The Media Freedom Foundation » problem

Net Neutrality

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:51:35 +0000

Net Neutrality, the term used to describe free use of the internet without censorship from internet service providers, is still very much underground. Net Neutrality, as stated in this short article on The Washington Post‘s website, is mostly covered by the Free Press and receives little to no mainstream media coverage. While this article is by a mainstream media source, its main focus is on Robert McChesney, the person pushing to stop companies from having the ability to censor internet usage rather than on the problem of net neutrality itself. Some aspects of the problem are briefly mentioned in the article, such as slowing connection to certain websites and censoring criticism of political figures, however these and related issues have received scant coverage by the mainstream media.

Source: Kang, Cecilia. “Net Neutrality’s Quiet Crusader”. The Washington Post. Friday, March 28, 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/27/AR2008032703618.html.

Student Researcher: David Murray

Faculty Instructor: Elliot D. CohenSimilar Posts:

Uranium linked to disabled children

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:26:01 +0000

The U.K Observer reported that an overwhelming rise in the number of children from Punjabi, India, who were born with birth defects, mental abnormalities, and cancer has increased within the past few years. The rise in the number of birth defects has brought a team of visiting scientists to test children to determine the root of the problem. South African scientists found the children had enormous amounts of uranium in their bodies, including one child with 60 times the safe limit. Uranium is naturally found in the world, yet the large amount in the children’s bodies alerted Dr. Singh, a doctor who runs the Faridkot clinic in India, to look at the recent pollution increase as the cause. He stated that the Indian authorities have tried to conceal the problem, threatening to close the clinic if doctors continued to comment. Additionally, the government has not looked at the extent of the problem and the actual number of people affected due to the government’s expansion of thermal and coal plants. When Indian scientists from the Department of Atomic Energy visited the plant they reported that uranium in the drinking water was only “slightly high”. The actual tests reported that it was fifteen times higher then safe levels. Uranium can decompose into hazardous bi-products, which can also be a potential cause of the contaminated drinking water. A former chief of the Naval staff, India’s Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, has reported that uranium ash from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq carried by the winds could also be partly to blame for the sudden increase. He indicated that the depleted uranium carried by monsoon winds could impact areas within a 1,000-mile radius of Kabul, including Punjab. Scientists are convinced that the ash can be contained if authorities take a greater look at the ash ponds at the thermal plants, which consequently effects water quality, compromising the health of the entire Indian population.

Student Researchers: Claire Apatoff, Erin Kielty, Tom Rich

Faculty Evaluator: Rich Martoglio, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, DePauw University

Faculty Instructor: Kevin Howley, DePauw University

Sources:

The Observer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/30/india-punjab-children-uranium-pollution

Newspaper Source

Ajay, Bharadway “Probe links uranium to disabled children.” Daily News and Analysis

(India) 09 Apr. 2009:1. Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 10 Nov. 2009.Similar Posts:

Gaza’s Water Supply Near Collapse

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:18:12 +0000

The International Committee of the Red Cross has reported that the underground water system in Gaza is at risk of collapsing. The water system could also contaminate the area’s drinking water, potentially causing an outbreak of Hepatitis A and parasitic infections. Although the Israeli government has de facto responsibility over the area of Gaza, the government is doing little to correct the problem. At the beginning of the Israel/Gaza conflict in December 2008, the Gazan coastal aquifer was a central target of military attacks. Around $6 million worth of damage was done to the water system, but nothing has been done to restore the system and prevent an outbreak of disease. The United States has attempted to help Israel correct this problem. When United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to Gaza City in March 2008, she announced that the United States was giving $900 million in aid to help reconstruct Gaza. Over six months later, no allocations of that money or repairs to the water system have been made.

Sources:

“Gaza’s Water Supply Near Collapse” Mel Frkyberg, Inter Press Service, September 16, 2009

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48464

“UN: Gaza water supply could collapse in wake of Israel war” DPA, Haaretz, September 14, 2009

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1114473.html

“Environment Emerges as a Major Casualty” Erin Cunningham, Inter Press Services, May 4, 2009

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46709

Student Researcher: Ben Solomon, Lynn Demos, Steve Wojanis

Faculty Instructor: Kevin Howley, Associate Professor of Media Studies, DePauw University

Evaluator: Russ Arnold, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, DePauw UniversitySimilar Posts:

Israel Criticized for Nuclear Weapons

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:12:28 +0000

Questions and concerns were raised at the International Atomic Energy Agency Conference in Vienna about Israel’s nuclear capabilities. Israel’s only statement about its nuclear capabilities came in 2005, when they opted out of the UN Non-Proliferation Treaty. Their abstention meant the country was not any admitting nuclear capabilities it might have. At the conference, 49 voted for the resolution, “directly criticizing Israel and its atomic program for the first time in 18 years.” 45 voted against and 16 abstained from endorsing or rejecting the document, which stated that Israel had nuclear capabilities and expressed alarm over the problem. A United States delegate expressed anger, claiming the resolution was an “attempt to…criticize a single country.” The resolution, although about Israel, impacts the United States heavily. The resolution references the problem of unregulated nuclear power in Israel. While America is critical of nuclear programs in countries like Iran and North Korea, it has not questioned Israel’s possible nuclear programs. The United States’ unwillingness to recognize Israeli nuclear weapons sends a message about where the country’s alliances are. The resolution also shows a growing distrust of Israel by members of the international community who are beginning to acknowledge problems and malfunctions in Israel.

