The aftermath of a hoax gone wrong By Knowlton Thomas Nash orldwide attention garnered by six-year-old Falcon Heene and his family changed from global worry to global fury in a matter of days. As the pieces fell together, the world discovered what some sceptics suspected from the beginning—that the Balloon Boy fiasco was a publicity stunt. After reaching altitudes of 7,000 feet, the Heene family’s experimental homemade helium balloon (which reportedly had son Falcon inside) came back down to the ground. Instead of finding a severely injured child, Colorado police chasing the balloon found nothing. Nothing except, perhaps, the first piece to a puzzle. The next few pieces came when the family was interview on television. Besides the mother and father answering questions in a ridiculously evasive and awkward manner, Falcon was quoted as saying, “We did this for the show,” when asked by interviewer Wolf Blitzer why he was hiding. The poor boy also vomited during an interview the next day when he was again asked about the incident. Richard and Mayumi Heene attempted to dodge bullets with every question as they put to work their acting- school credentials. The manner in which Falcon and the parents acted in these interviews spurred further investigation. During this investigation, a man by the name of Robert Thomas told Gawker.com that he had helped plan a publicity stunt involving a helium balloon. And while a physics professor determined that the balloon could plausibly lift a boy of Falcon’s weight, authorities measured the balloon and concluded it was too small to even fit him in the first place. Wouldn’t Richard have known this, and thus known that Falcon could not possibly be inside? Gee, I wonder. Three days after the incident, which occurred on October 15, a Colorado sheriff concluded the incident was a hoax and that the parents were likely to face several misdemeanour and felony charges. The lawyer’s family basically said the parents would surrender to the cops once the charges were made official, but would plead not guilty. Good luck, tigers. Richard, Falcon’s father, performed the publicity stunt to gain fame and, in turn, have sufficient public exposure to star in his own reality TV show about storms and science, according to Thomas. Definitely an interesting method. Interesting, and stupid. Supposedly, his two times on reality show Wife Swap got him lapping up the hype iN) iver Falcon Heene and his father Richard reer of being a TV star. Well, he got his TV exposure all right—he was exposed for a fraud on national television, and thoroughly so at that. And now it’s over: the Lifetime channel had planned to air one of his episodes on October 29 but they cancelled due to the prior incident. Oh, the irony of it all! Besides the media outlets that he fed a week of beautiful bullshit, all of North America hates him. He exploited his six- year-old son and unnecessarily exhausted his state’s police and search-and-rescue resources. It will be interesting to see what kind of person Falcon, and even his two brothers, grow up to be. Hopefully nothing like their father. Fuming? Nodding? Tell us what you think; contact opinions @ theotherpress.ca with your opinions. The green side of steel and concrete A noble and agreeable forest becomes grey—but is that greener? anhattan is a land excellent and agreeable, full of noble forest trees and grape vines. It is a terrestrial Canaan, where the land floweth with milk and honey. This is precisely what early European visitors said when describing Manhattan, shortly before they made history of the forests, hills, valleys and streams. Thereafter, they superimposed a grid of streets and avenues and a world that offered no hint to what might have been there prior. But who cares that beavers worked their asses off to build dams; now we have Times Square! That’s awesome! But wait—Times Square is the hub of New York, New York, a city clogged with traffic and smog and man-made pollution. New York has one of North America’s highest levels of waste per square foot. Well, true, it does. But that is a rather odd way of judging a city, isn’t it? Take a look at the population. And when you do, you’ll realize New York boasts one of North America’s /owest levels of waste per person. Which is what really matters. They also have the lowest car-to-person ratio in the United States. Now, not to say that beavers aren’t important and all their dams should have city squares superimposed in their stead, but something can be said for tight, condensed eames cities that sprout vertically. Because a big city resident need not travel far to access all of life’s necessities and even many luxuries, wastes are reduced. This contrasts spread out suburban sprawls, where gas is swallowed up by monster pick-up trucks and farm tractors that need to travel here and there and everywhere to get food, water, or meet Uncle Jimmy for some pork sandwiches. What I am saying is that the quiet little countryside town you envision to be a portrait of environmental friendliness may be deceiving you. Skyscraper cities made of steel and concrete (we’re ignoring Toronto—cough—as usual) are actually greener. There is less automobile dependence and more emphasis on transforming the old and wasteful into the modern and energy-efficient. If you’re a green nut and are appalled at the notion that these seemingly dirty and crowded cities are paving (pun intended) the way for the future of eco- sensitivity, your ignorance is polluting earth as we speak. Dense urban areas boast environmental sustainability in ways that suburban strands must find a way to emulate if Jimmy Jr. is going to grow up nice and healthy. Fuming? Nodding? Tell us what you think; contact opinions@ theotherpress.ca with your opinions. Part of the bigger picture Sea to Sky Highway project complete but was it really the solution? By Trevor Doré, Opinions Editor single highway contract in British Columbian history. When Vancouver secured the Winter Olympics, they needed to ensure a safe and efficient route from Vancouver to Whistler. After all, you can’t have tourists from around the world traveling the so-called “killer highway.” Anyone who has traveled the highway is familiar with its winding roads, surrounded by steep cliffs on one side and | all started four years ago as the largest crossing were incorporated and water permeable pavement was utilized. Some will argue that the money used to upgrade the highway should have been invested in a mass transit system. In the end, it all boils down to a bigger picture. There are only so many feasible transit infrastructure options when you’re dealing with a single occupancy vehicle dependant population. The answer to many traffic-related problems is to update and widen road infrastructure. The problem is, constructing wider roads only encourages “As population increases, wider roads are going to continuously need to be built. It is kind of like buying bigger pants to combat obesity.” drastic drops into the ocean on the other. The environmental conditions along the corridor can make for a truly white-knuckle ride. On the other hand, on a beautiful day, the environment can provide a truly breath-taking experience, making it hard to imagine a better place on earth to live. It is this combination of danger and beauty that has at times made the Sea to Sky highway project a contentious issue. The environmentally sensitive Eagle Ridge Bluffs were the source of conflict between environmentalist and developers and when the cliff side fell at Porteau Cove, safety was questioned. Through all of the controversy, the project has finished on time and on budget—two words you don’t often hear together. The highway has reduced commute times and increased safety, which are two crucial aspects especially in terms of Olympic traffic. Many environmental factors were taken into consideration— considering it is a highway project. Wildlife vehicle use. As population increases, wider roads are going to continuously need to be built. It is kind of like buying bigger pants to combat obesity. The Sea to Sky Highway is a somewhat unique example. The existing roads were narrow and dangerous. The upgrades were necessary for safety and accessibility issues. On a more local everyday kind of scale, it wouldn’t hurt to encourage more transit instead of road infrastructure. It would be great to see more SkyTrain development and even perhaps light rail. The fact that the Sea to Sky highway took form in road infrastructure and not mass transit infrastructure is part of a bigger picture and a sign that points to a bigger problem: an overly car-dependant population. Fuming? Nodding? Tell us what you think; contact opinions@ theotherpress.ca with your opinions.