5/8/2017 3 Comments So What? The book Nine, Ten is told from the perspective of four children. They live in four different states, they are in different ethnic groups, and they all have a different life story. My book tells the life of these four children in the days leading up to 9/11. At the end of my book, all four of these children end up at the same 9/11 memorial, a year after that tragic day. Naheed, one of my characters, is Muslim and a big, white guy comes up to Naheed's family and says, "What are you people doing here?" He gets really close to the Muslim family and acts like he's ready to fight.
Now that you're all caught up, I'm ready to answer the question, So What? Well, at the very end of the book, all of the people at the memorial unite to protect this Muslim family. They formed a barricade to a point where the big, white man couldn't see the family anymore. The idea of this book is how Americans united after 9/11. No matter where people were from, what ethnic group they were in, or what their life story was like, everyone was equal. Sometimes it takes a tragic event to unite a divided country. "And suddenly there were two boys, a white boy and a black boy, standing in front of the family; and then a whole bunch of firemen in their blue FDNY T-shirts seemed to come out of no where to stand next to the boys; and then a young mother, with her baby strapped to the front of her body, joined them; and then an old man and old woman in matching plaid shirts pinned with ribbons and buttons that said never forget stood next to them; until there were so many people standing in front of the family the Aimee couldn't see them anymore," (Baskin, 187)
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the attack on 9/11 caused discrimination against Muslims and Arabs. In the end of my book, a Muslim family went to New York City a year after 9/11. The women in their family wore Hijabs, so they stuck out from the crowd. A big, white man, carrying a flag, walked up to the Muslim family and told them to leave. He compared that family to terrorists because he thought they were of "the same kind". This doesn't only happen in books. After 9/11, this happened all throughout the United States and is still happening today. Muslims and Arabs are treated badly because people blame them for 9/11. In my book, all of the people at the memorial site stood together and blocked the man from getting any closer to the family. In our society, there are people that discriminate against this group of people, but this tragic event also united diverse groups together. In both 9/11 and my book, it took a tragic event to bring all of these citizens together.
4/26/2017 2 Comments Historical ConnectionsMy book, Touching History, takes place right before the war on terror started. My book is the perspective of 9/11 through air traffic controllers, flight crew, and everyone behind the scenes eyes. Everything that happens in my book happened in real life. At the time, very few Americans wanted to go to war. After world war one and two, everyone was tired of war. As the book and history progressed and people started to realize what was happening, Americans started showing hate towards Arabs and Muslims. In history and in my book, after 9/11 Arabs and Muslims are spat on, beat up, and even some of their homes and businesses were destroyed. After 9/11, Everyone's views changed about going into war, which made George Bush's job a lot easier. George Bush declared "War on terror", which led to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. My book shares the story of the steps to alert the military and taking action in the eye of individuals just doing their job. in one part, flight attendant Betty Ogn calls to report a high jacking on American 11. Two flight attendants were stabbed, but still alive and one person in first class that was killed. "The flight attendant hurredly relays that two flight attendants have been wounded and one passenger fatally stabbed, she believes her airplane is being high jacked." my book tells "The untold story of the drama that unfolded in the skies over America on 9/11."There are 70 million companion animals in the United States that are homeless. You might think that stray cats and dogs aren't your problem, they don't affect you, but you're wrong. Stray animals harm the economy, wildlife, people, and other pets. “In Wake County only 15,000 strays are sheltered in a no kill facility,” according to WakeGov. I care about this topic because I have two dogs and I would never want them to be on the street or hurt by a dangerous, homeless animal. You should care about this because these animals can cost you money in taxes, veterinary bills, or doctor bills if you or your pet gets bitten by an abandoned animal. This is a problem that can be solved, so let's start working!
