text:
Political action committee
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This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (February 2016)
This article is about political organizations. For other uses, see PAC.
In the United States and Canada, a political action committee (PAC) is a type of organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaign for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation.[1][2] The legal term PAC has been created in pursuit of campaign finance reform in the United States. This term is quite specific to all activities of campaign finance in the United States. Democracies of other countries use different terms for the units of campaign spending or spending on political competition (see political finance). At the U.S. federal level, an organization becomes a PAC when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election, and registers with the Federal Election Commission, according to the Federal Election Campaign Act as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (also known as the McCain-Feingold Act).[3] At the state level, an organization becomes a PAC according to the state's election laws.
Contributions from corporate or labor union treasuries are illegal, though they may sponsor a PAC and provide financial support for its administration and fundraising;
Union-affiliated PACs may only solicit contributions from members;
Independent PACs may solicit contributions from the general public and must pay their own costs from those funds.
Federal multi-candidate PACs may contribute to candidates as follows:
$5,000 to a candidate or candidate committee for each election (primary and general elections count as separate elections);
$15,000 to a political party per year; and
$5,000 to another PAC per year.
PACs may make unlimited expenditures independently of a candidate or political party
In its 2010 case Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned sections of the Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (also known as the McCain-Feingold Act) that had prohibited corporate and union political independent expenditures in political campaigns.[4] Citizens United made it legal for corporations and unions to spend from their general treasuries to finance independent expenditures related to campaigns, but did not alter the prohibition on direct corporate or union contributions to federal campaigns.[5][6] Organizations seeking to contribute directly to federal candidate campaigns must still rely on traditional PACs for that purpose.[7][8]
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Categorization
2.1 Connected PACs
2.2 Non-connected PACs
2.2.1 Leadership PACs
2.2.2 Controversial use of leadership PACs
2.3 Super PACs
2.3.1 2012 presidential election
2.3.2 Disclosure rules
3 2008 election
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
History[edit]
The first PAC was the CIO-PAC, formed in July 1943 under CIO president Philip Murray and headed by Sidney Hillman.
Categorization[edit]
Further information: List of political action committees
Federal law formally allows for two types of PACs: connected and non-connected. Judicial decisions added a third classification, independent-expenditure only committees, which are colloquially known as "Super PACs".
Connected PACs[edit]
Most of the 4,600 active, registered PACs are "connected PACs" established by businesses, labor unions, trade groups, or health organizations. These PACs receive and raise money from a "restricted class", generally consisting of managers and shareholders in the case of a corporation and members in the case of a union or other interest group. As of January 2009, there were 1,598 registered corporate PACs, 272 related to labor unions and 995 to trade organizations. [9]
Non-connected PACs[edit]
Groups with an ideological mission, single-issue groups, and members of Congress and other political leaders may form "non-connected PACs". These organizations may accept funds from any individual, connected PAC, or organization. As of January 2009, there were 1,594 non-connected PACs, the fastest-growing category.[9]
Leadership PACs[edit]
Elected officials and political parties cannot give more than the federal limit directly to candidates. However, they can set up a Leadership PAC that makes independent expenditures. Provided the expenditure is not coordinated with the other candidate, this type of spending is not limited.[10]
Under the FEC (Federal Election Commission) rules, leadership PACs are non-connected PACs, and can accept donations from individuals and other PACs. Since current officeholders have an easier time attracting contributions, Leadership PACs are a way dominant parties can capture seats from other parties. A leadership PAC sponsored by an elected official cannot use funds to support that official's own campaign. However, it may fund travel, administrative expenses, consultants, polling, and other non-campaign expenses.[11][12][13]
Between 2008 and 2009, leadership PACs raised and spent more than $47 million.[14]
Controversial use of leadership PACs[edit]
Former Rep. John Doolittle's (R) leadership PAC paid 15% to a firm that only employed his wife. Payouts to his wife's firm were $68,630 in 2003 and 2004, and $224,000 in 2005 and 2006. The Doolittle home was raided in 2007.[15] After years of investigation, the Justice Department dropped the case with no charges in June 2010.
One Leadership PAC purchased $2,139 in gifts from Bose Corporation.[16]
Former Rep. Richard Pombo (R) used his leadership PAC to pay hotel bills ($22,896) and buy baseball tickets ($320) for donors.[17]
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D) leadership PAC, Team Majority, was fined $21,000 by federal election officials "for improperly accepting donations over federal limits."[18]
Super PACs[edit]
Super PACs, officially known as "independent-expenditure only committees", may not make contributions to candidate campaigns or parties, but may engage in unlimited political spending independently of the campaigns. Unlike traditional PACs, they can raise funds from individuals, corporations, unions, and other groups without any legal limit on donation size.[19]
Super PACs were made possible by two judicial decisions: the aforementioned Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and, two months later, Speechnow.org v. FEC. In Speechnow.org, the federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that PACs that did not make contributions to candidates, parties, or other PACs could accept unlimited contributions from individuals, unions, and corporations (both for profit and not-for-profit) for the purpose of making independent expenditures.
