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TIME: Almanac 1993
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TIME Almanac 1993.iso
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051892
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05189919.000
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1992-09-10
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THE WEEK, Page 24SOCIETYCaptain Joe Goes to College
The ex-skipper of the Exxon Valdez wins an appointment to teach
Ever since the loaded supertanker under his command foundered
on Bligh Reef in April 1989 and unleashed an 11 million-gal.
spill of Alaskan crude oil into Prince William Sound, Skipper
Joseph Hazelwood has been a marked man. Last week, when the
Maritime College of the State University of New York announced
that it had hired Hazelwood to help teach cadets how to stand
watch, environmental groups were quick to remonstrate. "This is
truly amazing," said the Sierra Club.
Not really. Hazelwood had long been one of Exxon's most
accomplished skippers and was acquitted of all major charges
against him. Evidence presented at the trial suggested that the
actions of the third mate on the bridge as well as the helmsman
may have been responsible for the fatal course error. Unlike
Hazelwood, who admitted to violating company drinking policy,
both these men kept their jobs. Hazelwood, in fact, may be
uniquely qualified as an instructor. No one has a more intimate
-- or more painful -- understanding of the course material.
Cadets should find him a teacher with something to say, as well
as a sobering object lesson.