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The summer after the National Geographic special ran, more than 8,000 people signed local and national petitions urging Ivan’s owner, B&I vice president Ron Irwin, to give Ivan up to a zoo. |
The news program “Hard Copy” ran a segment on Pamela Rockstead, an 11-year-old Oakwood Elementary School fifth-grader who collected 1,600 signatures on “Free Ivan” petitions. |
Singer Michael Jackson offered to take Ivan in at Neverland, his fantasyland enclave in California’s Santa Ynez Valley, an offer that was declined as impractical, since Jackson had no facilities for a gorilla nor any prospect of getting more gorillas to keep Ivan company. |
Animal rights activists picketed the B&I and urged a boycott of the shopping center, vowing to keep the pressure on for as long as it took to get Ivan someplace where he could live with other gorillas. |
The widespread media coverage casting the Irwin family as villains did not quite fit. |
Irwin insisted he had Ivan’s best interests at heart and that pulling the human-raised gorilla out of his familiar surroundings and putting him in a zoo could traumatize him. He and the rest of his family worried Ivan might fight to the death with other gorillas. |
“He’s like a member of my family,” Irwin’s sister, Mary Lou Borgert, said in 1993. “It’s like I have to adopt him out. I want to make sure he will go somewhere where his emotional, physical and psychological health is maintained.” |
Ron Irwin said Tuesday that he knew Ivan’s health had been declining in the past week, but that didn’t stop him from choking up while recalling memories of the primate. |
“We were very close to him,” Irwin said. “He was a real part of the family.” |
In the end, Ivan’s fate turned not on ethics but on business. |
In 1993, the B&I was forced into bankruptcy, and a court-ordered reorganization plan stipulated it would be in the best interest of the business to move Ivan to a zoo because he had become a financial liability. |
After the bankruptcy court’s decision, the Irwins sought a compromise: Instead of shipping Ivan off to Atlanta or Dallas, where there were sophisticated gorilla facilities, why not move him into the zoo at Point Defiance, where the people who knew and loved Ivan could visit him. |
Point Defiance had no gorillas and zoo officials said it would take several years and several million dollars to build an exhibit, with no guarantee that other gorillas could be recruited from other zoos. |
Instead, Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo agreed to assume responsibility for Ivan, but because they had no room in their gorilla exhibit, Ivan would go to Zoo Atlanta on permanent loan. |
On Tuesday, officials at one of the organizations that lobbied seven years for Ivan’s release said they were saddened by the death of the “gentle giant.” |
“Ivan’s case is a shining example of the amazing change a caring community can inspire,” said Mark Coleman a spokesman for PAWS. “His story now teaches kids in our community that they truly can make a difference in the lives of others.” |
Ivan was compatible with several female gorillas who lived in the same habitat over the years and was seen mating at least once in Atlanta, but he never fathered any offspring. |
It was unclear Tuesday about what will happen to Ivan’s body. |
Irwin said part of the agreement of Ivan going to Atlanta was that his family would get to determine where Ivan’s remains would go upon his death. They’re still deciding where that will be, he said. |
Other reports stated that Ivan’s remains would be sent to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington for use in research. A call to the museum Tuesday was not returned. |
The B&I still has traces of Ivan’s stay. His picture is on the sign out front, and a trailer that was his second home is still out back. The store also has a wall of Ivan photos as well as the cage Woodland Park Zoo built for him and the glass room he stayed in for years. |
Mike Barton, who helped care for Ivan when he worked at the store as a teenager and eventually bought the business in 1983, said he’ll probably do something at the store to honor Ivan, but he wasn’t sure what. |
“I’m still kind of reeling, trying to clear my head after his passing,” Barton said. |
Staff writers Stacia Glenn and Alexis Krell, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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Because Negligence Happens |
The story out of Fort Worth doesn’t demand much by way of commentary, but needs to be known nonetheless. From the Star-Telegram: |
Officers B.B. Hanlon and R.P. Hoeppner were dispatched to 409 Havenwood Lane at 12:51 a.m. May 28. But after arriving at 12:58 a.m., they “inadvertently began searching” across the street at 404 Havenwood, where 72-year-old Jerry Waller lived. |
As the officers approached, they encountered Waller, who “was armed with a handgun standing near the corner of the home,” according to the affidavit. |
What happened? Two things are clear, that the officers made a mistake and went to the wrong house and that Jerry Waller is dead. It isn’t hard to picture how a mistake resulted in the two cops being startled by a guy with a shotgun handgun. It isn’t hard to picture how a guy in his garage with a shotgun handgun to defe... |
To the extent that there is anything to add to this very unfortunate situation, it’s that police are human and make the same dumb mistakes that anyone else can make. Should they be more careful, make sure they have the right house number before walking about with guns drawn. You bet. |
Yet, to assume perfection in the performance of their duties is to end up like Jerry Waller. Despite all best human efforts of care, mistakes will happen. We can be angry about them and demand better, but no one has figured out yet how to make people foolproof. |
