...You know how everyone takes a shower every day? You know how everyone drinks water everyday? In America, we use water every single day. We use water to bath ourselves, cook, clean, drink, hydrate our animals and so much more. Water is impossible to live without, no hesitation about the topic. If a certain town didn’t have water, it would be impossible to live in that certain town. Recently in Flint, Michigan, a lead water crisis has broke out. According to sources, this water crisis occurred in April 2014. Ever since a change in sources treated from Lake Huron water to the Flint River, the city’s drinking water built up several problems such as lead contamination. This caused a serious health danger to the city’s population. Since there...
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... Sarah Seeley Comp 101 2/22/16 Flint Michigan Lead Exposure (Environmental Racism) The water crisis in Flint, Michigan is instance of environmental racism, because if it were a higher economic, non-minority group of people, this case wouldn’t even be taking place. This issue could have been prevented years ago if not prevented then at least worked on. Imagine if it were New York City? with a more diverse and stable group of individuals. According to the Detroit Free Press majority of all the Flint residents paid water rates. Flint residents paid the highest water rates in America even as their water was tainted with lead, according to a national study released Tuesday by the public interest group Food and Water Watch. A survey of the 500 largest water systems in the country, conducted last year, found that on average, Flint residents paid about $864 a year for water service, nearly double the national average and about three-and-a-half times as much as Detroiters pay. The figure is based on an annual household consumption of 60,000 gallons. Ailene Butler an African activist who lived in Flint for 18-20 years was asked, “why she and her neighbors had not moved away,” Butler pointed out that discriminatory real estate practices particularly redlining had trapped black people in the North End.” So even the residents wanted to escape they were financially trapped. According to the LA times, the flint toxic water crisis was 50 years in the making. Likewise, with...
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...Powerpoint Project The Flint Water Crisis The Flint water crisis is a drinking water contamination issue in Flint, Michigan that started in April 2014. After Flint changed its water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water to the Flint River, its drinking water had a series of problems with lead contamination, creating a serious public health danger. One rumor is said that the reason for the change in water source was because that in mid-2014 the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department had acquired a significant debt and delinquent accounts and talks of privatization were occurring. It was also cheaper to pull water from a near-by river instead of using outside resources. When officials decided on the change, they failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the source. The failed application of corrosion inhibitor: Orthophosphate. A corrosion inhibitor is a chemical compound that, when added to a liquid or gas, it decreases the corrosion rate of a material; in this case metal pipes. Not only were corrosion inhibitors not used but officials failed to realize, was that the Flint River itself was also found to contain EIGHT times more chloride than Detroit’s water. Chloride is highly corrosive to metals. The lacking inhibitors and the corrosive Flint River water caused lead from aging pipes to dissolve into the water supply, causing extremely elevated levels of the heavy metal. No not Metalica. Aging Pipes? Most residents in Flint have decades-old lead service...
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...throughout history government corruption has been present in numerous countries over the world. Before April 25, 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan acquired their main source of water from Detroit’s water system. However, on the 25th, the city started importing water from the Flint River nearby. This would result in one of the most devastating water crises that the United States has ever seen, filled with scandal, protests, devastating health effects and even federal involvement. The government officials involved in the Flint Water Crisis need to be held more accountable as the catastrophe was a result of their disregard for standard protocol. In order to help the people affected, the local along with the federal government should...
