For the past few days, we have been having class discussions in Chicano Studies about walls. We were first introduced to the topic of walls when we were posed the question in class, “Do walls divide?” and were instructed to go to a side of the classroom based on our stance and to justify our opinion on the matter. I immediately thought of the Mexico border wall and decided that walls divide people, but in some instances, such as homes or classrooms, the purpose of walls is not to divide but to protect.
When it comes to the wall the president of the United States is trying to build at the Mexico/US border, I find it completely unnecessary. Building a wall was one of the current president’s key promises while campaigning and he is currently trying to deliver on that promise despite 59% of Americans disagreeing with it. He claims that the purpose of the wall is to “protect” American citizens from “rapists and drug dealers” and people who “steal jobs”. America was a country built by immigrants who work tirelessly to make a living and keep our country functioning. Immigrants are a HUGE part of our workforce and make up a whopping 17.1% of it. To address the other reasoning he provided: why is the president singling an entire race by calling them “drug dealers and rapists”? Are all Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers? The majority of them are looking to seek refuge in a first world country where they are able to better their lives and work. I believe that there is no substantial reasoning behind building a wall and it seems like it is being used as a tool to divide two neighboring countries and make it clear that immigrants are not welcome in America. If the purpose of the wall was to protect Americans, then border security could be increased, more cameras could be installed, and more border security officers could be hired.
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In Environmental Science, we are working on our latest project: Guardians of the Sea. In this project, we were posed with the question, “How can we make local changes to better support life underwater?” After pondering this question, in teams, we created a mind map on whiteboards to figure out what we wanted to focus on. Here is our mind map! After being placed in new groups and bouncing ideas between each other, my team decided to focus on lesser known types of pollution: noise and light pollution. Since Napa has a large hospitality and agricultural industry and noise and light pollution are problems that aren’t as well known or heard of as others, I decided it was a great idea and go forward with it. Noise pollution is a problem directly affecting the ocean because human-made noises can cause disruption in ecosystems in the Ocean. It was found by the Animal Welfare Institute that noise levels in the Ocean have doubled in the past decade, and have severely been affecting ocean life. Noises such as construction or shipping noises can disrupt an animal’s ability to find food and avoid predators. There are also several species that communicate with each other through noise, and they are unable to hear because of noise pollution. Some noises are even fatal to Ocean life. Light pollution is also a significant issue in our oceans. Light pollution in the Ocean is caused by light from cruise ships, oil rigs, and developments along the coast. Many marine species are guided by natural light patterns such as turtles, squid, and zooplankton. Artificial light is disrupting their migration patterns and influencing their behaviors. On a local level, we should take action and put our best efforts forth to prevent further light and noise pollution. My team and I have just started this project, but will keep you updated on our action plan! Crane, A., & Ferrari, M. (2018, April 10). The fishy problem of underwater noise pollution. Retrieved from https://www.earthtouchnews.com/oceans/oceans/the-fishy-problem-of-underwater-noise-pollution/ Ocean Noise. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://awionline.org/content/ocean-noise WilkinsonJun, A. (2015, June 26). Light pollution increasing in marine protected areas. Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/06/light-pollution-increasing-marine-protected-areas?r3f_986=https://www.google.com/ |
AuthorHibah Shafi is a Senior at New Technology High School. Archives
May 2019
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