The result of the Citizens United and SpeechNow.org decisions was the rise of a new type of political action committee in 2010, popularly dubbed the "super PAC".[20] In an open meeting on July 22, 2010, the FEC approved two Advisory Opinions to modify FEC policy in accordance with the legal decisions.[21] These Advisory Opinions were issued in response to requests from two existing PACs, Club for Growth, and Commonsense Ten, which later became Senate Majority PAC. The opinions gave a sample wording letter which all Super PACs must submit to qualify for the deregulated status, and such letters continue to be used by Super PACs up to the present date. FEC Chairman Steven T. Walther dissented on both opinions and issued a statement giving his thoughts. In the statement, Walther stated "There are provisions of the Act and Commission regulations not addressed by the court in SpeechNow that continue to prohibit Commonsense Ten from soliciting or accepting contributions from political committees in excess of $5,000 annually or any contributions from corporations or labor organizations." (emphasis in original)[22]
The term "Super PAC" was coined by reporter Eliza Newlin Carney.[23] According to Politico, Carney, a staff writer covering lobbying and influence for CQ Roll Call, "made the first identifiable, published reference to 'super PAC' as it’s known today while working at National Journal, writing on June 26, 2010, of a group called Workers’ Voices, that it was a kind of '"super PAC" that could become increasingly popular in the post-Citizens United world.'"[24]
According to FEC advisories, Super PACs are not allowed to coordinate directly with candidates or political parties. This restriction is intended to prevent them from operating campaigns that complement or parallel those of the candidates they support or engaging in negotiations that could result in quid pro quo bargaining between donors to the PAC and the candidate or officeholder. However, it is legal for candidates and Super PAC managers to discuss campaign strategy and tactics through the media.[25][26]
2012 presidential election[edit]
Super PACs may support particular candidacies. In the 2012 presidential election, Super PACs played a major role, spending more than the candidates' election campaigns in the Republican primaries.[27] As of early April 2012, Restore Our Future—a Super PAC usually described as having been created to help Mitt Romney's presidential campaign—had spent $40 million. Winning Our Future (a pro–Newt Gingrich group) spent $16 million.[28] Some Super PACs are run or advised by a candidate's former staff or associates.[29]
In the 2012 election campaign, most of the money given to super PACs came from wealthy individuals, not corporations.[27] According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, the top 100 individual super PAC donors in 2011–2012 made up just 3.7% of contributors, but accounted for more than 80% of the total money raised,[30] while less than 0.5% of the money given to "the most active Super PACs" was donated by publicly traded corporations.[31] Super PACs have been criticized for relying heavily on negative ads.[32]
As of February 2012, according to Center for Responsive Politics, 313 groups organized as Super PACs had received $98,650,993 and spent $46,191,479. This means early in the 2012 election cycle, PACs had already greatly exceeded total receipts of 2008. The leading Super PAC on its own raised more money than the combined total spent by the top 9 PACS in the 2008 cycle.[33]
The 2012 figures do not include funds raised by state level PACs.
Disclosure rules[edit]
By January 2010, at least 38 states and the federal government required disclosure for all or some independent expenditures or electioneering communications.[34] These disclosures were intended to deter potentially or seemingly corrupting donations.[35][36]
Yet despite disclosure rules, it is possible to spend money without voters knowing the identities of donors before the election.[37] In federal elections, for example, political action committees have the option to choose to file reports on a "monthly" or "quarterly" basis.[38][39][40] This allows funds raised by PACs in the final days of the election to be spent and votes cast before the report is due.
