Rolf, Dow's recruiting chief. Brandt's and Rolf's advice, in turn, was based on a mixture of practical and theoretical considerations. As Rolf puts it, the most important factor is that "to procure the best manpower we can get for Dow Chemical, it's the desirable thing to work through the placement offices. Competition among chemical companies for the 4, chemical engineers who graduate each year is "incredible," he says, and Dow must compete to get our share.
Ds, though. Qualitatively, the results aren't in yet. The placement office, Rolf points out, is treated as neutral ground by all recruiting companies, and for Dow to use "subterfuge" would be to undermine its effectiveness.
Other companies would feel compelled to do the same thing in order to compete with Dow, be says. According to another Dow official, the College Placement Council has "practically begged" the company to continue on-campus recruiting through placement offices. Overriding these issues in Brandt's view was the importance of setting an example for the students as "a company which stands firmly for what it believes in.
Taking a stand. This argument appeals to Doan, who says: "This way you're not a hypocrite. One of the student complaints about business now is that it doesn't stand for much except profits. Maybe we ought to take a stand or two for the benefit of the kids.
Its decision to continue, as reflected in the renewal last month of the original contract with the government, was not arrived at lightly. Beutel also described the decision as a routine one. As be recalls it: "We were involved in styron as a prime manufacturer, so we bid on it [napalm] competitively with four other authentic bidders in July, We got part of it, and part went to United Technology Center. Thus although most people associate anti-Dow demonstrations with the campus, they did not begin there the first one at Berkeley came four months later.
And demonstrations at Dow installations and sales offices have been going on ever since the Torrance incident. There has also been a demonstration in Midland by University of Michigan, students. The issues in which Dow finds itself entangled raise important questions that will not be readily answered, either by Dow or anyone else:. The excessive valuation on American life, over any other life, accounts for the weapons and tactics we feel entitled to use.
As far as the immediate future is concerned, Dow expects to persevere in its course - and it expects the demonstrations to continue. It knows of eight trouble spots where Dow recruiters can expect protest demonstrations next week alone.
The situation is such that Dow recruiters are at least mentally prepared for trouble. In fact, one of' them, W. Hendershot, was once locked in a room so long by University of Wisconsin students that he now packs a sandwich for emergency rations in his briefcase.
Company recruiters faced virulent protests on college campuses, in some cases finding themselves barricaded in buildings. In response to criticism, Dow said that it had a responsibility to the U.
The company also claimed that napalm only represented a small fraction -- 0. After Dow's contract expired, American Electric Inc. Some other companies that produced napalm for the government faced protests and some did not submit bids for future napalm contracts , but no other company remains as linked with napalm as Dow.
Today, America's sole incendiary bomb is the MK , or Mark 77 bomb. This "dumb" bomb -- as opposed to a precision-guided or " smart" bomb -- is a mix of 63 gallons liters of jet fuel mostly kerosene and 44 pounds 20 kilograms of a polystyrene-type gel [source: Buncombe ].
Although technically an incendiary bomb, the MK is often referred to colloquially by soldiers and experts, and even in some military documents, as napalm. Remember the previous discussion of napalm as a catchall term? During the Persian Gulf War, U. These bombs were used on trenches that Iraqi forces had dug and filled with oil. Iraqi soldiers were going to light these oil-filled trenches on fire when U.
At the end of that conflict, Iraqi Kurds led a revolt against Saddam Hussein's government. In its reprisal attacks, Hussein's forces also used napalm to brutally crush the rebellious Kurds.
Although the U. They contend that while the old form of napalm isn't used, a similar, reformulated compound, also a jelled incendiary substance, has been used, most notably in the form of the MK bomb. In , U. One American commander told The Independent newspaper that commanders like napalm for its "psychological effect" [source: Buncombe ].
In the same article, a Marine spokesman said that Mark 77 bombs -- specifically the MK Mod 5 used in Iraq -- were "remarkably similar" to napalm bombs although less environmentally harmful , but referred to them as "firebombs" [source: Crawley ]. There have been allegations that napalm was used when American forces assaulted Fallujah in November [source: Iraq Analysis Group ].
But there has been considerable debate about whether this is true. The use of napalm or napalmlike weapons has drawn some controversy for countries working with U. Protocol III but were working with or under the command of U. The eventual revelation that U. Whatever the final verdict, napalm, like Agent Orange , has become a loaded word, symbolizing for many the carnage and brutality of war.
But despite the ghastly images we've seen, some experts on the subject point out that while napalm produces horrific results, it's used as part of waging war, which itself contains numerous images and symbols of horror, death and destruction.
Yet even if napalm is a weapon like many others, something in particular about the substance and the images that have chronicled it, have lent it a special symbolism, unlikely to fade. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close.
Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. How Napalm Works. He loves the smell of napalm in the morning -- Robert Duvall as Lt. Kilgore on the set of "Apocalypse Now. Napalm's Effects on Health and the Environment " ". Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment. An international coalition working to address the grave injustices suffered by half a million Bhopalis.
What Happened in Bhopal? Setting the Stage for Tragedy: 2. NEER: Fieser said that he never imagined napalm would be used against people. He thought it would be used to target things. And he devoted his entire life to medicines and chemicals that could help people. He helped synthesize Vitamin K.
He was a beloved teacher to students at Harvard. He was part of team that determined smoking was a cause of death. For example, if you play video games, like me, you know that napalm add-ons and weapons systems are very powerful.
NEER: In the s, the UN General Assembly adopted a treaty that defined the use of napalm or other incendiary weapons against concentrations of civilians as a war crime, even if there were military facilities there as well.
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