Assignment 5: Identifying Local Opportunities
Story: This article addresses a recurring issue in Fort Lauderdale:
sewage breaks. It emphasizes the urgency of the problem since this has now been
the seventh sewage break in less than 2 months. It also stresses that the
breaks have been nothing but minor and have affected the areas where they
occurred a great deal. The magnitude and frequency of the leaks has the civilians
concerned, especially those who engage in outdoor water recreational
activities. Fortunately, the article points out that the city has vowed to fix
the pipe problem. The only this that people can do now is hope that this time
the fixes will endure, since one of the pipes that broke had been fixed only
three years earlier.
Problem:
The main problem is that the leaks are happening with a great deal of frequency
and at a large scale.
Who:
Not only are residents of the affected areas affected by the leaks but wildlife
and the waterways have been as well. During the leaks, the environment is horrendous
and causes great discomfort for people. Those who engage in recreational activities
such as paddle boarding, swimming and fishing have also stopped doing these
activities out of concern of the waterways, which have consistently been
contaminated by the events.
Title: Nearly 2K special needs children in NYC could
be without preschool seats: report
Story: Based on estimates from the Department
of Education, New York City will be short of between 1028 and 1932 seats for special
needs kids. Although the city DOE has added more 1000 preschool seats there is
still a shortage. The article also shows that an additional issue is that there
is a teacher shortage due mainly to competing higher salaries offered in pre-K
classrooms by the city’s education department.
Problem: There are not enough seats available
for all special needs kids in pre-K.
Who: The parents of these children are highly
concerned for their children’s development. For the kids who are waitlisted to
get a spot and do not receive one until the next school term, they are losing
valuable time to grow and learn.
Parent resistance thwarts local school desegregation efforts
Story: A
proposal to try and desegregate certain schools sparked an uproar of opposition
from affluent and mostly white parents whose children would be affected by the
change. The push is to try and balance the concentrated wealth in some schools
and the concentrated poverty in others. The article explains how when there is
concentrated poverty, that the quality of education is not the same. However,
the opposition for these reforms consisted in part of great racist and classist
statements that gravely hurt the affected communities.
Problem: To address stubborn school segregation
that has resulted in an imbalance of educational quality.Who: Students in these
schools who are being affected by the socioeconomic disparity and communities
in which a racial divide has become highly evident.
Title: Detective warns Super
Bowl tourists about sex trafficking risks
Story: As the Super Bowl approaches
police are trying to warn the community and tourists to be aware of what is
going on. The article includes several statements of police officers asserting
that the situation is already happening. Officers are also trying to tell
people to be aware that sexual encounters, paid or otherwise can lead to
dangerous scenarios. They add that, most of the time the perpetrators
themselves are victims themselves that are being forced to have sex and even
steal.
Problem: Getting people to be aware that
the people who are making money are usually not the people that are working and
so they could be getting involved in something more dangerous than they think.
The main goal is to get people to abstain from these scenarios, as really if people
are not buying, people are not selling.
Who: People who might be prone to these
type of situations may end up not being aware of what they are actually
involved in and those who are perpetrators/victims are being further harmed.
Nicole, you chose some very interesting articles to dive into. One that really strikes my attention is the sex trafficking article. I am aware that national sex trafficking awareness day was recently and Florida is ranked third in the country for reported cases. Very sad
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