In one high-profile case, a donor to a super PAC kept his name hidden by using an LLC formed for the purpose of hiding their personal name.[41] One super PAC, that originally listed a $250,000 donation from an LLC that no one could find, led to a subsequent filing where the previously "secret donors" were revealed.[42] However, campaign finance experts have argued that this tactic is already illegal, since it would constitute a contribution in the name of another.[43]
2008 election[edit]
In the 2008 election, the top nine PACs spent a total of $25,794,807 (directly, and via their affiliates and subsidiaries) as follows:
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC $3,344,650
AT&T Federal PAC $3,108,200
American Bankers Association (BANK PAC) $2,918,140
National Beer Wholesalers Association PAC $2,869,000
Dealers Election Action Committee of the National Automobile Dealers Association $2,860,000
International Association of Fire Fighters $2,734,900
International Union of Operating Engineers PAC $2,704,067
American Association for Justice PAC $2,700,500
Laborers' International Union of North America PAC $2,555,350
See also[edit]
List of political action committees
501(c)(4) organizations
527 group
Campaign finance in the United States
Issue advocacy ads
Lobbying in the United States
Money loop
Politics of the United States
Soft money
Dark money
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Janda, Kenneth; Berry, Jeffrey M.; Goldman, Jerry (2008-12-19). The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in a Global World (10 ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning. p. 309. ISBN 054720454X. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
Jump up ^ "Kentucky: Secretary of State - Civics Glossary". Sos.ky.gov. 2010-12-20. Archived from the original on 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
Jump up ^ 52 U.S.C. § 30101 http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section30101&num=0&edition=prelim. Retrieved 2017-06-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
Jump up ^ Ely, Jr., James W. (2012) [2005]. Hall, Kermit L., ed. The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (Electronic)|format= requires |url= (help) (Encyclopedia) (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199916467.
Jump up ^ 2 U.S.C. § 441b
Jump up ^ https://www.sec.gov/comments/4-637/4637-21.pdf
Jump up ^ Murse, Tom. "What is a Super PAC?". About.com U.S. Politics. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
Jump up ^ "End Citizens United raises $4 million, projects $35 million haul for midterms". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
^ Jump up to: a b "20090309PACcount". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Jump up ^ Kurtzleben, Danielle (September 27, 2010). "DeMint's PAC Spends $1.5 Million in Independent Expenditures". U.S. News and World Report.
Jump up ^ Stern, Marcus; LaFleur, Jennifer's (September 26, 2009). "Leadership PACs: Let the Good Times Roll". ProPublica. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Leadership PACs and Sponsors" Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine.. Federal Election Commission.
Jump up ^ "Congress 101: Political Action Committees". Congressional Quarterly.
Jump up ^ "Leadership PACs". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. 2010.
Jump up ^ "FBI raids U.S. Rep. Doolittle's home - politics - NBC News". msnbc.com. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Jump up ^ "Political Action Committees". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
Jump up ^ Weisman, Jonathan; Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. (July 11, 2006). "Lawmaker Criticized for PAC Fees Paid to Wife". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
Jump up ^ "Pelosi PAC fined $21,000 by federal elections officials". USA Today. February 11, 2004. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
Jump up ^ "Outside Spending (2010)". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics.
Jump up ^ Cordes, Nancy (June 30, 2011). "Colbert gets a Super PAC; So what are they?". CBS News. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
Jump up ^ "20100722OpenMtng". Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Jump up ^ [1]
Jump up ^ "Component Parts", Matt Corley, March 14, 2012
Jump up ^ "How Super PACs got their name", Dave Levinthal, January 10, 2012
Jump up ^ Grier, Peter (January 18, 2012). "Will Jon Stewart go to jail for running Stephen Colbert's super PAC?". The Christian Science Monitor.
Jump up ^ McGlynn, Katla (January 18, 2012). "Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert Expose More Super PAC Loopholes Without 'Coordinating'". The Huffington Post.
^ Jump up to: a b Crankocracy In America. Who really benefitted from Citizens United?. Timothy Noah. 29 March 2012.
Jump up ^ Winning Our Future. factcheck.org. 5 July 2012.
Jump up ^ "Who's Financing the 'Super PACs'". The New York Times, February 20, 2012 [February 1, 2012]
Jump up ^ Can 46 rich dudes buy an election? By Charles Riley @CNNMoney March 26, 2012
Jump up ^ Corporations don't pony up for super PACs By ANNA PALMER and ABBY PHILLIP| politico.com| 3/8/12
Jump up ^ Mooney, Brian C. (February 2, 2012). "Super PACs fueling GOP attack ads". The Boston Globe. 2012-02-02
Jump up ^ "Super PACs". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
Jump up ^ "Cookies Disabled". Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Jump up ^ "An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie". Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Jump up ^ "Towards a Madisonian, interest-group-based, approach to lobbying regulation, University of Alabama School of Law, by Anita S. Krishnakumar, Page 10 of 61, February 18, 2007" (PDF).
Jump up ^ "Who funds Super PAC? FEC looks into powerful influence", By Gail Russell Chaddock, The Christian Science Monitor, Feb 02, 2012 Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ ""Super PACs" in Federal Elections: Overview and Issues for Congress, Congressional Research Service, by R. Sam Garrett, December 2, 2011" (PDF).
Jump up ^ "Timely Tips Archive". Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Jump up ^ John Blake, CNN (4 February 2012). "Forgetting a key lesson from Watergate?". CNN. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Jump up ^ Colbert I. King (13 January 2012). "How D.C. interests sidestep campaign finance limits". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Jump up ^ Luo, Michael. "A Secret Donor Revealed".
