Unit 5

The Great Chicago Fire

     

     Three days, one fire, 300 people dead, 100,000 people homeless, and 17,000 damaged structures.  On October 8, 1871, the heart of Chicago’s business district was destroyed by a massive blaze that ravaged on for three days.   The mostly wooden architecture of the city at the time and the abundance of dry weather made it a likely target for a fire. 

The fire started on the night of October 8^th, supposedly by a cow who kicked over a lighted lantern in the O’Leary barn located at 137 DeKoven Street.  Mrs. O’Learly denied the accusation, and it was never confirmed that that was the actual cause.  Years later, in 1997, Chicago City Council exonerated Catherine O’Leary and her cow.  After the fire initially started inside or near the barn it spread very rapidly towards the center of the city.  It quickly reached the Court House, the Chicago Tribune headquarters, and even the Pumping Station making it very difficult for firefighters to try and save the city.  Chicago was used to fires so they had buildings that were supposedly fireproof, like the Chicago Tribune place, but it was quickly realized that no building was safe.  After causing $200 million in damages the blaze finally came to an end on October 10^th after rain finally hit, giving the city and its firefighters some much needed relief.  After the fire ended, martial law was put in place for several weeks because many people resorted to looting and lawbreaking since they lost everything. 

     
Reconstruction of the city started immediately making it even better than before.  The architecture was modern and included the world’s first skyscraper.  The city started to rewrite their building and fire standards, and soon had the country's most advanced fire fighting forces.  Chicago’s population and economy grew very rapidly over the next couple of years.  The population nearly doubled in 10 years, and by 1890 Chicago had the second largest population in the U.S. next to New York with 1 million people. 

     In 1956, the Chicago Fire Academy was built on the O’Leary property as a training site for Chicago Firefighters.  Later, in October 2014, Redmood Theater in Chicago held The Great Chicago Fire Festival to celebrate the city’s prosperity after the fire, but they had some technical difficulties when fake houses failed to ignite properly.  Despite the previous year’s mishaps they continued with the new tradition and had a very successful 2015 festival.   

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/great-chicago-fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire#Aftermath

http://www.greatchicagofire.org/great-conflagration

Unit 6
Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp

In January 2002, the United States opened its high security military prison run by the Joint Task Force Guantanamo within the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.  Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, said that the prison was opened to detain extremely dangerous prisoners, to prosecute prisoners for war crimes, and to have an optimal setting for interrogations.  There are three detainment areas: Camp Delta, Camp Echo, and Camp Iguana.  The fourth one, Camp X-Ray, was shut down as of April 29, 2002, and all of its prisoners were transferred to Delta. 

It was first thought that the camp was outside of U.S. legal jurisdiction, therefore not entitling any of the prisoners to the protections of the Geneva Conventions.  In 2004 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against that notion, and later in 2006 they ruled that the detainees were entitled to the protection under Common Article 3.  Prisoners have claimed to have been tortured and abused at the camp, and in 2006 the United Nations called for the camp to be closed even though the Bush administration claimed that the allegations were not true.  The attempt was unsuccessful, and later in 2009, a Bush employee confirmed that one prisoner was in fact tortured at the camp.  In 2005, detainees protested harsh treatment and disrespect with hunger strikes.  At one point almost a third of the prisoners were on strike, many of them being force fed through tubes and hydrated intravenously to keep them alive.  Hunger strikes started up again in 2013 with 106 of the 166 prisoners participating, and in December of that year, the U.S. military stopped disclosing information about the situation.                           

779 men from 20 different countries have been held in the prison, but now that number is down to around 112, with nine deaths while detainees were in custody; seven men committed suicide, one died of cancer, and one from an apparent heart attack. 

Over the years, there have been many allegations of unjust treatment, religious abuse, torture, sexual assault, and more that have occurred at the facilities.  The medical doctors there are said to not be of much help and are only used to monitor torture.  Released prisoners have expressed many complaints, but despite the disappointment the many attempts to shut down Gitmo have come up short.  The Obama administration has continuously tried to get the facility shut down, but all attempts have failed due mostly in part to the opposition in Congress.  It’s also extremely expensive to run the facility and hold all of the prisoners.  53 of the 112 remaining prisoners have already been tried, but are still being held at the camp.  There are also 28 men who have not been found guilty because of lack of evidence, but are said to be too dangerous to release or move to U.S. soil.  Many of the detainees are Al-Qaeda members and masterminds of the September 11 attacks, like Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh who are still being detained there.  Most of the prisoners though are not actually captured by the U.S.  Only 5% are actually U.S. captures, the rest are turned in by Pakistani and Afghan villagers in reward for a bounty. 