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...Flint Water Crisis Community Teaching Experience Leah Van Wagnen February 2, 2016 Grand Canyon University NRS 427V All over the world there are people who unfortunately do not have clean drinking water. We mostly see this in areas of high poverty, including third world countries. It is a shame that nothing is done for most of those cities and people, but once this tragedy happens in an American city, aid is quick to come by. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a teaching plan developed around the topic of the Flint Water Crisis, water safety, symptoms of lead poisoning, water contaminants, and how to teach patients on those topics. This paper will also discuss the epidemiological rationale for the topic, evaluation of the teaching experience, the community’s response to the teaching, and areas of strength and weakness in the teaching plan. Summary of Teaching Plan The teaching plan focused on the education of nurse residents, or new grad nurses, who work at Sparrow hospital in Lansing, MI and live within the mid-Michigan area. The members of the group I addressed were all between the ages of 21 and 30, have completed at least an associate’s degree in nursing, and are no stranger to interactive lectures and presentations. The education took place at Sparrow hospital and took approximately twenty minutes to complete at no cost to the teacher. PowerPoints were passed out to each individual containing the related information. These nurse residents were educated on...
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...We as citizens of Flint Michigan and citizens of the United States of America are entitled to the right of a better quality of life. Our country has denied numerous basic human right. We will no longer stand for the injustices that have been enacted against our people. Through the creation of tremendous economic downfalls and the crises of corrupt government; We are forced to take action to defend our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Abolishing these unworldly acts that have been brought upon us is our duty as American citizens. We do this in hopes of creating a more perfect union. We find truth in our claims by the actions of our government. As citizens of the United states and of Flint Michigan we have the right to clean water, we have the...
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...Hunter has lived in Flint, Michigan, for the better part of 60 years, but recently things have changed. "You feel like sitting ducks here," said Hunter, a co-owner of the West Flint Flower Shop. She's not referring to the threat of guns or terrorists: Flint residents are afraid of their water. High levels of lead have plagued Flint's municipal water supply for at least a year, prompting extensive emergency measures to keep residents safe. Flint returning to Detroit water amid lead concerns On Tuesday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder declared a state of emergency for Genesee County as a result of the water crisis. The U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Michigan is also investigating, office spokeswoman Gina Balaya...
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...Assignment 1: Politics - Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Danita Darnell Professor's Name: Professor Rufus Robinson, Ph.D. Course Title: U.S. Government February 13, 2016 Civil Rights Events The two Civil Rights Events that I will discuss are the Equal Pay Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States federal law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. It is job content, not job titles, that determines whether jobs are substantially equal. Specifically, the EPA provides that employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment (Facts About Equal Pay and Compensation Discrimination). The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 prohibits employment discrimination against female workers who are (or intend to become) pregnant -- including discrimination in hiring, failure to promote, and wrongful termination. Employers must treat employees who are temporarily unable to work due to pregnancy just as they treat employees who are temporarily disabled...
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...Karen Weaver is the current mayor of the Flint, Michigan. A lawsuit against Weaver was filed by former city administrator Natasha Henderson after Weaver fired Henderson. Henderson says that she was fired because she reported that Weaver was directing donations from the Flint Water Crisis to Weaver’s personal funds. Henderson also claims that Weaver breached her contract because “Weaver unilaterally fired her, even though her contract stated any termination required ‘mutual agreement between the Mayor and city council’ or the receivership transition advisory board” (Ganim). Weaver denies diverting funds and says that “[she] had met with state officials and was told that the state could no longer fund Henderson's salary” (Ridley). By not providing...
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...For the past month residents of Flint, Michigan have been suffering from the contamination of their tap water. The crisis can be blamed on Michigans Republican governer Rick Snyder. Mr.Snyder said in a press conference that “I am sorry, and I will fix it”. The problem started when The city of Flint decided to change their water source from Lake Huron to their own Flint River. Representatives did not factor in the safety of their own residents but they only cared that this move would save the state tons of money. Governer Snyder first saw problems with the water supply when city worker’s had noticed that the pipes the water was being pumped through had been very outdated and also had corrosion which started to leak lead into the water supply....
