Environmental Issue in Maine- Global Warming

Global warming pollution is already having negative impacts in Maine. High asthma rates, rising sea levels, threats to fall foliage and bad air days are among the many health and environmental problems global warming is causing. Global warming is caused by a large blanket of pollution that traps heat around the earth. This pollution tends to come from cars, factories, homes etc. Some researchers say that the changing climate is caused by an increase in carbon dioxide and other gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

According to a news article, many allergy triggers will worsen as a result of climate change unless action is taken to curb global warming pollution and prepare communities for the changes to come. "Maine already has one of the highest asthma rates in the nation: It affects one-in-ten adults, " said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, Director of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "Higher pollen levels from global warming will only make Maine's asthma problem worse." Global warming is especially bad news for all the millions of asthmatics in the United States whose asthma attacks are triggered by allergens.

Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere has increased a lot since humans began using coal, petroleum and natural gas, which are formed from the remains for plants and animals that lived many years ago. Forests store about 20% for the carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere each year.

A researcher from Maine indicates that "climate change is the first issue that is truly global, you can't get away from it. Everybody is at risk." It is important for individuals to not destroy forests to make room for human settlements because it destroys the planet's capacity to store carbon in the trees.

http://www.forestsformainesfuture.org/Default.aspx?tabid=84

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBCNbNSWcI

Sports Event

In their final game of the season before playoffs, the Rockford IceHogs dropped a 4-2 contest to the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday night at the AT&T center.

"I don't think we played very well and we weren't very desperate early," Head Coach Bill Peters said. "I don't think we got out of the gate well."

After a tough first period without any scoring from each team, quick strike goals in the second period put both teams right on board. Richard Petiot took a pass over to David Gilbert who put the IceHogs on top to a score of 1-0. Simon Danis-Pepin also tossed in an assist, one of the many he had this season. About 11 seconds later, San Antonio responded when Summers scored his first career goal with a well played assist by Brandon Bollig and tied up the game.

By the third period, San Antonio reclaimed the lead with a power play goal at 14:04 giving the Rampage the advantage of 2-1. Kyle Turris then score another goal as he beat Toivonen with a snapshot from on top of the face off circles at 2:08.

Rockford hit the goalie Tordjman with 37 shots, but the Rampage goalies turned away 35 of them to earn the win. Toivonen got the loss after making 21 saves for the IceHogs.

Wikipedia

The use of Wikipedia is not an acceptable form of accurate media. However, it doesn't mean that it is not useful to people. Individuals use Wikipedia to find quick information that may or may not need to be previously accredited. After natural disasters occur, Wikipedia is an easy way to access facts about the devastating events. The only reason many do not consider Wikipedia to be reliable is because the web pages can be edited and updated by anybody that has access to the internet, which may sometimes contain incorrect information.

On the Wikipedia website for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the contents are broken up into several parts: background, geology, damage to infrastructure, conditions in the aftermath and recovery. These categories help the reader have a better understanding and an easier way to access all parts of the event. In this particular article, the background shares information about the place of where the event occurred. The geology section includes information about the aftershocks of the earthquake and upcoming tsunami warnings. The damage to infrastructure section contains essential services and general infrastructure information. The conditions in the aftermath section generally talks about the days and nights following the earthquake. The recovery section lets the reader know what the president and congress wants to do to help recover the destructed land. Wikipedia also includes an introduction section at the top of the page where they state brief facts and basic information about the earthquake. It is usually very specific and contains information like where the event happened, why it happened and the exact date and time of when it happened. For example, they specifically state that the earthquake in Haiti happened on "Tuesday, 12 January 2010 at 16:53 local time."

When anybody has the ability to report what they want by the means of a website like Wikipedia, those statements should not be used as sources of credible news. Using Wikipedia as a source is usually not allowed as research in many schools because it is not reliable but it is very accommodating for those who are looking for basic, quick facts.

School Meeting

"The University of Maine administration is planning on eliminating a bachelors degree in languages this year and for the upcoming future." Simple words from one of the faculty in the Spanish Department spoken yesterday, March 24th at a meeting. A few students and I gathered together with some faculty and other members of the World Languages department to protest against not being able to complete a bachelors degree in languages. It is extremely frustrating to many individuals at this school, especially those who were planning on majoring in a language and those who were involved in majors that include a language. The school administration seems to think it is a waste of money and not a top interest for students at the University of Maine.

