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Laura Thieme

Bizresearch President – 10 years - 2007

Fisher College of Business Lecturer on Search Marketing

OSU Russian Studies Grad – 1993

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20th April 2008

Earth Day 2008 - Highlight Dolphin Slaughter in Japan

Earth Day 2008 - what are you doing for Earth Day? I personally believe that we should no longer have just one day dedicated to the Earth in today’s Green-Aware & environmentally conscious society. Green living is becoming a lifestyle, where we are constantly learning more about what’s changing in the environment.

Last weekend I watched 11th Hour, hosted by Leonardo DiCaprio, on Time Warner’s cable pay-per-view. I learned about a lot of environmental activists, who have been significantly contributing to one aspect or another including Hardy Jones.

Hardy Jones has contributed over 20 or so years tracking dolphin slaughter. It’s rather disturbing to watch this and hear what’s being done on various Asian shores - it reminds me of the century-old story about ocean shores where whaling occurred, including Deception Island in Antarctica (where I visited in December 2007) where whale bones and old fishing boat remains lay scattered about. You can watch Matt Damon hosting the dolphin slaughter story, on YouTube - it’s disturbing enough to get a birth date confirmation button before you watch the video.Learn more about Hardy Jones’ commitment to documenting dolphin massacre in Japan through www.Bluevoice.org.

You have to watch the video on YouTube though - it’s sad to see how they trap the dolphins - by the way, they capture the young and pretty ones first to go to aquariums where they can get several thousand dollars - so say NO to zoos and acquariums on your next family vacation. Instead, contribute to keeping the dolphins in the wild where they belong.

The slaughter that you see is not unlike the media attention killing helpless seal pups 20 some years ago. I remember watching that when I was a teenager. Hardy Jones captured the techniques on video the Japanese use to slaughter these dolphins. They scare them by banging metal bars on their boats - the sounds cause the dolphins to flee in an area where they can’t escape. One by one, they are then slaughtered, in front of each other. It is not like deep sea fishing where you catch a few at a time - it’s catching hundreds or more at a time.

Attempt to embed YouTube video not yet successful - having Stephanie look into it (www.nextsteph.com) to see if she can figure it out. In the meantime, use the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzuSULcqgxQ.


11th November 2007

Antarctica Cruise Facts : December 2007

Have You Ever Been to Antarctica? 
I’d like to hear from you about your experience - please post comments below

It’s less than a month before I depart for Antarctica and I am so incredibly excited.  The numbers of interested, fascinated, and in awe colleagues are growing.  “It’s the trip of a lifetime” is the most common remark, followed by “awfully expensive, isn’t it?, and how do you get there?” 

On cost, it’s not cheap getting to Antarctica but for those of us who had parents or friends who went to Alaska, this doesn’t seem that much more expensive.  I’ve heard of people spending nearly $10k for an Alaskan cruise and excursions, and as much as $50k to go on safari in Africa, so if you’re wondering how much it costs to get to Antarctica, read on:

Abercrombie & Kent’s Antarctica Cruise - single occupancy rates - $7500 by the time you pay for the B cabin, which is second to A cabins, including port charges and insurance.  This does not include mandatory evacuation insurance, or airfare and hotel back and forth to Argentina.  Double occupancy could be as much as $15k by the time you add in port charges and insurance.

I was able to use 100,000 frequent flyer miles to fly to Argentina, so it’s only costing around $300 for airfare.  If I had booked with Abercrombie & Kent (A&K)’s adventure cruise, it would have cost around $600 or so for the airfare.  I’m not sure if the Hyatt hotel before we depart from Argentina is included or not. I’ll have to check on that and come back to that one.

 Some are asking how do I get to Antarctica?  I fly from Chicago to Miami to Buenos Aires, Argentina. 


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From Buenos Aires, I’ll have one day to rest and catch my breath.  Then I fly very, very early from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, Argentina, from where the Abercrombie & Kent Antarctica cruise will depart (see map below).  I’ve learned about the infamous Drake Passage which is the next part of the voyage, and perhaps harder than being in Antarctica itself, depending on which part of Drake you get.   I will continue to post more on this throughout the coming days.


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6th May 2007

Eagle Chick Hatches

Eagle Chick Hatches - The Nature Conservancy

I have a million things to do today, or at least a few things I should be doing right now, including grading OSU MKTG 754 mid-terms.  I’m out on my deck, having just washed it clean, and facing a large stack of mid-terms to finish grading today.  As always, I’m looking for something else to do in order to further procrastinate from grading.  Alas, order organic flowers from Organicbouquet.com.  This leads me to The Nature Conservancy’s website, which enables me to watch an eagle and her chick live, through their webcam.  As if I have nothing else better to do…..

This is great news for the Santa Cruz Island ecosystem.  This is the second year in a row that eagles have hatched on their own.  Last year, the eagles successfully laid and naturally hatched the first egg in over 50 years.  DDT was released by chemical companies into the ocean, through the sewer system, until it was banned in the 1970s.  To learn more about this historical environmental project, visit the Nature Conservancy’s website.