government and workers involved in the study of Chernobyl. Without the governments
communication and support, it will continue to be a risk of the scientists lives every day. Various
scientist have studied the area for years, although there have been no deaths directly linked to the
sarcophagus. The effects are apparent from the scientists that have died over the years that the
sarcophagus has taken its toll on their body. The high levels of radiation has torn at their bodies,
and caused organs, tissue, and other visceral body parts to experience more radiation than
normal. Limited technology and knowledge in the field hinders the scientists from being able to
explore the area safely, or even handle the situation correctly. Not because the technology doesnt
exist, its just that it isnt available to them directly, due in part to communication and improper
funding for their research. The other issues are energy and knowledge. The workers that

commute to the newly built power plant in Chernobyl have no fear of the sarcophagus or of
another disaster. Perhaps this could as well be a lack of education, and communication to the
workers of the dangers and risks. Although they are familiar with the disaster of Chernobyl, its
likely that the new nuclear plants employees have been told, The new nuclear plant is safe, and
there is no need to worry about anything going wrong again. Although, it is always true and will
remain so, that eventually, no matter how well built, technology will eventually fail. Its clearly
understood the government knows it needs the energy from the nuclear power plants, so this is
possible to happen again, although there is no alternative to call to such demand as they require
in regards to energy sources in Ukraine. Although this happened quite a while ago, some
instances are doomed to be repeated.
A massive earthquake in Japans Fukishima started a domino effect that transpired to a
tsunami, as well as a nuclear meltdown with Tepcos nuclear facility. The plant was warned that
its tsunami defenses were inadequate. The procrastination of such defenses inevitably proved to
be their downfall. Although the scientists working at Tepco knew they had to cool the reactor,
they were unable to do so. Hydrogen gases in the roof blew the first reactor, a third shortly
followed. The prime minister and Tepco were clearly disorganized on communication of exactly
what was happening, what needed to be done, and what wanted to be done. They vented the
reactors letting off steam, which was agreed upon by Tepco and the Prime Minister; it took
longer than the prime minister wanted, although it wasnt enough. This was done using men who
volunteered to go into the core to find the valves to vent them, essentially risking their own lives.
They attempted to drop water by air, which was hit and miss attempts. Eventually even the
United States got involved instructing them as what exactly needed to be done. Eventually it was
decided to use the local firemen, who used ocean water and hoses to cool the reactor to a

reasonable level. Although the immediate threat had been subsided, the area was still covered
with radioactively high levels on leak in the surrounding area and water. The troubles Japan
faced was with communication among its government and the company, also with
communication to the employees and public about exactly what was going on, and what to do,
and exactly why they were doing it. The employees were working with what information they
had been trained with, although the prime minister wanted things to run faster. This purposed
communication errors, and clear difference among education in each position, and resources
available to learn. The prime minister and Tepco are both guilty of neglecting information to the
public. People were given medication to attack the radiation levels they were exposed to.
Evacuated from place to place as the radiation began to spread, although the people were clearly
never informed of the critical situation that they were in, they were merely informed that
everything was fine, and under control. The energy situation is apparent to why it is so important
to Japan, its a very small country with numerous individuals requiring vast amounts of energy
that nuclear is known to produce. If the employees, government, and civilians would have been
better educated in terms of procedures, consequences, and technology, then perhaps the situation
would have never happened, or have not gotten so far out of hand. Although Japan wasnt the
only country who had troubles with communication, America too has faced its own
communicational difficulties in disastrous situations.
On September 11th, 2001 the United States was attacked by terrorists, during this time the
local fire stations were being documented. Throughout the chaos, people jumping from buildings
to their deaths, people literally burning alive from jet fuel burning in the building, we neglect to
see why the firemen has such a troubling time. Communications laid the grounds for this massive
evacuation, although in the World Trade Center, the communications system within the building

had failed. This laid the grounds to many of the lives lost during the disaster. If our
communications wouldnt have failed, we could have informed the people upstairs to remain
calm that responders were on their way, although we didnt and many died from fire, or
committed suicide. Education also could come into play here; none of the first responders knew
the appropriate measure of action to take, because we have never prepared for such an incident to
occur. Much time was spent planning on the ground floor before any kind of evacuation even
began to take place. The civilians on the streets and building had never read anything on terrorist
attack preparation. The problem that is central focus when mentioning this issue is always
terrorists; however I see it as technology failure, and failure to communicate. Although this
highly depends on nationality, and race when speaking about September 11th, for instance, most
Muslims believe that we staged the events, or are in as much disgust as us about the terrorist
attacks. The trouble with improper resources and education is that all too often, we blame people
that are not the source, because we dont know the truth and have no way to know otherwise. All
throughout our past we have witnessed it, racial oppression because of a lack of knowledge or
information. Although, September 11th isnt the only failure of communication and education out
there, in many countries this seems to be an issue.
In Asia, India, Africa, and many other countries, electronic waste, often called E-waste, is
plaguing less fortunate countries that do not have the technology to deal with the waste. Most
people do not realize that electronics such as computers contain many toxic chemicals such as
mercury and so forth. Even less known, is that the people responsible for recycling these devices,
are not only ill equipped to do so, they often lack the education to know what they are dealing
with and its dangers. From stripping copper from PVC wiring using fire, where the fumes
emitted often cause respiratory issues for those attempting these acts, as well as all the