On the other side, the question has to be asked why Jerry Waller found it necessary to grab his shotgun handgun and play Texas Ranger. Yes, it was his right to have a shotgun handgun, be in his garage and defend his family. That’s not the question, and it’s unfortunate that bullets don’t respect people’s rights nearly... |
Having the right to do something doesn’t make doing it a smart move. One reason for this is that people, cops for example, sometimes make mistakes, creating an unintended situation that turns out to be deadly for someone. |
Wouldn’t it have been a whole lot better if the cops shot no one and Jerry Waller was alive today? |
18 comments on “Because Negligence Happens |
1. jill mcmahon |
I hope they get their butts sued off. And, I hope those officers are assigned to desks for the duration of their employment there. Have you ever tallied up how many incidents like this one that you’ve posted over the years, Jeff? |
1. jill mcmahon |
But he’ll like the praise he gets for running a really good criminal law blog. |
2. Nagita Karunaratne |
Reminds me of that Dirty Harry/Clint Eastwood quote – ‘Nothing wrong with shooting as long as the right people get shot’ |
It’s too easy to attribute mistakes to human error. No one asks why some event happened and if you trace back usually it is a series of compounding failures. Small mistakes made by one person at the start of a process turn into bigger ones by another person farther down. |
And after the fallout people are usually too busy deflecting blame to properly analyze what went wrong or even to find out where they deviated from the process in the first place. The result is that nothing really changes. |
That people are human and make mistakes is understood. The tragedy is to assume that people are infallible and a mistake is some personal failure of another and never try to understand why it happened in the first place. |
1. SHG Post author |
Yes, it always worthwhile to review what happened to figure out whether or how it can be prevented. But don’t expect that we will ever achieve the point of zero mistakes, no matter how perfect we try to make our world. |
3. John Neff |
I did a quick search and found that the FBI has an accurate list of police killed in the line of dutiy as part of the UCR. However they have nothing to offer about number of people killed by the police. |
The 2011 numbers are 72 officiers killed and about 400 justifiable homicies. The Wikipedia 2011 list of people killed by the police has about 150 entries but not all are named, the list is incomplete and dificult to verify. I am not aware of any study that can be used to decide if the deaths by cop were avoidable. |
I think the police war zone mentality is an important aggravating factor. It is not funny when a cop shoots thier own reflection because it means they scewed up. |
4. Bruce Coulson |
Perhaps the following standard should be applied to initial investigations of this type. |
“The purpose of the AAIB is: |
…It is not to apportion blame or liability. ” |
Or in other words, ‘the reason why’. Why did the officers go to the wrong address? Why was the lighting so poor? What could be done to assist officers in going to the correct addresses in the future? These are the questions that rarely get asked or addressed in these matters. Officers cleared of wrong-doing; let’s ... |
1. SHG Post author |
Be careful what you wish for. Let’s say the fault was inadequate house numbers and poor lighting. So to correct it, the municipality enacts a law mandating that everyone have 12 inch house numbers posted on a two foot square sign, three feet from the curb, and a lit by a bulb of at least 100 watts, together with ... |
So that’s a good solution? It solves the police going to the wrong house problem, right? |
1. Bruce Coulson |
Well, it IS a solution… Of course, there are cheaper (and more practical) solutions as well. And solutions that don’t transfer the burden onto the property owner(s). Requiring house numbers to be clearly visible from the street (no obstructions) would also work and be less onerous. |
And when people start from the prospect of ‘what’s the best way of preventing this from happening again?’ rather than ‘something terrible has happened, and someone has to be held responsible’ you’re more likely to get practical results. Airlines aren’t completely safe; nothing can be. But American airlines seem... |
1. SHG Post author |
So ten thousand people have to decorate their property according to government dictates, create massive lighting pollution, all at their expense, despite any choice on their part that this is neither how they wish their home to look nor spend their money, all because one tragic incident occurred and it should... |
Of course, this is exactly how all those anti-bullying laws came about, and all those laws named after dead children, and you fell right into the trap, with the very best of intentions. Do you see it yet? |
1. Ken Bellone |
Having been listed on the deed to my late father’s home in a gated community with a very “active” HOA, I know all too well how folks make arbitrary rules “for the good of the community”. What’s good for the community Is, more often than not, the whim of somebody with an agenda. That is why I made he decisio... |
Sure, town or municipal rules can and do become an issue, but I’m of the opinion less is often more, particularly when it applies to governance. |
I’ve been frustrated looking for an address when one is not to be found on house after house, so I can understand how such police missteps can occur. Showing up at the wrong home was a mistake greatly magnified by the victim himself. He has the right to protect his property, but some discretion would have h... |