I think many people are opposed to closing Gitmo because of the dangerous people it holds.  Gitmo might not be the most efficient way to deal with the dirty scoundrels that are held there, but what other option does the U.S. have?  Until Congress passes a better solution on dealing with captive terrorists to keep them from planning and carrying out attacks on U.S. soil, Gitmo is the best and only option.

Resources:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/09/world/guantanamo-bay-naval-station-fast-facts/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp

https://www.aclu.org/infographic/guantanamo-numbers

Unit 4
Solar Energy


Solar energy is the cleanest and most plentiful renewable energy source. Solar energy comes from the sun and can be used for many things, including generating electricity, light, heating and cooling homes, and heating water. It is a flexible energy technology that can be constructed as a distributed generation, like at people’s homes, or a central-station, utility-scale solar power plant. These are like traditional power plants (besides their generation methods) that most of the time have storage capabilities to store the energy after the sun sets.

Solar energy can be captured in four different ways: photovoltaics (A.K.A. solar energy), solar heating and cooling, concentration solar power, and passive solar. Active solar systems use mechanical and electrical devices to convert the sun’s light and heat to another form of energy to use. Photovoltaics, solar heating and cooling, and concentration power are all active solar systems. The most commonly used method is solar panels, normally located on rooftops to capture the sunlight. Passive solar is a method that involves a building being capable of collecting, storing, and distributing the heat energy from sunlight to maintain a comfortable temperature inside without using moving parts or electronics.

Passive Solar System

Active Solar System

Pros:                                                        Cons:                                       

Renewable                                             Sunlight Isn't Available 24/7

Abundant                                                Expensive Installation

Environmentally Friendly                        Expensive Technology

Available                                                 Expensive Raw Materials

Reduces Electricity Costs                       Production Creates Pollution

Tax Credit

Solar energy is a very clean, unlimited source of energy that is still being developed and researched every day. It is readily available and environmentally friendly except for the waste that is created in the production process. Production is also very expensive because of the raw materials, and installation is just as pricey. The investment is normally worth it though because of the 30% tax break and reduced electricity costs. Over time, home solar energy systems normally pay themselves off while creating clean, renewable energy.  Besides price being an issue, the sun itself can cause some problems.  Sometimes there can be a lack of sunlight, therefore causing the effectiveness of solar energy to go down.  In solar power plants, scientists are suggesting having back up sources like wind turbines in combination with solar panels.  That way if there is a lack of sunlight, maybe the wind turbines can take over and vise-versa.    

Resources:

http://www.seia.org/about/solar-energy

http://www.nwwindandsolar.com/solar-power-in-seattle-and-the-northwest/how-do-solar-systems-produce-energy/

http://energyinformative.org/solar-energy-pros-and-cons/ 

Unit 3

Animals 'Making a Comeback'

  

     Over the past couple of decades, Europe has been pursuing their goal of restoring animal populations.  Since the late 1950's and early '60's, many European countries have been working hard to save many of their species of animals, mostly mammals and birds.  They have had great success with the program over the years, and recently a report was released called 'Wildlife Comeback in Europe.'  It's the first in-depth report that documents Europe's species recovery.
     Animal population decline is a recurring problem around the world.  There are many factors including over-exploitation, poaching, and mainly habitat loss that contribute to the problem. Europe, on the other hand, has actually seen an increase in their animal populations because of their valiant efforts to restore them.
     Tighter hunting regulations and habitat protection are at the front line of their defense, and have proven to be key in their success.  The Barnacle Goose is a good example of this.  Since 1950, the goose population in Russia has increased from 10,000 individuals to 908,000 in 2009.  Human migration from rural areas to the cities have also helped animals thrive by giving them more space to live.


     Besides the geese, most bird populations remained the same, but certain mammal populations have seen amazing growth, the average being a 30% increase in mammals.  In the early 20th century, the bison went extinct in the wild, but now there are nearly 2,759 individuals living free in Europe today.  That's a 3000% increase since 1950.  The European beaver has also seen a tremendous recovery with a 14,000% increase since 1960.  The beaver population went from 1,200 to 337, 500, making up 33% of the worlds' population.  White-tailed sea eagles, Red kites, Northern chamois, bears, and grey wolves, just to name a few, have all seen an increase in population since the fifties.  

     Increasing animal populations is fantastic, but it has caused some headaches for farmers.  The geese and birds are starting to cause conflict, and many people, especially farmers, are concerned about the increase in the wolf population.  Compensation and subsidies plans are currently in place in some European countries to try and help out farmers without killing the animals.
The comeback project has greatly helped Europe increase their biodiversity and even save animals from extinction!