individuals surrounding the area. Although the individuals doing this often are unaware of the
dangers, and do not have the means to learn. Education is a vital part of technology, without
education, technology is either feared, or taken too lightly. In the case of one Asian family, the
failure to know and learn caused them to lose their fifteen year-old son. The amount of E-waste
pilling up in these less fortune countries are making them look like landfills. The individuals in
these countries will do this work for practically nothing. We send the E-waste to them because of
the same reason. What would cost us here quite a lot would cost next to nothing for them.
Because we have codes and strict rules we must follow such as, employee pay, safety regulations
and so forth, where in less fortunate countries, they only use themselves and what crude tools
they have available to them. Although our reasons are cuts to money because they dont have the
knowledge to know better, what happens when we add new technology in our own backyard and
fail to inform the people about it?
In America we use a vast amount of electricity every day; to compensate for this we use
several sources of energy. However, to help solve the energy crisis in America, we found an
alternative that is vaster than all the oil in Saudi Arabia. Shell gas, which is a gas found deep
within the earth in shell rock. It is extracted using high pressure water and drilling systems, as
well as an unknown chemical. This is being done all over America, and the effects of it are both
positive and negative in many lights. Land owners are being rewarded with big checks for giving
drilling rights; companies and government are finding cheaper prices of gas due to its
foundation. Although the problem occurs with communication and education, in regards to the
companies drilling and the civilians in the communities. The company doesnt release the
information of the chemicals being used, in fact, for even a doctor to get this information they
have to sign a special document saying they will not release the information to anyone, even

those being treated for exposure to the chemicals. The civilians are experiencing several health
issues, and they believe it to be related to the drilling. They even claim that the drilling chemicals
are making the water undrinkable. Individuals are importing bottled water and distributing it to
other members of the community. There is no communication of information from cooperate
America to civilians in America this causes fear, panic, and worry. Also the people do not have
the education, nor the resources, to research what is wrong with the water, or causing the health
concerns at all. A scientist, who studied the water, found that it is permutated with high levels of
methane. It is even shown that the methane levels are so high, it actually burns. With all of these
dangerous sources of energy, is there any hope of a safe alternative solution?
How about a house that collects energy throughout the day through nanomaterials? How
about a fusion reactor? There are several solutions that would benefit our world. Renewable
energies biggest problem is storage and the amount it can actually generate. Currently we are at
the mercy of our own technological limits when it comes to renewable energy, although we have
been developing batteries that would store the energy better. Very knowledgeable people are
illustrating what it is going to take to help the world and to benefit those who are less fortunate to
actually know the risks, is to eliminate the risks involved with safe alternatives that do not cause
catastrophic emergencies. Electric cars, eliminating the waste involved by Co2 emissions,
redesigning our current technology to make it more efficient, is more than just a start. It could be
more than just an alternative. It could be the answers the questions that we are asking in the
wrong ways. We all know we are in an energy crisis, however the way we want to solve it, is
merely to cover up and continue on the same path. Although when all your ducks are in the same
pond, they can only feed from it for so long, until it runs dry. There are solutions that will not
only resupply a new pond, but refill that pond continuously for several generations. This is the

focus on which this essay is designed to inform. The purpose of this essay is education,
communication, and technology. How do we solve these issues? By eliminating the means to
which they are allowed to exist.
In one dessert in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, there is an experiment that should really
garner more attention than it is getting. An attempt to create the worlds first car-free, zerocarbon-dioxide-emissions, zero-waste city, Says Kevin Bullis. It is set to be completed in 2016,
and is a 15 billion dollar project, paid for by the government of Abu Dhabi, which is a part of the
United Arab Emirates. Solar energy, garbage recycling into composts, and even sewage being
recycled into fuel, these are several great ways to actually help with energy and with the
consumption, not to mention the emissions rate in which we are contributing to. Most people
would be concerned about the car free issue, however according to Bullis, Concrete columns
will lift the city seven meters off the ground, creating space underneath for a network of
automated electric transports that will replace cars. The city is set to house several clean
companies such as GE, as well as house up to 50,000 people. No little task to say the least.
Although green houses, or clean houses, have been built, and sometimes in rows of houses in a
community, this is the first complete zero emissions city ever built, and it is not small scale to
say the least.
This very concept screams out what the world should be focusing on, what true
education, communication, and technology is. Instead of being lost in a sea of facebook likes and
shares, and marketing for the next hunger games movie coming out, we should be doing what
Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates are doing. They are focusing on the real issues, and
eliminating the means for disaster. We are running short on fossil fuel, by replacing oil with shell
gas, we are still using fossil fuels. It isnt solving the problem, its merely doing the same thing,