Jump up ^ "The strange case of W. Spann, LLC". Center for Competitive Politics. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
External links[edit]
FEC.gov - Political Action Committees (PAC)
FEC.gov - Speechnow.org v. FEC
OpenSecrets.org from the Center for Responsive Politics
FactCheck.org Players Guide 2012
FactCheck.org Players Guide 2014
PoliticalMoneyLine dot-com company that offers some free information; detailed info requires a subscription
Sunlight Foundation
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text:
Tiber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the Italian river. For other uses, see Tiber (disambiguation).
Tiber
The Tiber in Rome
Country
Italy
Physical characteristics
Main source
Mount Fumaiolo
1,268 m (4,160 ft)
River mouth
Tyrrhenian Sea
Length
406 km (252 mi)
Discharge
Average rate:
239 m3/s (8,400 cu ft/s) (in Rome)
Basin features
Basin size
17,375 km2 (6,709 sq mi)
Mussolini's headstone near the source of Tiber
Roman representation of Tiber as a god (Tiberinus) with cornucopia at the Campidoglio, Rome
View of the Tiber looking towards the Vatican City
Rome flood marker, 1598, set into a pillar of the Santo Spirito Hospital near Basilica di San Pietro
Highest level of Tiber for 40+ years, 13 December 2008. View of Tiber Island
The Tiber (/ˈtaɪbər/, Latin Tiberis,[1] Italian Tevere, Italian pronunciation: [ˈteːvere])[2] is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing 406 kilometres (252 mi) through Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio, where it is joined by the river Aniene, to the Tyrrhenian Sea, between Ostia and Fiumicino.[3] It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 square kilometres (6,709 sq mi). The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of Rome, founded on its eastern banks.
The river rises at Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a generally southerly direction past Perugia and Rome to meet the sea at Ostia. Popularly called flavus ("the blond"), in reference to the yellowish colour of its water, the Tiber has heavily advanced at the mouth by about 3 kilometres (2 miles) since Roman times, leaving the ancient port of Ostia Antica 6 kilometres (4 miles) inland.[4][5] However, it does not form a proportional delta, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, to the steep shelving of the coast, and to slow tectonic subsidence.
Contents
[hide]
1 Sources
2 Etymology
3 History
4 Bridges
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Sources[edit]
The source of the Tiber consists of two springs 10 metres (33 ft) away from each other on Mount Fumaiolo. These springs are called "Le Vene".[6] The springs are in a beech forest 1,268 metres (4,160 ft) above sea level. During the 1930s, Benito Mussolini placed an antique marble Roman column at the point where the river arises, inscribed QUI NASCE IL FIUME SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA ("Here is born the river / sacred to the destinies of Rome"). There is an eagle on the top of this column. The first miles of the Tiber run through Valtiberina before entering Umbria.[7]
Etymology[edit]
It is probable that the genesis of the name Tiber was pre-Latin, like the Roman name of Tibur (modern Tivoli), and may be specifically Italic in origin. The same root is found in the Latin praenomen Tiberius. There are also Etruscan variants of this praenomen in Thefarie (borrowed from Faliscan *Tiferios, lit. '(He) from the Tiber' < *Tiferis 'Tiber') and Teperie (via the Latin hydronym Tiber).[8][9]
The legendary king Tiberinus, ninth in the king-list of Alba Longa, was said to have drowned in the river Albula, which was afterward called Tiberis.[8] The myth may have explained a memory of an earlier, perhaps pre-Indo-European name for the river, "white" (alba) with sediment, or "from the mountains" from preindoeuropean word "alba, albion" mount, elevated area.[10] Tiberis/Tifernus may be a preindoeuropean substrate word related to Aegaean tifos still water, Greek phytonym τύφη a kind of swamp and river bank weed (Typha angustifolia), Hiberian hydronyms Tibilis, Tebro and Numidian Aquae Tibilitanae.[11] Yet another etymology is from *dubri-, water, considered by Alessio as Sicel, whence the form Θύβρις later Tiberis. This root *dubri- is widespread in Western Europe e.g. Dover, Portus Dubris.[12]
According to the legend, Jupiter made him a god and guardian spirit of the river (also called Volturnus, "rolling water"). This gave rise to the standard Roman depiction of the river as a powerfully built reclining god, also named Tiberinus, with streams of water flowing from his hair and beard.[13]
The Tiber was also believed to be the river into which Romulus and Remus (the former founded Rome) were thrown as infants.
History[edit]
According to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the sea at Ostia. The island Isola Tiberina in the centre of Rome, between Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an important ancient ford and was later bridged. Legend says Rome's founders, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, were abandoned on its waters, where they were rescued by the she-wolf, Lupa.
