[...]

“…and of course, Centrix was eager to help his mission. Centrix has always been dedicated to improving the dental health of the world population.”

A frozen dentist brings Centrix products to McMurdo Station

Within these documents one can learn that Otter Pop sales at the South Pole declined over the course of Winter ’08 while sales of Ballistic Berry Bubble Yum increased, that in FY09 RPSC spent $98,000 on criminal background checks, and that the costs associated with “Performance Excellence” have been redacted.

The Reading Room also includes various station guides and the USAP Photo Library.

Also, the Antarctic Treaty Information Exchange lists NGO expeditions.

Just like the Constitution, there’s a lot of talk about the Antarctic Support Contract but it’s not high on most reading lists. For one thing, it’s unclear exactly how the information therein applies to daily life. For another, it’s presented in a dry technical format less inviting than cartoons. But nothing perks up a narrative like money so, at the very least, the Antarctic Support Contract starts with a bang:

Q: How much is the award for the Antarctic Support Contract?
A: $1,882,295,283

To see roughly how that money is supposed to trickle down, there’s the Centennial/Arapahoe Wage Determination Information.

Why should you care when are the “Award Fee Periods”? Because that’s when NSF spits out a chunk of money to the contractor. Just before that happens, you may find the atmosphere on the ice particularly uptight and jumpy.

Particularly informative are the Q&A sessions, where NSF gives the bidding contractors rare answers to touchy questions, such as:

Q: Will contracts awarded to private companies for the Antarctic Support Contract be subject to the Defense Base Act?

A: No, the contract will not be subject to the Defense Base Act.

Not a life-or-death question, exactly. Unless you have a life-or-death injury while working in Antarctica. Or any injury, really. But there’s no point quibbling over details.

Aside from determining who will get which nickels and what dimes, the Antarctic Support Contract also has some concise, informative overviews of the USAP, including logistics and operations.

As from all federal documents, there’s a sort of poetry that can’t help but emerge from the rigid milieu of euphemism and unreal tidiness. For example, in the aptly-titled “McMurdo Operations”, we learn that the products born of the waste water treatment plant are “benign cakes”.

For all this and much more, the Antarctic Support Contract is good reading on a snow day.

Figure 1. is from More and Better Science in Antarctica Through Increased Logistical Effectiveness (pdf 10MB), NSF’s “Report of the U.S. Antarctic Program Blue Ribbon Panel” July 2012

Tracing this story of the threatening alien ‘thing’ through its two filmic iterations – The Thing From Another World (1951) and The Thing (1982) – this article examines the implicit contention of contemporary governance in Antarctica: that enlightened science under national programs is the best way to secure Antarctica’s global future as a place of value. The article therefore concerns itself in part with the ATS as governance structure and specifically with US national science, arguing that national presence in Antarctica is not benign, natural, or necessary. It also challenges the consensus celebration of the resiliency of the ATS, and instead questions the forms of human activity and inhabitation it has allowed, and considers the possibilities of governance it has defended against or even permanently forestalled. Antarctica is thus a place more complex and layered than its popular namings of ‘white desert,’ ‘continent for peace,’ or ‘frozen laboratory’ suggest.

A signatory of a commemorative Antarctic Treaty, 2009 (photo: atsummit50.org)

Although only about 10,000 people have been to the South Pole since it was first explored, per capita it may be more photographed than Disney World. I did not encounter one person, support personnel or researchers, who did not have a camera. Once my identity was established (“it’s the photographer”), many people with whom I talked had definite ideas of what I should be photographing. When not being schooled, I would stand in fascination sipping tea, looking out the galley windows, watching others photograph: NSF visitors with only a few days on site, National Geographic/Discovery Channel film crews with only a week’s time, struggling against the (unseasonably cold) -78°F, trying to negotiate the rickety surface of the ice while simultaneously vacuuming the landscape with video cams and digital SLRs for recognizable icons and dramatic narratives.

Samaras’ piece is from the webjournal “Gender on Ice“, a compilation of art and essays that examine “polar narratives promoting imperial masculinities”. Anne Noble’s gallery is a series of graphic depictions of the Antarctic continent from various museums, tourist attractions, and consumer objects, including an Antarctic board game produced by Shell Oil.

PRE-DEPLOYMENT
Anticipation of Loss (1-6 weeks)
Detachment and Withdrawal (7 days)

DEPLOYMENT
Emotional Disorganization (first month)
Recovery and Stabilization (4-8 weeks)
Anticipation of Homecoming (last month)

POST-DEPLOYMENT
Renegotiation of the Marriage (first 6 weeks)
Reintegration and Stabilization (6-12 weeks)

big dead bear

big muscle bear

big people in antarctica

sex with dead people

hoedown jello

new denver

new discoveries in antarctica

drywall asbestos

bureaucratic responsibility

expired birth control pills

sleeping when fucked

interviews with nature photographer

information on seal slaughtering

garlic mustard getting from place to place

can i ski if i suspect pregnancy

menstrual cycle wisdom teeth

fucking the dead

safety slogans

safe place to live away from nuclear strike

massage parlor in cleveland

most remote place on earth

south pole sex close quarters

life in antarctica

life on base in antarctica

guys whacking off

overtime lawsuits

“I am returning to Antarctica because I am afraid to think for myself anymore.” —LW (McMurdo)

“Not necessarily in any order: MAAG, Polar Plunge, Boondoggles (which usually involves kissing someones ass, fucking them, or giving them a blowjob.)—E (Mactown/Pole)

“I want to live in the big people’s dorm.” —C (McMurdo)

“It’s where the ridiculous and the truth intersect.” —S (multiple winters at McMurdo/Pole)

“I don’t know.” —J (multiple winters at Pole)

“At home you have 25 different demands. Here, you only have to do your job.” —L (Pole)

“It’s easy here.” —D (Pole)

“Skua.” —K (McMurdo/Pole)

“For the uncomplicated sex.” —A. (Female/Pole)

“Because it doesn’t get any better than this.” —F. Scott Robert (McMurdo/Pole)

Blue Boots

Orange Bags

White Paper

Green House

Blue Trays

Silver City

Black Island

Yellow Flags

Green Brains

White-Out Zone