depleting from the same source. In Abu Dhabis concept, we are scraping from the top of a barrel
that never runs dry. Everything is recycled, which means that they will never run out. This lays
the base to what true education should be propelling us to do. This is showing what government,
company, and civilian communication really is. No need to keep secrets on clean energy, nothing
to harm anyone in it, its clean. No need to worry about catastrophic meltdowns, it doesnt
happen here. So do you think that this is the complete answer? Does this seem too good to be
true?
It should hit you that something must be foul about all of this. Paraphrasing Bullis article
he states that, the cost of housing here is unknown and would more than likely be intended for
the rich. Which if you follow politics, it would be apparent with the money equals speech, that
could possibly be true for this zero-emissions city. Although at this point it is merely
speculations, as no one has spoken on the costs at all. Although the concept is strong we must
look at the technology its self. In a city that is completely reliant on technology and recycling
from itself. What if it fails? What are the risks involved? No where in Bullis article is it
mentioned about the dangers involved if one part of the system fails. Heating and cooling is
derived from nanomaterials, and from the wind from the outside being channeled inside the
structure. What if it fails? What if the solar panels deteriorate and no longer produce the solar
energy? Even worse, what if the water filtration system for the rain failed?
Although it isnt spoken of in the article, we must assume that eventually it will. Such as
that will exploding cell phones. We have all heard about them, people getting injured from these
small devices. Injuries ranging from facial lacerations requiring stiches, to burns on the legs and
so forth, although it is a simple device that we wouldnt think would cause much harm, and most
of us havent experienced it, does not mean that it doesnt happen. All technology will fail, and

we must have answers to what we are going to do when it fails and how bad will it be. Who will
be affected by the failure of it? As long as these questions are answered validly through the
creators, who actually according to Bullis will be MIT graduates, who will also have a building
inside the structure for research and development. Then things should be fine.
To summarize, education is an integral part of everyones life. If not, indeed it should be.
We are too accepting nowadays about what the government, organizations, and companies are
throwing at us. We are told it is safe, and we stick to that and do not question it. Surely they
wouldnt give us something that would hurt us right? Look around, companies sell you
hazardous materials on a daily basis and you often promote it without thought. Malboro is a great
example. Lung cancer is an effect from smoking their products. Many smoke these cigarettes
daily, sometimes more than two packs a day. Then they mail you a promotion to send it barcodes
from their cigarette boxes to receive free merchandise, such as coats, cups, etc. Then you get this
free product and wear it, or use it on a regular. Not only are you using a dangerous product, but
youre promoting it as well. Why are you doing this? Because you dont have the education to
know any better, you are accepting defeat without even knowing. You dont have the resources to
actually look it up either. Google is ruining our means to actually research this validly. Marketing
and big business is trafficking you online through google, to ads that are relevant to your search
history, via cookies, that you might find interesting. Companies pay top dollar for your
information to market to you online. So you are doomed when you start.
The only way to get ahead in the race, to actually protect yourself and become aware, is a
good education, so you can know the difference. A source, such as a library database so you can
actually research a topic and get the truth, and the last thing is communication, if you never ask
questions like, What will happen if it fails, or even, how do you know for sure this is safe?

Then how will you ever get anywhere. Hopefully this has been an eye opening experience for
you, and you see that the world isnt as it appears. Not to quote from the matrix, but it appears
that we all have taken the bull pill and are wondering around in a system in which we do not
know the truth. We do not know the world in which we live anymore. Five percent of the world
owns a majority of the money in it; I guarantee that they have a firm grasp on what is what. This
paper is meant to inform, to persuade you, no to challenge you to see the world for what it is. To
improve on what it is not. To give you a fighting chance to make a difference, you must realize
that we have issues and they are not small by any means. The ideal is to cure the worlds
problems, although it has so many, and not everyone wants to cure it, they only want another
dollar. To make a step towards greatness we have to learn, talk, and find good information. That
is the only way.

Works Cited
Bullis, Kevin. "A Zero-Emissions City In The Desert." Technology Review 112.2
(2009): 56. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.