The Issue As stated above, stray animals can affect the economy, wildlife, people, and other pets. Stray animals can get a disease and spread those to humans that are just walking down a street. Diseases like rabies and leptospirosis can spread from animals to humans. Infected, stray animals can spread diseases to pets, which causes the owners to have to pay veterinary bills. Another very important reason we should limit the amount of homeless animals on the street is they can kill endangered wildlife or animals that are not in season. When abandoned animals can't be taken into a no kill shelter or someone's home, it costs the government more money to pay animal control to take care of those animals. This has always been an issue in communities and we caused it. Animal homelessness is caused by pet owners not spaying or neutering their pets and letting them have babies when they can't take care of them. This issue is also caused by people getting pets when they can't afford it or have time to take care of it. This causes overcrowding in shelters and animals abandoned on the street. If this problem is not taken care of, homeless animal overpopulation will spread diseases more quickly and the streets would become more crowded, which could cause more car accidents. In Montgomery County Animal Shelter, “The shelter, which has the highest kill rate in the state, euthanized nearly 1,200 animals – 100 percent of cats and 98 percent of dogs – brought there last year, according to state records,” says WRAL on kill shelters. Out of the 70 million homeless animals in The United States, only 3.2 million are adopted each year. This means that 66.8 animals are either euthanized or left on the streets. What Others Have Done Many people in our community are working to help homeless animals. There is no limit to who can help and what you can do. Karen Hamza, a homeless lady, has dedicated her life to helping those like herself. Her and her dog, Tippy, started an organization called the Angel Hans For The Homeless Inc. that helps both homeless animals and homeless people. While Karen Hamza was on the streets, she took a cat and two dogs into her care. Karen Hamza not only understands the plight of the people and the animals she helps, she also offers actual resources to help get them and their animals back into the swing of life (“She's Dedicating Her Life To Helping Homeless People And Their Pets”). Some things they do include getting the word out for the homeless to bring their pets to gatherings, providing key essentials such as food, clothing, and blankets, speaking to schools, on television, and on the radio, assisting veterinary services, and lastly, working to keep animals out of the kill shelters. Kill shelters are something that concerns animal lovers all over the world. Once an animal has been at the shelter for a long time and no one has adopted it yet, kill shelters use euthanasia to kill the animals so that they no longer take up space and other animals can come in. However, there are also such things as no-kill animal shelters. These shelters do not kill the animals even when the shelter is full. They reserve the euthanasia for terminally sick animals or those considered dangerous to public safety. Some of these shelters include SPCA of Wake County, Safe Haven For Cats, and Second Chance Pet Adoptions. I know what you're thinking. These people are already helping, why should I? Well, while organizations in Wake County help between 13,000 - 15,000 animals each year, there are still many more animals not receiving assistance. Lots of people choose to donate money to a local animal shelter or even adopt a pet, giving it a home! Other people, if they see a distressed animal such as a dog or cat all by itself, will help the animal by taking it to a nearby animal shelter or veterinary clinic. What we can do Since most shelters are non-profit organizations, they fully rely on donations to keep their shelter running. That's why I think Martin Middle School should have a fundraiser for the local SPCA. We would accept cash donations, as well as materials for the shelter like blankets and toys. The fundraiser could be held outside the cafeteria during lunch periods so all students would be able to have a chance to donate. Art class students could make posters advertising the fundraiser, which would be put up all over the school. Parent volunteers could run the fundraiser, and keep track of which homeroom donates the most. The winning homeroom class would get a doughnut party and be recognized on the morning announcements. The goal would be to raise $1,000 for the SPCA. There would be no minimum donation, and anything would be appreciated. A donation of $100 could provide full dental care for a pet, or get a dog neutered. Even a donation of just $20 could provide flea, tick, and heartworm prevention for a dog. Bibliography: “She's Dedicating Her Life To Helping Homeless People And Their Pets.” The Dodo. 2016. <https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thedodo.com/woman-without-a-home-now-dedicates-her-life-to-homeless-animals-1624350728.amp.html> “Disturbing Photos Capture the Realities of Euthanization at Animal Shelters.” PetaPixel. 