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www.thepeninsulaqatar.com CAMPUS | 6 MARKETPLACE | 7 ENTERTAINMENT | 12 MES students bring Oxy Qatar employees Tera Surroor: An painting contest share knowledge abysmal attempt laurels with students in upscale avatar MONDAY 4 APRIL 2016 Email: [email protected] thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar As the world’s superpowers eye the lucrative Arctic region with growing interest, unprecedented oil spill clean-up tests in icy Finnish conditions reveal just how hazardous and challenging an accident in the Arctic’s pristine sea ice could be. RISKY ARCTIC QUESTS P | 4-5 MONDAY 4 APRIL 2016 | 03 CAMPUS DeBakey students take part in Planet Georgetown event DeBakey High School students participated in the Planet Georgetown program. Students learned about social movements and created posters about ways to improve the world for the future. One of the students said: “I really enjoyed learning about the other parts of the world and the troubles related to food, water and society standards.” NIS welcomes new teachers he teachers of Noble Internation- Tal School (NIS) welcomed the new academic year 2016-2017 and the new teachers with enthusiasm. The new and existing teachers were ad- vised to commence the new academic year with positive thoughts, tenacity and fortitude, adherence and commit- ment to make the school atmosphere homely for the students. Robin Jose, HOS, Preparatory sec- tion welcomed the gathering. Abdul Rahim, Director General, NIES, deliv- ered the presidential address. Hussain Mohammed, Chairman, and Moham- med Eesa, Vice-Chairman, addressed the gathering. Principal Shibu Abdul Rasheed, gave a short speech encour- aging them to extend their support to strive together and to work hand in hand for the betterment of the in- stitution. 04 | MONDAY 4 APRIL 2016 COVER STORY AFP harshest of conditions: when a lid of thick ice covers the sea. “We have to separate the oil from Oil spill tests on the ice out on the sea since all this ice he skimmer is lowered from can’t be taken ashore,” Rune Hogstrom the rear of the icebreaker, its of Finnish oil spill response compa- weight pushing massive pieces ny Lamor explained to AFP, invited Tof ice under the water and forc- aboard the icebreaker in the northern ing the spilt oil up to the surface, where ice prove Arctic Baltic Sea on a recent numbingly cold the sticky black goo can be sucked up. day. Luckily, this is just a test: as the “An oil spill here is a real challenge, world’s superpowers eye the lucrative when you think we’ve got half a metre Arctic region with growing interest, un- (1.6 feet) of ice, and if you break the ice precedented oil spill clean-up tests in up then the oil just gets mixed in even icy Finnish conditions reveal just how quests risky more,” he said. hazardous and challenging an accident in the Arctic’s pristine sea ice could be. Emergency crews could face total possible, task,” the Pew Research Cen- sponse to an oil spill in icy conditions. darkness, extreme storms and shift- tre, a Washington-based nonpartisan On any other day, Antti Rajaniemi, ing pack ice, racing against time as the think tank, said in a recent report. the 37-year-old captain of Finnish ice- oil puts endangered polar bears, seals “The challenges go beyond extreme breaker “Ahto”, would be clearing the and other wildlife at risk. cold, freezing spray, snow, extend- way in the country’s northern ports, With countries and companies in- ed periods of low light, strong winds, where even the largest vessels can get creasingly venturing into the polar re- dense fog, sea ice, strong currents, and trapped within hours. gion — the melting ice caused by glo- dangerous sea conditions to include But now he’s on a special mission. bal warming has opened up new ship- the limited infrastructure that could A thick layer of solid ice groans and ping routes and potential oil, gas and support an emergency response,” it crunches before giving in and breaking mineral deposits — the risk of an envi- said. into pieces, as the bow of the small but ronmental catastrophe has skyrocket- Fearing an oil spill in its own heav- forceful icebreaker forges a path. ed, worrying ecologists and authorities. ily-trafficked, ice-covered Baltic Sea, Finland’s state-owned icebreak- “If oil is spilt into the Arctic Ocean, Finnish authorities are racing against ing operator Arctia has set itself the recovering it will be a difficult, if not im- the clock to develop an efficient re- goal of being able to recover oil in the MONDAY 4 APRIL 2016 | 05 COVER STORY The shallow waters here provide how to use the icebreaker’s propeller unique conditions for the tests, with flows to suction the oil toward the skim- brackish water and thick ice, Arctia