Resrouces:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24230765

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2131711/wildlife_comeback_in_europe.html

      
Unit 2 
Globalization

Today, more than 2% of the global population lives in a different country than they were born in.  Two percent doesn’t sound like a lot, but when that percent is turned into an actual number, it becomes much more significant.  That two percent represents more than 200 million people who are living in their non-native country.  That’s not even including tourists and short term visitors, just foreign-born people.  This means that there are lots of people exploring the world, educating themselves, experiencing other cultures, maybe bettering their lives.  Globalization has made travel possible and easy to almost everyone on the globe, giving them access to the world around them.  It has made communication and business multiple times easier and more efficient, but it has also brought along some nasty friends. 

The cross-continental travel of people has provided a perfect opportunity for diseases to reach all across the world.  Commodities, products, and food can all transport diseases along their travel routes as well.   With the increasing population and number of tourists and refugees diseases are spreading rapidly.  Countries are becoming exposed to diseases that they never even knew existed before they all of a sudden have an outbreak on their hands.  These diseases can include anything from the common cold to AIDS or Ebola. 

Because travel time has become so short, people may not know that they are infected when they leave their home or even when they reach their destination.  The incubation period of most diseases are now longer than the time it takes to travel the whole way around the world.  This makes diseases sly and invisible and very hard to detect until they emerge, which is often too late. 

Disease control, like vaccinations, has helped developed countries prevent widespread disease outbreaks, but disease control plans are not installed in every country around the world.  This limits the ability of disease control to actually work to its full extent.  Diseases can also be spread through animals and products as well as people, making them even more difficult to control.  Tuberculosis is a disease that America, Australia, and many European countries have successfully controlled and almost gotten rid of.  Many undeveloped countries though still experience many deaths because of it.  In 1993, tuberculosis was considered a global emergency by the World Health Organization.  Many migrant-receiving nations have seen a larger number of tuberculosis cases in the immigration population than in the native population, because of the immigrants from countries where tuberculosis remains a public health problem.  Developed countries are seeing many more cases of harmful diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS due to migrants as well.  

Sources: 

http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/38/12/1742.full#sec-1

http://www.nap.edu/read/11588/chapter/3#24

Unit 1
Immigration


             

                                                                               
     In 2014, there were 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, accounting for 3.5% of the U.S. population.  To many, this number is appalling, and they would like a change to occur in the U.S. immigration policy.  Although the number may seem high, these unauthorized immigrants make up 5.1% of the U.S. work force.  Again, this could be considered a good or a bad thing depending on who is asked.  Most employers don’t mind it because illegal immigrants are willing to work for less, most times doing jobs that are unpleasant, and labor intensive.  Others claim that they are stealing jobs that belong to Americans.  Another question to be asked though is: are most Americans actually willing to do the jobs that the immigrants are doing, like working in hot fields all day for less than minimum wage? 

These questions and many others are being vigorously debated upon between the candidates for the 2016 presidential race.  It is especially a hot topic on the republican side.  In November 2014, President Obama announced new executive actions to stop the deportation of millions of illegal immigrants.  Republican front runner, Donald Trump, has a completely different plan.  His proposed plan includes the deportation of all undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.  Deportation has been somewhat favored in the Republican Party, but they also realize that this would be a very unrealistic reality.  Many people believe that there should be a change to the 14^th Amendment of the Constitution and ban birthright citizenship.  This notion, and the notion of building a wall are more highly favored by most Americans than complete deportation.  Another solution being debated is that of legal status.  Changing millions of peoples’ status from illegal to legal would obviously get rid of the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S., but Republicans are also worried that that would imply that illegal behavior is encouraged. 

Another way to combat illegal immigration that has come up is to eliminate the pull factor.  Many Mexicans flee to America because it’s close, but also because most of the time the laws aren’t enforced, and it’s easy for them to stay.  They can use a fake social security number to obtain a job, they start a life, and after a while it’s no longer relevant that they are an illegal immigrant. Instead of making a bunch of changes to already existing policies, why don’t we just enforce them?  The use of electronic detection systems to stop the use of fraudulent social security numbers has been proven successful and could be used more often.  If immigrants know that they could be caught and there would actually be consequences, they might not be as eager to come.

      However, regardless of immigrants’ legal status, it’s undeniable that they play a big role in America’s success; socially, economically, and culturally.  There may not be an obvious right or wrong way to deal with the current immigration situation in the United States, but we will definitely be seeing some changes in the near future. 

Sources:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/24/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/24/what-americans-want-to-do-about-illegal-immigration/
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/One-Minute-Debate-3-Views/2012/0924/3-views-on-how-US-should-combat-illegal-immigration/Another-way-Enforce-the-law-provide-amnesty-at-a-price-and-be-choosier-about-who-gets-in