2013. <https://petapixel.com/2013/02/26/disturbing-photos-capture-the-realities-of-euthanization-at-animal-shelters/> “11 Facts About Homeless Animals.” DoSomething. 2017. <https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts- about-animal-homelessness> “Animal Center.” WakeGov. 2017 <http://www.wakegov.com/pets/Pages/default.aspx> “NC Shelter Kills 99 Percent of Animals.” WRAL. 2012 <http://www.wral.com/nc-shelter-kills-99-percent-of-animals-records-show/11778189/> “Kill Shelters vs. Low Kill and No Kill Shelters.” Pet360. 2015. <http://www.pet360.com/dog/adoption/kill-shelters-vs-low-kill-and-no-kill-shelters/eC_zmPaWME-mF0Gn95SijQ> Image from: “8 Reasons College Students Should Volunteer At Their Local Animal Shelters” The Odyssey. 2016 http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/03/24/6359438388138710882186156_shelter9.jpg 3/12/2017 3 Comments Water pollution in Raleigh, NCAcross the nation, the system that Congress created to protect the nation's waters under the Clean Water Act of 1972 today often fails to prevent pollution. There are more than 200,000 facilities that have permits to dump their pollutants into the water in the nation. In just Wake County there are 160.6 miles of waterways that are highly polluted. There are so many chemicals in waterways like the Crabtree Creek, Walnut Creek, and parts of the Neuse River that you can't even eat the fish out of them. One of the biggest causes of water pollution is sediment from runoff going into the water systems. Storm runoff picks up things like dirt, fertilizer and takes it straight to a lake or stream, without any treatment. Dumping pollutants from factories into the water is also causing water pollution. These pollutants cause high Dissolved Oxygen levels in the water, and kills the fish aadn wildlife in that water. I am interested in this topic because as I look around, I see rivers and streams polluted with trash. I don't want to be drinking that water, do you? To stop water pollution you can help organizations clean up streams. Just take a little time and go to the closest river to you and pick up some trash. even if it's not in the water at the moment, it could end up there. You can also dispose of your trash properly and plant vegetation around streams to prevent erosion, reduce sediment, filter runoff, and provide shade and wildlife habitat. Water pollution is a really big problem in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is our community and we can do something about it!
3/2/2017 5 Comments Food deserts in Raleigh, NCYou might be at home enjoying a wonderful dinner, but do you know that just down the street there might be people that don't have easy access to produce? In Southeast Raleigh, North Carolina, there are serious food deserts. Raleigh Public Record explains that "If you don't have a car it's difficult. If you don't have money it's really difficult to get really good food." The closest grocery store is a 40 minute walk away from the Southeast Raleigh neighborhoods. Grocery stores are afraid of crime or not being able to support their store because people in those neighborhoods "can't spend 300-400 dollars every month on groceries," according to the article at the bottom. You might ask, why should I care? Well, imagine that you couldn't feed your family a healthy meal, three times a day. What if you could only feed them unhealthy, processed food? Would you care then? This could happen to you, so think about the people that are in this situation right now. This effects the rest of us because when these people can't keep their blood pressure levels normal by eating fresh produce, they might get diabetes or other illnesses. This causes other people to have to pay more for healthcare for these people, even though we could have prevented that. Not being able to have healthy food causes obesity. Obesity in children can cause mental health to be lessened, which will effect our future generation. A woman named Ajuba Joy planted a community garden in this neighborhood to help people in Southeast Raleigh get fresh food. You can plant a garden too. If you have time, just plant a couple vegetables and donate them to food deserts. If you don't have any extra time because you work, go to school, or your day is just really busy, donate a few dollars to an organization like food shuttle. I feel very fortunate to be able to have fresh food every day, but I know that not everyone has that. This is why I am writing this blog to let you know how you can help prevent this serious problem. To learn more, you can read the article below:
raleighpublicrecord.org/news/2010/10/25/the-food-desert-of-southeast-raleigh/ |
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