The river marked the boundary between the lands of the Etruscans to the west, the Sabines to the east and the Latins to the south. Benito Mussolini, born in Romagna, adjusted the boundary between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna.
The Tiber was critically important to Roman trade and commerce, as ships could reach as far as 100 kilometres (60 mi) upriver; there is evidence that it was used to ship grain from the Val Teverina as long ago as the 5th century BC.[4] It was later used to ship stone, timber and foodstuffs to Rome.
During the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the harbour at Ostia became a key naval base. It later became Rome's most important port, where wheat, olive oil, and wine were imported from Rome's colonies around the Mediterranean.[4] Wharves were also built along the riverside in Rome itself, lining the riverbanks around the Campus Martius area. The Romans connected the river with a sewer system (the Cloaca Maxima) and with an underground network of tunnels and other channels, to bring its water into the middle of the city.
Wealthy Romans had garden-parks or "horti" on the banks of the river in Rome up through the first century BC.[14] These may have been sold and developed about a century later.
The heavy sedimentation of the river made it difficult to maintain Ostia, prompting the emperors Claudius and Trajan to establish a new port on the Fiumicino in the 1st century AD. They built a new road, the via Portuensis, to connect Rome with Fiumicino, leaving the city by Porta Portese ('the port gate'). Both ports were eventually abandoned due to silting.
Several popes attempted to improve navigation on the Tiber in the 17th and 18th century, with extensive dredging continuing into the 19th century. Trade was boosted for a while but by the 20th century silting had resulted in the river only being navigable as far as Rome itself.[4]
The Tiber was once known for its floods — the Campus Martius is a flood plain and would regularly flood to a depth of 2 metres (6 ft 7 in). The river is now confined between high stone embankments which were begun in 1876. Within the city, the riverbanks are lined by boulevards known as lungoteveri, streets "along the Tiber".
Because the river is identified with Rome, the terms "swimming the Tiber" or "crossing the Tiber" have come to be the Protestant shorthand term for converting to Roman Catholicism. This is most common if the person who converts had been Anglican, the reverse of which is referred to as "swimming the Thames" or "crossing the Thames".
In ancient Rome, executed criminals were thrown into the Tiber. People executed at the Gemonian stairs were thrown in the Tiber during the later part of the reign of the emperor Tiberius. This practice continued over the centuries. For example, the corpse of Pope Formosus was thrown into the Tiber after the infamous Cadaver Synod held in 897.
Bridges[edit]
In addition to the numerous modern bridges over the Tiber in Rome, there remain a few ancient bridges (now mostly pedestrian-only) that have survived in part (e.g., the Ponte Milvio and the Ponte Sant'Angelo) or in whole (Fabricius' Bridge).
See also[edit]
Hollywood on the Tiber
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Richard J. A. Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World: Map-By-Map Directory. I. Princeton, NJ and Oxford, UK: Princeton University Press. p. 630. ISBN 0691049459.
Jump up ^ (in Italian) Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia
Jump up ^ Lazio – Latium | Italy Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "Tiber River". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006
Jump up ^ "Tiber". World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2005.
Jump up ^ "Tiber Springs – Mount Fumaiolo". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27.
Jump up ^ Tuscany tours – the origin of the Tiber River
^ Jump up to: a b "Tiber". Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. John Everett-Heath. Oxford University Press 2005.
Jump up ^ George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897)
Jump up ^ Cf. e.g. G. Alessio "Studi storico-linguisitci messapici" in Archivio Storico Pugliese p. 304; "Sul nome di Brindisi" in Archivio Storico Puglese VIII 1955 p. 211 f.; "Apulia et Calabria nel quadro della toponomastica mediterranea" in Atti del VII Congresso Internazionale di Studi Onomastici Firenze 1962 p. 85.
Jump up ^ G. Simonetta "La stratificazione linguistica dell' Agro Falisco" p. 6 citing G. Alessio.
Jump up ^ G. Alessio "Problemi storico-linguistici messapici" in Studi Salentini12 1962 p. 304.
Jump up ^ Tiber. Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth (1996)
Jump up ^ Horti:LacusCurtius • Gardens of Ancient Rome (Platner & Ashby, 1929)
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiber.
The river mouth of the Tiber and city of Fiumicino on the Tyrrhenian Sea
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VIAF: 125605619
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BNF: cb138842244 (data)
Coordinates: 41°44′26″N 12°14′00″E / 41.7405°N 12.2334°E / 41.7405; 12.2334
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text:
Mount Whitney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the mountain. For the former town with this name, see Lone Pine Station, California. For the ship, see USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20).
Mount Whitney
Fisherman's Peak, Tumanguya
East Face close-up seen from the Whitney Portal.