said. mer. While Finland is not an oil produc- Finland has been developing this ing country, it fears a leaking oil tanker technology for 20 years, and a 2015 could cause irreparable damage to the study by the International Association of Baltic Sea’s fragile ecosystem. Oil and Gas Producers found the meth- There are around 350,000 ship od being tested now to be one of the crossings a year in the Baltic, even most suitable methods for mechanical though 45 percent of its surface is cov- recovery. ered by ice an average winter. Other technologies being developed A typical oil spill in water is usual- elsewhere involve different types of ly skimmed, dispersed with chemicals, skimmers to collect the oil. contained with booms or even burnt off. In the US and Canada, research has Similar methods could be used in focused on burning off the oil in open frozen waters, but recovering the oil water, but that can be difficult in dense- is severely complicated by the black ly packed ice. goo floating under the ice—hidden Environmental organisations like from sight—which risks mixing with the Greenpeace have expressed concerns crushed ice around an icebreaker trying about the elevated risks of Arctic ven- to locate it. tures. “When you recover oil mixed with ice, “The ice has melted so fast that oil only one percent of it is oil and 99 per- drilling and industrial fishing are now cent is ice. You need to be able to sort spreading to regions where they weren’t out the ice,” Rune Hogstrom explains. possible before and where there aren’t As he speaks, engineers brave the any rules yet,” head of Greenpeace Fin- mercury at minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 land Sini Harkki said. degrees Fahrenheit) to descend onto Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell aban- the ice, drilling holes to inject harmless doned its test drills in Alaska last Sep- red test liquid to mimic oil. tember and Russia’s Rosneft has put Hogstrom said the skimmer de- its own project in the Kara Sea on hold ployed from the rear of the vessel was due to the plunging oil price, but Rus- capable of separating oil from ice, but sian Gazprom Neft and Lukoil continue more tests were needed to figure out to drill in Russia’s Arctic regions. MONDAY 4 APRIL 2016 | 06 CAMPUS HBKU to hold info session on Graduate Law Degree he Law School of Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation T(QF) for Education, Science, and Community Development, invited those interested in a legal education to attend the upcoming information ses- sions on its postgraduate Juris Doctor (JD) program. The first will take place tomorrow at the HBKU Student Cent- er in Education City and the second is scheduled for April 12 at the Torna- do Tower in West Bay. Two sessions will be held on each day, at 12.30pm and 4.30pm, providing essential infor- mation about the application process, program components and career pros- pects. The sessions will also offer pro- spective students the unique oppor- tunity to meet and engage with Law School faculty and staff. Targeting graduates from all disci- plines, HBKU’s three-year, full-time JD program delivers a unique model of graduate legal education to meet the Students will also have the opportunity Launched in 2015, the program is edge beyond an undergraduate de- needs of Qatar and the region. Creat- to take specialised legal courses in spe- comparable with the best of those of- gree. The program trains students’ ed through a strategic partnership with cific sectors, identified as vital to the fu- fered internationally, and is now ac- to develop strong analytical and criti- Northwestern University School of Law, ture ambitions of the country, such as cepting applicants for its second in- cal thinking skills, making it an appeal- the program offers comprehensive ed- energy, health care, infrastructure de- take of students. HBKU’s JD is innova- ing choice for those seeking to become ucation in the function of law, whether velopment, finance and global invest- tive in nature and suited for individuals Qatar’s future policy makers or thought in Qatar, the region, or internationally. ment, cultural endowment, and media. seeking to deepen their legal knowl- leaders. Spring Carnival at GES MES students win laurels The students and teachers at the Gulf English School (GES) celebrated Spring Carnival season. Spring Carnival 2016 was invaded by the cute and lovable minions. Children and staff participated in minion-themed games, fancy dress, food, face painting, etc. Carnival organiser, Lewis Bacchus said: MES students won prizes in one of the world’s prestigious children’s inter- “Besides the minions, we saw our carnival favourites again this year such school art competitions organised by Toyota, Qatar.