I am more disturbed by the growing trend of no-knock raids on wrong homes and judicial precedent that there is no justification for firing on police officers illegally entering your home, even when there is no reasonable way you could ascertain their identities while simultaneously making the decision to st... |
1. SHG Post author |
It may turn out that there were mistakes made by the cops here that can be “fixed” without new laws that impair the rights of everyone else. It may be that it was just sloppiness, and had the cops tried a little harder, they wouldn’t have ended up at the wrong address. Who knows without assessing what wen... |
But wrong-house raids are a great example of the critical need for police to get it right, and the tragic consequences of careless work when people’s lives are involved. Ultimately, giving a damn, getting it right, avoiding mistakes to the extent possible, is a much better answer to all questions than new... |
Comments are closed. |
Good News, Everyone! It's The 10 Best Inventions From Futurama |
Futurama, the animated comedy from Simpsons creator Matt Groening and writer David X. Cohen, is unparalleled in its ability to mix lowbrow humor with high concept science and technology. But after an initial run on Fox from 1999 to 2003 and a glorious revival six years later, Comedy Central has pulled the plug and will... |
In keeping with ReadWrite's mission to map the programmable universe, we figured that a roundup of some of the greatest inventions from the year 3000 was most definitely called for. Futurama, after all, was always at its best turning some recent technological development or scientific notion into farce. |
Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments. |
Disclaimer: We decided to keep it light-hearted, so we apologize in advance to any fans of the infamous suicide booth. |
1. Smell-O-Scope |
In the show's first season episode "A Big Piece Of Garbage," the Smell-O-Scope was Professor Farnsworth's seemingly useless space smelling invention. As he explained, "If a dog craps anywhere in the universe, you can bet I won't be out of the loop." It certainly came in handy when it detected a giant ball of garbage — ... |
Turns out that in 2011, a small company actually invented a handheld Smell-O-Scope, although it dubbed it the Nasal Ranger Field Olfactometer. Killjoys. |
2. Scooty-Puff, Jr. |
When Fry was tasked with saving the universe from the Brainspawn in season four, he had to infiltrate their secret base, the Infosphere. Fry's allies against the brains, the highly intelligent yet adorable Niblonians, gave him the Scooty-Puff, Jr. for the task. A wind-up contraption resembling a children's toy, the Sco... |
3. Fing-Longer |
Invented by Professor Farnsworth in an alternative timeline — one he detected via the What-If Machine in the season two episode "Anthology of Interest I," the Fing-Longer allowed the wearer to reach farther than normal — say, to press buttons. Not exactly groundbreaking, but who couldn't love a name like the Fing-Longe... |
Not only does this device now actually exist as a Wii mote accessory, the idea of the Professor getting inspiration from himself provided an interesting philosophical conundrum. Can you be said to have invented something if the initial inspiration came from some external source, even if that external source is an alter... |
4. Mind-Switcher |
The season six episode "The Prisoner of Benda" introduced this invention of Professor Farnsworth and Amy, the Mind-Switcher. After a dizzying number of mind switches, the whole crew is in disarray with everyone in someone else's body. |
This episode generated what was apparently the first mathematical theorem created for a television show. Futurama writer Ken Keeler, who holds a doctorate in mathematics, wrote the Futurama Theorem as both a real-world theorem and the solution used in the show that proves "that regardless of how many mind switches betw... |
5. What-If Machine |
The What-If Machine was a Professor Farnsworth device that could predict a scenario based on any "what if" question it was asked. After a series of events that pertain to each character on the crew and their respective "what if" questions, the Professor tosses the machine in the garbage, declaring it a failure due to t... |
6. eyePhone |
One of the few times Futurama took a swipe at real-world companies and products, the season six episode "Attack of the Killer App" introduced an obvious parody of a well-known Apple device. The writers envisioned a 31st Century eyePhone as an actual eye implant that projects a holographic screen in front of the user's ... |
7. Forwards Time Machine |
Featured in one of the show's best episodes, "The Late Philip J. Fry," the Forwards Time Machine is a Professor Farnsworth invention that only lets you move through time in one direction, specifically to avoid temporal paradoxes (a topic the show has explored in past episodes). Fry joins Bender and the Professor to tak... |
In true high-low concept fashion, Bender, Fry and the Professor couch it on lawn chairs, crack some beers and proceed to watch the universe end, only to realize that a new Big Bang begins to happen all over again. Turns out that idea is an actual scientific model, called the Big Bounce, that posits that the universe is... |
8. The Electronium Hat |
Invented by the Professor to give animals super intelligence, the Electronium Hat was a wearable device introduced in the season one episode "Mars University." It used sunspots to produce "cognitive radiation," whatever that means. The monkey Guenter gets uplifted by the hat and spends much of the episode quarrelling w... |
9. The Clone-O-Mat |
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