Highest point
Elevation
14,505 ft (4,421 m) [5] NAVD88
Prominence
10,075 ft (3,071 m) [6]
Isolation
1,647 mi (2,651 km) [6]
Parent peak
Pico de Orizaba[1]
Listing
World most prominent peaks 81st
World most isolated peaks 18th
North America highest peaks 24th
North America prominent peak 16th
North America isolated peaks 4th
U.S. state high point 2nd
US highest major peaks 11th
California highest major peaks 1st
California fourteeners 1st[2]
California county high points 1st
SPS Emblem peak[3]
WSC Star peak [4]
Ultra
Coordinates
36°34′43″N 118°17′31″W / 36.578580925°N 118.29199495°W / 36.578580925; -118.29199495Coordinates: 36°34′43″N 118°17′31″W / 36.578580925°N 118.29199495°W / 36.578580925; -118.29199495 [5]
Geography
Mount Whitney
Location in California, U.S.
Mount Whitney
Mount Whitney (the US)
Show map of California Show map of the US Show all
Location
Sequoia National Park / Inyo National Forest, California, U.S.
Parent range
Sierra Nevada
Topo map
USGS Mount Whitney
Geology
Age of rock
Cretaceous
Mountain type
Granite
Climbing
First ascent
August 18, 1873 by Charles Begole, Albert Johnson, and John Lucas[7]
Easiest route
Mount Whitney Trail (class 1)
Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in California, as well as the highest summit in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada—with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m).[5] It is located on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, 84.6 miles (136.2 km)[8] west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level.[9] The west slope of the mountain is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley.[10] The east slope is in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County.
Contents
[hide]
1 Geography
1.1 Hydrology
1.2 Elevation measurements
2 Geology
3 Exploration history
4 Climbing routes
4.1 Trails
4.2 Scrambles
4.3 Technical climbs
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Geography[edit]
Sky pilot blooming on ridge just below summit.
The summit of Mount Whitney is on the Sierra Crest and the Great Basin Divide. It lies near many of the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada.[11] The peak rises dramatically above the Owens Valley, sitting 10,778 feet (3,285 m) or just over two miles above the town of Lone Pine 15 miles to the east, in the Owens Valley.[11][11] It rises more gradually on the west side, lying only about 3,000 feet (910 m) above the John Muir Trail at Guitar Lake.[12]
The mountain is partially dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides.[13] Mount Whitney is above the tree line and has an alpine climate and ecology.[14] Very few plants grow near the summit: one example is the Skypilot, a cushion plant that grows low to the ground.[15] The only animals are transient, such as the butterfly Parnassius phoebus and the gray-crowned rosy finch.[15]
Hydrology[edit]
The mountain is the highest point on the Great Basin Divide. Waterways on the west side of the peak flow into Whitney Creek, which flows into the Kern River. The Kern River terminates in the Tulare Basin. During very wet years, water overflows from the Tulare Basin into the San Joaquin River which flows to the Pacific Ocean. From the east, water from Mount Whitney flows to Lone Pine Creek, which joins the Owens River, which in turn terminates at Owens Lake, an endorheic lake of the Great Basin.
Elevation measurements[edit]
The estimated elevation of the summit of Mount Whitney has changed over the years. The technology of elevation measurement has become more refined and, more importantly, the vertical coordinate system has changed. The peak was commonly said to be at 14,494 ft (4,418 m) and this is the elevation stamped on the USGS brass benchmark disk on the summit. An older plaque on the summit (sheet metal with black lettering on white enamel) reads "elevation 14,496.811 feet" but this was estimated using the older vertical datum (NGVD29) from 1929. Since then the shape of the Earth (the geoid) has been estimated more accurately. Using a new vertical datum established in 1988 (NAVD88) the benchmark is now estimated to be at 14,505 ft (4,421 m).[5][16]
Geology[edit]
Schematic of Sierra Nevada fault-block.