Sources:

“The Elephant in the Room: Israel’s Nuclear Weapons” David Morrison, Common Dreams, June 29, 2009

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/29-8

“Nuclear conference criticizes Israeli nukes” George Jahn, Associated Press, September 8, 2009

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hnEz0m45RpoqPw1eSBA9sQLziV8QD9APSNP00

“Review of the Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons Treaty” UN Review, May 2005

http://www.un.org/events/npt2005/background.html

Student Researcher: Ben Solomon, Lynn Demos, Steve Wojanis

Faculty Instructor: Kevin Howley, Associate Professor of Media Studies, DePauw University

Evaluator: Russ Arnold, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, DePauw UniversitySimilar Posts:

Raw Sewage is Being Dumped Into San Francisco Bay

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:56:32 +0000

Over 13 million gallons of raw sewage is entering the streams and lakes of San Francisco Bay. Treatment plants in this area had an alarming 2,048 separate spills in the year 2008. This is a problem that has been going on for decades.

The pollution started in the SF Bay during the Gold Rush boom of the late 1800s; this was when ship docks were made by filling in marshland. This continued with the further dumping of debris from the 1906 earthquake and the fire that followed. The problem goes on with the continuing growth of Bay area.

When it rains in San Francisco the pipes that carry raw sewage to the sewage treatment facilities are filled with storm water—wastewater and storm water go into the same system. The flow then exceeds the capacity of the storage and treatment ponds so there is overflow of raw sewage that run into the San Francisco Bay.

The municipal districts in this area have been working on projects to detect and repair the problems with the infiltration system, yet it is not a simple solution. There are pipes that connect from private homes to main sewer systems resulting in a problem with the individual property owner’s obligation to help. So who pays for these needed upgrades; the homeowner, or the municipalities? There is a great deal of money involved with this problem and no one wants to take responsibility; in the mean time our environment is being devastated.

Solution Suggested by Faculty Evaluator: Instead of channeling fresh rainwater into pipes and sending it away, we should be able to use it. A suggestion by Dr. Elaine Wellin, a professor at Sonoma State, is to put that rainwater into our drinking water aquifers. This can be done by letting the rainwater be absorbed by the ground. Modified bricks with holes in them could replace the asphalt on the streets, this way the rainwater could be absorbed by the ground, yet cars could still be driven on the bricks. This would also relieve some of the stress on the pipes used for sewage; we would not need to pipe all this water away. This rainwater is usable. Dr. Wellin says that the use of bricks in this manner is already being used successfully in some parks. This is a possible solution that should be looked into.

Title: Why Are Treatment Plants Dumping Sewage in the San Francisco Bay?

Source: Sierra Club May 2009

URL: http://www.sfbay.sierra club.org/yodeler/html/2009/05/conservation10.htm

Author: Elena Belsky

Student Researcher: Marylou German

Faculty Evaluator: Elaine Wellin Ph.D.

Sonoma State University: Sociology of Media, Fall 2009

Instructor: Peter Phillips, #10Similar Posts:

Another Salmon Disaster in the Making!

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:35:14 +0000

Irrigation in the Scott and Shasta river basins threaten salmon population. Water levels in these rivers are becoming so low that the fish cannot make it far enough up river to spawn. The reason for the low levels of water is that much of the water is diverted away from the rivers for irrigation on local farms. Farmers claim that the low levels of water are not because of irrigation but rather from too little rainfall. Research, however, has shown this not to be the case and that the problem in fact is the irrigation. Despite taxpayers spending 25 million dollars in an effort to restore the rivers and preserve the salmon, little has been done and the problem continues to get worse. This past August the water level was recorded at its second lowest level in history.

Title: Another Salmon Disaster in the Making!

Source: Rogue Valley Independent Media Center 6/9/2009

URL: http://rogueimc.org/en/2009/15347.shtml

Author: Felice Pace

Student Researcher: Anthony Sarganis

Faculty Evaluator: Erv Peterson

Sonoma State University: Sociology of Media, Fall 2009

Instructor: Peter Phillips, #02Similar Posts: