Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop¬ ment See Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Organization of African Unity (OAU) See African Union
Organization of American States (OAS) International organiza¬ tion formed in 1948 to replace the Pan-American Union. It promotes eco¬ nomic, military, and cultural cooperation among its members, which include almost all the independent states of the Western Hemisphere. (Cuba’s membership was suspended in 1962.) The OAS’s main goals are to maintain peace in the Western Hemisphere and to prevent intervention in the region by any outside state. Since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the OAS has more actively encouraged democratic government in member states, in part by organizing missions to observe and monitor elec¬ tions. See also Alliance for Progress; Inter-American Development Bank.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries See OPEC organizational psychology See industrial psychology organizational relations See industrial relations
organized crime Crime committed on a national or international scale by a criminal association; also, the associations themselves. Such asso¬ ciations engage in offenses such as cargo theft, fraud, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, and the demanding of “protection” payments. Their princi¬ pal source of income derives from the supply of illegal goods and ser¬ vices for which there is continuous public demand, such as drugs, prostitution, “loan-sharking” (i.e., the lending of money at extremely high interest rates), and gambling. They are characterized by a hierarchy of ranks with assigned responsibilities; the coordination of activities among subgroups; the division of geographic territory among different associa¬ tions; a commitment to total secrecy; efforts to corrupt law-enforcement authorities; and the use of extreme violence, including murder, against rival associations, informers, and other enemies. International rings of smugglers, jewel thieves, and drug traffickers have existed throughout Europe and Asia, and Sicily and Japan have centuries-old criminal orga¬ nizations. In the U.S., organized crime flourished in the 20th century, especially during the Prohibition era. In the late 20th and early 21st cen¬ turies, it became immensely powerful in Russia, taking advantage of a weak and impoverished government and widespread official corruption. See also Mafia; yakuza.
organum Vor-go-nsnA Early polyphonic setting of plainchant (see Gre¬ gorian chant), the earliest form of counterpoint. The oldest written organum (c. 900), which evidently reflects a prevailing improvisational practice, consists of two lines moving simultaneously, note against note, the added line often paralleling the chant line a fourth or a fifth below. Later the added line acquired greater melodic individuality and indepen¬ dence. Organum consisting of more than one note against each chant note (florid or melismatic organum) appeared by the early 12th century. Three- and four-voice organum were first composed by the Notre-Dame school. Organum died out with the advent of the 13th-century motet.
Orhon River or Orkhon \'6r-,k6n\ River River, north-central Mon¬ golia. Some 700 mi (1,130 km) long, it rises from the slopes of the Han- gayn Mountains and flows east, then north past the ruins of Karakorum. The 8th-century funerary stelae discovered in the river’s valley in 1889 contain some of the oldest known Turkic writing, called the Orhon inscrip¬ tions. The river is navigable for shallow-draft vessels only in July and August.
oriel Bay window in an upper story, supported from below by project¬ ing corbels. Usually semihexagonal or rectangular in plan, oriels first became prevalent early in the 15th century. They were often placed over gateways or entrances to manor houses and public buildings of the late Gothic and Tudor periods. In cities of North Africa and the Middle East, the moucharaby is an oriel that uses grills or lattices in place of glass and shutters. See also brise-soleil.
Orient Express Luxury train that ran from Paris to Constantinople (Istanbul) for over 80 years (1883-1977). Developed by the Belgian busi¬ nessman Georges Nagelmackers, its luxuriously furnished cars became
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The Bruckner Organ, 18th century; in the church of the Abbey of Sankt Flo- rian, Austria
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the symbol of glamour for European society. Europe’s first transcontinen¬ tal express train, it covered over 1,700 mi (2,740 km); after 1919 the route extended from Calais and Paris to Lausanne and via the Simplon Pass to Milan, Venice, Zagreb, and beyond. Service was suspended during both world wars. Discontinued in 1977, it was revived in 1982 to run between London and Venice as the “Venice Simplon Orient Express.”
orientation In architecture, the position of a building on its site. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, as well as in pre-Columbian Central America, a building’s important features, such as entrances and passages, faced the rising sun. Mosques are oriented so that the mihrab faces Mecca. Chris¬ tian churches have usually been oriented with the apse or altar at the east¬ ern end. Orientation is frequently planned to take maximum advantage of daily and seasonal variations of sunlight. A structure’s optimal orientation is usually a compromise between its function, location, and the prevail¬ ing environmental factors of solar radiation, light, humidity, and wind that make up the site’s microclimate.
orienteering Cross-country footrace in which each participant uses a map and compass to navigate between checkpoints along an unfamiliar course. Introduced in Sweden in 1918, it later spread throughout Europe. World championships have been held since 1966. Runners set out at inter¬ vals; the winner is the runner who completes the course in the fastest time. Orienteering is also practiced by cyclists, canoeists, horseback riders, and skiers.
origami See paper folding
Origen Vor-i-jonX orig. Oregenes Adamantius (b. c. 185, prob¬ ably Alexandria, Egypt—d. c. 254, Tyre, Phoenicia) Greek theologian, one of the Fathers of the Church. Probably the son of a Christian martyr, Origen studied philosophy in Alexandria and served as head of its cate¬ chetical school for 20 years. He later settled in Palestine and founded a school of philosophy and theology. He traveled widely as a preacher; he was imprisoned and tortured during the persecutions of the emperor Decius in 250 but survived to die several years later. His greatest work, the Hexapla, is a synopsis of six versions of the Hebrew scriptures. His writ¬ ings, influenced by Neoplatonism and Stoicism, stress that providence seeks to restore all souls to their original blessedness and emphasize the cen¬ trality of the Word (Logos) in the cosmos. He held that even Satan was not beyond repentance and salvation, a view for which he was condemned. Although attacked as a heretic, Origen remained an influential thinker throughout late antiquity and the Middle Ages.
original sin In Christian doctrine, the condition or state of sin into which each human being is bom, or its origin in Adam’s disobedience to God when he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. His guilt was transmitted to his descendants. Though Genesis describes Adam’s sufferings as the consequence of his disobedience, it does not make Adam’s sin hereditary. The main scriptural basis of the doctrine is found in the writings of St. Paul; St. Augustine helped make humanity’s sinful nature a central element in orthodox Christian theology. Medieval theologians continued to explore the issue, and Thomas Aquinas offered a more optimistic view of human nature in his teachings on original sin than had Augustine. Martin Luther and John Calvin accepted a more Augus- tinian understanding, and modern evolutionary theory and biblical source criticism raised new challenges for the definition of original sin.