During the meeting, my Spanish professor clearly stated, "Do you realize that if the University of Maine abolishes the major in a language, we would be the only school in the United States that does not allow students to have that opportunity?" Many language students in the School of Arts and Sciences are planning on doing the best they can to convince the administration to not make such an inconvenient and problematic decision.

Another issue discussed in the meeting was that the administration is thinking of bringing new languages that most schools do not offer like Chinese and Arabic. Both languages seem interesting and exciting to learn and would be very helpful for the future, but right now the Spanish language is ranked the number two language spoken in the world and it would be extremely unreasonable to not give UMaine students the opportunity to use it. Other than Spanish, French and German are another two languages that are spoken in many parts of the world and also should not be banned.

In general, the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences is one of UMaine's most popular schools, with a high population of students and a big portion of those students are interested in the study of languages, myself being one of them. I am willing to do anything and continue attending meetings to encourage the administration of our school to continue the bachelor degree in Modern Languages.

News in Maine

Source: http://www.wmtw.com/news/22656789/detail.html

It was recently discovered in Portland, ME that a widespread of red tide is a huge threat to the shellfish industry and many beaches especially this spring and summer. Scientists and other individuals are concerned for the well being of those who consume the shellfish because it can cause a severe sickness and even death for humans. It seems as though researchers are beginning to confirm a certain toxic algae that causes red tide. The shellfish absorb the toxins from the algae, which therefore restrains humans to harvest them. The article reports that "Last summer, officials shut down nearly the entire Maine coast to calm digging because of an outbreak that officials said was the worst they could remember."

Unexpected thunderstorms use to be the main concern to spoil a day at the beach, but now the newest threat to beach fun is the huge floating blanket of red algae, known as red tides. During a red tide, oxygen-consuming, toxic algae cover huge components of the ocean. Fish, whales, dolphins and other living ocean creatures end up washed up dead onto beaches, with red tide being a suspected cause. For humans, just breathing in the vicinity of a red tide can trigger asthma, coughing and throat irritation. Many residents that reside on the coast find the effects quite insufferable and staying indoors for them does not solve the problem. The main problem other than toxication, is consuming the fish and ending up with serious digestive and other health problems.

The good news is that most human activities suspected of aggravating red tides can be addressed with more sensitive development on our coastlines, better stewardship of waterways and a tighter rein on water pollution coming from farms. It is important that scientists who study red tides should have more support to fully understand how red tides are caused, and the best ways to address the problem.

Campus Event

The Roots are finally coming to Orono, Maine on March 20th 2010 and playing at the University field. After many attempts made by students of making facebook groups called "Bring the Roots to Maine", the band finally decided to perform for our University. Each year a different band attends the University of Maine and students purchase their tickets to go see them play, but this particular group seems to be a bigger hit than any other band that has performed. The Roots are not very known to tour universities, which is why it is becoming a big deal that they are attending the University of Maine.

Incase individuals are not aware of this musical group, The Roots originate from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are an American band famous for their jazzy hip-hop music, which includes live instrumentals.

Tickets are still on sale, so students should quickly purchase their tickets. They seem to be running at an inexpensive rate, which is $15 for students and $20 for the general public.

If you like to dance and bump to great music, attending the Roots is the right thing to do. Do not miss this opportunity!

Profile Story

Walking through campus with a friend early Thursday morning, I saw a short unique looking boy who seemed very confused. His attire consisted of fitted blue jeans, black converse shoes and a fancy zip up coat. He automatically came to my attention because he seemed and looked different than most of the boys that I see everyday walking around campus. I thought that he must be new to this school since his eyes kept wondering around searching for the right building.

As I continued to observe him, I realized he was walking towards the Union, where he gathered up with a group of International students, who are new this semester at University of Maine. I kept trying to figure out what country he is from and if he spoke a bit of English. A few minutes later, coincidentally it just so happened that my friend recognized him from one of her classes. She said he is a freshman who just moved here from Italy. That is when I realized the reason why he must dress so nicely is because he comes from Europe, where most individuals have a passion for style.

My friend and I thought it would be a good idea to stop by the International meeting at the Union and meet some of these new students, who most probably do not know many people. We found out that this particular boy from Italy, worked a full time job every day and took classes, which seemed very impossible for me to do. I was in shock that his parents were making him pay for school, even though he did get a grand amount of money to attend this University.

I strongly believe this young man's future is in good hands. He is a strong worker, apparently very smart and bilingual. I asked him if he is trying to make any improvements with his life and he responded quietly and said, "Other than improving the language, all I want to do is learn my way around this school, it is way too big!"