The eastern slope of Whitney is far steeper than its western slope because the entire Sierra Nevada is the result of a fault-block that is analogous to a cellar door: the door is hinged on the west and is slowly rising on the east.[17]
The rise is caused by a normal fault system that runs along the eastern base of the Sierra, below Mount Whitney. Thus, the granite that forms Mount Whitney is the same as the granite that forms the Alabama Hills, thousands of feet lower down.[15] The raising of Whitney (and the downdrop of the Owens Valley) is due to the same geological forces that cause the Basin and Range Province: the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched.[18]
The granite that forms Mount Whitney is part of the Sierra Nevada batholith.[19] In Cretaceous time, masses of molten rock that originated from subduction rose underneath what is now Whitney and solidified underground to form large expanses of granite.[19] In the last 2 to 10 million years, the Sierra was pushed up which enabled glacial and river erosion to strip the upper layers of rock to reveal the resistant granite that makes up Mount Whitney today.[20]
Exploration history[edit]
In July 1864, the members of the California Geological Survey named the peak after Josiah Whitney, the State Geologist of California and benefactor of the survey.[7] During the same expedition, geologist Clarence King attempted to climb Whitney from its west side, but stopped just short. In 1871, King returned to climb what he believed to be Whitney, but having taken a different approach, he actually summited nearby Mount Langley. Upon learning of his mistake in 1873, King finally completed his own first ascent of Whitney, but did so a month too late to claim the first recorded ascent.[21] Just a month earlier, on August 18, 1873, Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas, all of nearby Lone Pine, had become the first to reach the highest summit in the contiguous United States. As they climbed the mountain during a fishing trip to nearby Kern Canyon, they called the mountain Fisherman's Peak.[7]
Mount Whitney as seen from Mount Langley
In 1881 Samuel Pierpont Langley, founder of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory remained for some time on the summit, making daily observations on the solar heat.[22] Accompanying Langley in 1881 was another party consisting of Judge William B. Wallace of Visalia, W. A. Wright and Reverend Frederick Wales.[23] Wallace later wrote in his memoirs [24] that "The Pi Ute [Paiute] Indians called Mt. Whitney "Too-man-i-goo-yah," which means "the very old man." They believe that the Great Spirit who presides over the destiny of their people once had his home in that mountain." The spelling Too-man-i-goo-yah is a transliteration from the indigenous Paiute Mono language. Other variations are Too-man-go-yah [25] and Tumanguya.[26]
In 1891, the United States Geological Survey's Board on Geographic Names decided to recognize the earlier name Mount Whitney. Despite losing out on their preferred name, residents of Lone Pine financed the first trail to the summit, engineered by Gustave Marsh, and completed on July 22, 1904. Just four days later, the new trail enabled the first recorded death on Whitney. Having hiked the trail, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries employee Byrd Surby was struck and killed by lightning while eating lunch on the exposed summit. In response to this event, Marsh began work on the stone hut that would become the Smithsonian Institution Shelter, and completed it in 1909.[27]
A movement after World War II began to rename the mountain for Winston Churchill.[28] However, the name Mount Whitney has persisted.
Climbing routes[edit]
Trails[edit]
The Smithsonian Institution Shelter on Whitney's summit.
The most popular route to the summit is by way of the Mount Whitney Trail which starts at Whitney Portal, at an elevation of 8,360 ft (2,550 m), 13 mi (21 km) west of the town of Lone Pine. The hike is about 22 mi (35 km) round trip with an elevation gain of over 6,100 ft (1,900 m). Permits are required year round, and to prevent overuse a limited number of permits are issued by the Forest Service between May 1 and November 1.[29] The Forest Service holds an annual lottery for hiking and backpacking permits on the Mount Whitney Trail. Applications are accepted from February 1 through March 15. Any permits left over after the lottery is completed typically go on sale April 1.[30] Most hikers do the trip in two days which is still considered a strenuous endeavor. Those in good physical condition sometimes attempt to reach the summit and return to Whitney Portal in one day, thus requiring only a somewhat easier-to-obtain "day use" permit rather than the overnight permit, and prohibiting the use of overnight camping gear (sleeping bag and tent). This is considered an "extreme" day hike, which normally involves leaving Whitney Portal before sunrise and 12 to 18 hours of strenuous hiking,[31] while contending with altitude sickness, cold air, and occasionally treacherous surface conditions (because snow and/or ice are normally present on parts of the trail, except for a short period from early July to late September).
Long-exposure photograph of hikers ascending Whitney before sunrise via the John Muir Trail
Longer approaches to Whitney arrive at its west side, connecting to the Mount Whitney Trail near the summit by way of the John Muir Trail.
Scrambles[edit]
The "Mountaineer's Route", a gully on the north side of the east face first climbed by John Muir, is considered a scramble, class 3 (PD+).[32] The fastest recorded time up this route to the summit and back to the portal is 3 hours 10 minutes, by Jason Lakey of Bishop.[33]
Technical climbs[edit]
Railings on the Mount Whitney Trail switchbacks.
The steep eastern side of the mountain offers a variety of climbing challenges. The East Face route, first climbed in 1931, is one of the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America routes and involves technical free climbing (class 5.7) but is mostly class 4. Other routes range up to grade 5.10d.[32]
South of the main summit there are a series of minor summits that are completely inconspicuous from the west but appear as a series of "needles" from the east. The routes on these include some of the finest big-wall climbing in the high Sierra. Two of the needles were named after participants in an 1880 scientific expedition to the mountain. Keeler Needle was named for James Keeler and Day Needle was named for William Cathcart Day. The latter has now been renamed Crooks Peak after Hulda Crooks who hiked up Mount Whitney every year until well into her nineties.
