Brittany
Traynor
ENT3003
Identifying Local Opportunities
Due:
09/08/17
Castor Calls on OSHA for Changes:
Five workers in a Tampa Bay power
plant died because of a lack of safety procedures, so OSHA is being encouraged
to stricken safety regulations. Evidentially, when coal is burned in a power
plant, a lava-like substance called slag is formed. Although many power plants
require the boiler to be turned off if workers are present, Tampa Electric does
not. As a result, maintenance workers were struck with slag and killed. The
problem in this situation is that lack of regulation has led to the death of
five individuals, and something needs to be done to prevent this from happening
again in the future. I would say that anyone who works for a power plant, as
well as anyone who has loved ones working in a power plant, would have this
problem. They would clearly want to ensure that safety procedures and
regulations are in place that will ensure safety while they or their loved one
are in the workplace.
Hurricane Worries Bucs
Five players for the Bucs are from
and still have family in Houston, so they were affected and impacted negatively
by Hurricane Harvey. Worried that their families and friends were facing
devastation do to the hurricane and resulting floods, they had a hard time focusing
on anything else. Although several of the players said that serious storm
damage is something that residents of Houston and the surrounding areas are
fairly familiar with, it is still hard for them to watch the tragedy that is occurring
throughout their hometowns. While some other players of the team are distracted
with other issues, such as recovering from injuries, the Bucs are worried about
getting their team together. The problem here is that the hurricane has
affected many people, even those not from the Houston area. The team needs to
make sure that their families and friends are safe and accounted for before
they can make practice and commitment to the team a priority.
Hospitals prepare for a slew of stormy births; Drop in
barometric pressure induces delivery, some say:
According
to some studies, the drop in barometric pressure that results from hurricanes
can induce labor for pregnant women. According to The Palm Beach Post, women in
Jupiter preregistered to Jupiter Medical Center so that they would already be there
in case they went into labor during Hurricane Irma. Evidentially, September is
one of the months with the most births, and some believe that it could be
related to the more frequent storms and corresponding drops in barometric
pressure. This is a problem for pregnant women and their spouses, because they
have to make arrangements prior to the storm to ensure that they are not stuck
during the storm being unable to get to the hospital if their water breaks. In
addition, this is a problem for the hospital staff as well because they have to
worry about preparing their families and houses for the storm, as well as work
and make sure they are ready to deliver babies if any women go into labor. They
also do not really get the opportunity to evacuate if they want to because they
have to be ready to work for those who need it.
County,
cities issue curfews as storm nears; Authorities: Intent is to keep people safe
during the hurricane:
Evidentially,
Delray Beach and West Palm Beach have set curfews for their residents due to
Hurricane Irma. The curfews are similar to the ones in New Orleans following
Hurricane Katrina and Houston following Hurricane Harvey, and they are intended
to keep people in a safe, single location throughout the duration of the storm.
Having people out on the roads during these conditions is dangerous, and
officers can determine whether or not to arrest the curfew violators depending
on the circumstance and reason for being out on the road. This is a problem for
people who live in these areas as they cannot leave their locations during the
storm, and if they do, they could face serious issues. This problem results
from the weather as it is actually dangerous for people to be out driving on
the roads with the rain and wind conditions. In addition, the roads need to be
clear for emergency vehicles so that they can travel quickly and easily during
the hurricane.
Editorial: Deny spotlight to white supremacist
Since
the University of Florida is a public campus, it is unconstitutional to deny
anyone the opportunity to speak on the campus. However, when Spencer, the
leader of the white supremacist group who protested and lead to violence in Charlottesville,
Virginia, asked to speak at UF, controversy arose. In addition to being legally
unable to deny them the opportunity to come speak, there was also fear that
turning them away could cause them to come protest here anyway which could
potentially lead to even more violence than if they had just been granted the
opportunity to come in the first place. The problem here is that the
decision-makers at UF had to either decide to let this racist, dangerous group
come speak, or to deny them the opportunity and put the University at greater
potential risk of the group coming here to protest regardless. The University
made the decision to push the date back to October 16th. In
addition, it has decided that moving the speech to a location where everyone
can be screened for weapons would make the event safer and decrease the chances
of violence breaking out.
Hey Brittany,
ReplyDeleteGreat work with identifying problems in local papers! I was surprised to see that construction workers had been killed on the job in Tampa. Surely in this day and age, regulations should be in place to prevent this from happening. This should definitely be assessed and changed to assure nothing like this happens again. I couldn't possibly imagine the stress of having my baby due during this horrific storm. What a huge problem that poses for the families. Let's hope that they found the hospitals and didn't get trapped within their homes during such conditions. Great work though, keep it up!!
Hi Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the range of articles that you had. Particularly, I liked the one about the Tampa Bay Bucaneers players and how they were reacting to Hurricane Harvey’s impact in Houston, Texas. I thought it was interesting how the story was locally based in Tampa around the football players but the actual problems were occurring across the country. I think that shows how local problems and opportunities can affect more than their surrounding area.
Hey Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the articles that you presented in your post. I think you touched on some important issues that certainly have some correlating opportunities. You did a fantastic job identifying specific issues in the local newspapers. The article on how hurricanes can induce labor was extremely interesting. I thought that was a great article, touching on a real issue, as the hurricane hits, it would be hectic with more people going into labor.