· “Bahamians booted off Florida – bound evacuation ferry. Feds are blaming ferry company” by Monique O. Madan and Taylor Dolven of the Miami Herald.
o In this article, written September 9, 2019, the author is discussing how 119 people evacuating from the Bahamas right before Hurricane Dorian were forced to leave the ferry headed to Florida, despite having proper documentation.
o Problem: Lack of viable transportation from the Bahamas to the United States. One of the primary reasons the ferry kicked these people off was that they were going to have to wait on a dock for all the passengers to clear customs, whereas the ferry company did not want to wait and did not feel the value in fulfilling the trip. All the customers were confirmed to have proper documentation prior to boarding, however the ferry company did not want to waste time sitting in a dock until everyone had been processed. The issue that this article exposes is the lack of transportation from the Bahamas to the United States, specifically during times of forecasted natural disasters. Perhaps if there had been alternative and more reliable forms of transportation to the United States from the Bahamas, there would have been less casualties than there were.
o People: Residents of the Bahamas and tourists would directly be affected by this problem, especially during a natural disaster like Hurricane Dorian. When a natural disaster is forecasted to strike in the Caribbean, there has to be more reliable forms of transportation to get them to safety.
· “SCR begins next steps of King’s Bay Restoration Project” by Buster Thompson of the Citrus County Chronicle.
o In this article, written September 9, 2019, the author discusses restoration efforts for King’s Bay in Crystal River, Florida.
o Problem: Pollution and contaminants in the King’s Bay in Crystal River, Florida. This article discusses the problem of pollution and contamination in one of the larger bodies of water in the county and also gives insight into the problem of removing the contamination and restoring the bay. The Fish & Wildlife Commission is aiding in the restoration which has removed gunk and pollutants from the bay and is pumping water through filters to remove nitrogen and phosphorous from the water, which helps algae grow even faster.
o People:Homeowners with waterfront properties on the bay, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission, and honestly all of the people living in Citrus County are affected by this problem. While the restoration effort is currently focused on King’s Bay, the bay is connected to the river so any pollution that negatively impacts the bay will be sure to impact the river as well. Homeowners with waterfront properties want the bay to be healthy so that their properties retain value, the Fish and Wildlife Commission is concerned with the health of the plants and animals living within the bay and river, and all of the people in Citrus County are affected because this could negatively impact tourism within the county which revolves around its beautiful springs and nature preserves.
· “Manatee, calf trapped in Daytona marina cove” by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean of the Daytona Beach News Journal.
o In this article, written September 9, 2019, the author discusses how raised water levels during Hurricane Dorian caused a manatee and her calf to be stuck behind a retention wall in the Halifax River.
o Problem: Rescuing the manatee and her calf and also preventing further wildlife from getting stuck during periods of increased rainfall/natural disaster. Daytona Beach Officials and the Florida Wildlife Commission are facing the problem of how to rescue the manatee and her calf that are currently stuck behind a retention wall in the Halifax River. The issue is especially concerning as the manatees are stuck nearby boat docks and the goal is to get them out of the river safely and back into the ocean.
o People:Florida Wildlife Commission, Daytona Beach Officials, and boat owners nearby the Halifax River are all being affected by this problem. The Florida Wildlife Commission is trying to safely rescue these animals without causing distress/injury to the animals. Daytona Beach officials are affected as they must save the animals to avoid bad publicity. Boat-owners along the Halifax River are also affected as they are unable to drive their boats or go fishing until these animals are safely removed from the cove.
· “Students and activists make posters ahead of blue light protest on Fraternity Row” by Jordyn Kalman of the Independent Alligator.
o In this article, written September 11, 2019, the author discusses the recent outrage and protests on UF campus surrounding the lack of blue safety lights located around Fraternity Row on campus.
o Problem: Lack of blue-lights around UF Fraternity Row has people feeling unsafe. Many people are protesting and outraged after discovering that there are zero blue-lights around fraternity row. This has people, especially women, feeling unsafe and wondering why there are no lights in this area. This problem is worsened by statistics reporting that a quarter of the sexual assaults at UF happen in on-campus fraternities (linked within the article). With two reported counts of rape/sexual assault within the last month and a half, the problem is considered very large and needs to be addressed.
o People:UF students, faculty, and the National Women’s Liberation Office here in Gainesville are all affected by this problem. UF students want their safety to be ensured here on campus and the lack of blue-lights is counter-intuitive to that. UF faculty wants the school to be highly-ranked, yet this is difficult when the school can’t even take full precautions to keep their students safe. The National Women’s Liberation office in Gainesville is impacted as they aim to prevent sexual assault/rape and with the lack of blue-lights in an area that has statistically shown higher percentages of sexual assault, this problem is of high concern.
· “Boil water advisory issued after water main break on Beach Boulevard” by Nick Jones of News4Jax.
o In this article, written September 11, 2019, the author discusses how a water main line break has now caused a boiled water advisory in the Jacksonville area.
o Problem: A main waterline in Jacksonville is broken, allowing the water to become contaminated. With the main waterline breaking, some residents in Jacksonville face a clean water issue as they now have to boil their water before using it until the break is fixed. The article presents an opportunity in terms of creating a better water filtration system or creating a clean-water backup for residents so that in cases such as these, they are not left having to boil their water.
o People:Residents in Jacksonville surrounding the area of the waterline and the Water/Sewage company that has to fix it are impacted by this problem as they are now without clean water until the line is fixed. They are now left with having to boil their water to clean, cook, and bathe. This problem also impacts these residents as some of them may have been unaware of the advisory and may have drank the contaminated water. The water/sewage company is impacted as they must now fix the mainline and ensure that water is not contaminated.
Good evening Javier,
ReplyDeleteThe problems that you present are very solid and local, allowing most students and residents of Florida to relate to these problems. For instance, the problem regarding blue lights on Fraternity Row is a problem that has risen in the University of Florida recently. This is an important discussion that has to do with the safety of students. Additionally, there are other problems you discussed that concerned different locations within Florida. Overall, your problems gave a great overview of different problems around Florida. Nice!
Hi Javier,
ReplyDeleteI found all of your articles very interesting and informative, they are very relatable to the people who reside in Florida. I thought your fourth article about the blue lights on Fraternity Row was very relatable because I fully support this protest and have expressed my opinion about it to many of my sorority sisters. This issue should be a no brainer, when it comes to the safety of students I believe that the top priority is feeling safe and comfortable on campus.
Hi Javier, I appreciate how all of your articles are geared towards helping smaller problems that could become detrimental in the future. Also, all of your articles directly affect Floridians. By addressing these issues now you are getting a head start on solving them which could serve to save millions in the future. Finally, i appreciate how you organized your post with headings and how you mentioned the news organization in the post.
ReplyDelete