See also[edit]
Mountains portal
California portal
List of mountain peaks of California
List of highest points in California by county
List of U.S. states by elevation
List of the highest major summits of the United States
List of the most prominent summits of the United States
List of the most isolated major summits of the United States
Whitney Classic
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Playas Valley/Pride Draw Saddle". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
Jump up ^ "California 14,000-foot Peaks". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
Jump up ^ "Sierra Peaks Section List" (PDF). Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club.
Jump up ^ "Western States Climbers List". Climber.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "Whitney". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
^ Jump up to: a b "Mount Whitney, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
^ Jump up to: a b c Farquhar, Francis P. (1926). Place Names of the High Sierra. San Francisco: Sierra Club. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
Jump up ^ "Find Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2016-12-21. Coordinates of Mount Whitney = 36.578581, -118.291995 and Badwater Basin = 36.250278, -116.825833
Jump up ^ "Death Valley National Park, Frequently Asked Questions". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-12-21. Badwater Basin-282 feet below sea level...the lowest in North America.
Jump up ^ NPS (ed.). "John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails". Retrieved 2015-05-07.
^ Jump up to: a b c about sports (ed.). "Mount Whitney: Highest Mountain in California". Retrieved 2015-05-08.
Jump up ^ Everytrail.com (ed.). "Trail Map of The High Sierra Trail: Segment 7 of 7 California". Retrieved 2015-05-08.
Jump up ^ Perlman, Eric (May 1985). "Nice Going, Whitney". Backpager: 49–55. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
Jump up ^ Joyce, Quinn (ed) (2015). Earth's Landscape: An Encyclopedia of the World's Geographic Features [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 511–512. ISBN 1610694465. Retrieved 8 May 2016. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
^ Jump up to: a b c Schoenherr, Allan A. (1995). A Natural History of California. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06922-6.
Jump up ^ "Height Conversion Methodology". U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
Jump up ^ "Sierra Nevada". Ecological Subregions of California. US Forest Service. Archived from the original on 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
Jump up ^ "The Great Basin". Great Basin National Park. US National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
^ Jump up to: a b McPhee, John (2000). Annals of a Former World. Macmillian. ISBN 0374708460. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
Jump up ^ Whitney, Stephen (1979). A Sierra Club naturalist's guide to the Sierra Nevada. Sierra Club Books. p. 41. ISBN 0871562154. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
Jump up ^ King, Clarence (1902) [1872]. "Chapter XIII Mount Whitney". Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada (10th ed.). ISBN 0-585-27432-0. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
Jump up ^ Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Whitney, Mount". Encyclopedia Americana.
Jump up ^ "Historic People And Places: WILLIAM B. WALLACE". Sequoia Parks Foundation. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
Jump up ^ Wallace, William B. (1902). "A Night On Mt. Whitney". Mt. Whitney Club Journal. 1. Visalia, CA: Mt. Whitney Club. pp. 8–9.
Jump up ^ Porcella, Stephen; Burns, Cameron (1998). Climbing California's Fourteeners: The Route Guide to the Fifteen Highest Peaks. Mountaineers Books. p. 55. ISBN 0-89886-555-7.
Jump up ^ Barbato, Lauren (2015-08-31). "5 Whitewashed American Landmarks That, Like Mount McKinley, Sorely Need A Name Change". www.bustle.com.
Jump up ^ "Mt. Whitney's Early Days". Mount Whitney History. Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
Jump up ^ "Mount Whitney". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
Jump up ^ "Recreational Activities - Mt. Whitney". US Forest Service. Archived from the original on 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
Jump up ^ "Mount Whitney Lottery - Permit Reservations". US Forest Service. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
Jump up ^ "Mt. Whitney – One Day Hike". dayhiker.com. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
^ Jump up to: a b Secor, R.J. The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, and Trails. Seattle: The Mountaineers.
Jump up ^ "Bishop Local Adds 5.13b Crack, And Speed Solos Whitney Region". Rock and Ice. December 9, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-12.
Further reading[edit]
Thompson, Doug; Elisabeth Newbold (1997). Mount Whitney: Mountain Lore from the Whitney Store. Westwind Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-9653596-0-3.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mount Whitney.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Mount Whitney.
"Mt. Whitney Trail". Inyo National Forest.
"Mt Whitney Hikers Association".
"Whitney Portal Store".
"Mount Whitney". SummitPost.org.
Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Whitney, Mount". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
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Whitney Portal

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Mount Whitney is located in California

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