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...condition that Flint is undergoing, it’s very dangerous, after Flint’s switched water supply to save some money, residents started to notice the water was yellow and it smelled like ewer. Residents were told that this was the result of getting used to the new water system and that it was safe. “The Flint water is highly corrosive: 19 times more so than the Lake Huron Supply, according to researcher from Virginia Tech.” “According to a class-action lawsuit, the state Department Environmental Quality wasn’t treating the Flint River water with an anti-corrosive agent, in violation of federal law.” Residents started to complain, their water was brown and some people developed rushed, become sick. The city and state officials told “people to bowl their water before drinking it” which was a mistake which can actually increase the level of lead. Describe how the current Flint water crisis came about....
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...Take a moment and think about the last major crisis that the world took notice of: a terrorist attack or a bombing incident, a school shooting or mass massacre, a political scandal or signs of budding unrest. Now, take a moment and consider how long the world stopped to take notice. In a world filled with frenzied media, trending topics, and news manipulated by fear, it is easy to get caught up in the buzz. The collective mind of modern society jumps from one crisis to another, casting aside old news as soon as the shock value begins to wear off. But this whirlwind of sensationalism has the potential to seriously impact the way the world at large views and responds to crises. Consider, for example, the Flint Water Crisis of 2014. If you were to ask a random person on the street in any given area that was not in or around Flint, Michigan, they would more than likely tell you that the crisis ended a few short months after it began, in April of 2014. This could not be further from the truth. As of January 19th, 2017, Flint had been without clean water for 1,000 days....
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...In the article “When Every Drop Of Water Could Be Poison: A Flint Mother's Story”, Laura McDermott reveals the ongoing struggle in Flint, Michigan regarding their contaminated water supply. It was in 2014 when the city switched its main source of water and began using the water from the Flint River. However, this water was “harder” and started to damage the pipes, which caused lead to contaminate their water supply. This made the water unsafe and extremely toxic and now over 100,000 residents are without clean water and it is unknown when this problem will be resolved. The author conveyed this issue by highlighting a specific family who had truly been negatively affected by this crisis. The McDonald family is one of many who have had a very difficult time coping with this issue as their family had to learn to...
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...Politics- Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow POLITICAL 110: US GOVERNMENT Feb. 14th, 2016 Professor Mark Stallo Politics- Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Civil Liberties and Social Responsibility in American Government Today Throughout our country’s history, civil liberties have influenced American social responsibility within the government. Civil liberties are fundamental rights and freedoms that are guaranteed by the Constitution. There are many examples of civil liberties mentioned in the Bill of Rights such as: freedom of speech, freedom of press, the right to a fair trial, the right to own property, and freedom of religion. (U.S. Department of Defense, 2016) The protection of these rights as guaranteed by the Constitution allows United States citizens to freely act in accordance with each civil liberty. For instance, on April 25th, 2015 local officials in Baltimore MD responded to citizens exercising their civil liberties including freedom of speech and right to protest. The events influenced the local officials and political leaders to react both negatively and positively. Although the people participating in the protest were able to exercise their right to protest and speak freely, this freedom was short lived. Eventually several protestors, civilians, and even news reporters were shot with rubber bullets, pepper-sprayed, arrested, or otherwise silenced during the demonstration. These events are very similar to another instance during 2014 in Ferguson...
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...news. The article titled EPA Urges Flint Residents To Stop Dumping Tap Water Down Drain, was published to The Onion on April 28, 2016 to mock the heavily publicized water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The Onion criticizes the governmental lack of concern for their people by creating a “government on the losing end” situation. In some satires, it may be said that over exaggerations are made in an attempt to point out major flaws within the situation, but this is not the case within this article. First is point about the health and safety risks for the infrastructure and ecosystem, and it is directly related to public health and safety. Having water coming from the river was detrimental to both humans and the piping in Flint, as the high levels of chlorine and lime created a chemical reaction within the lead pipes. This goes hand in hand with the disposal of the tap water, where the article states that “the waste treatment facilities are not capable of purifying the corrosive liquid..” The same was true in Flint, as the waste treatment plants were only putting lime into the water in an attempt to make it softer, which could have possibly made the lead situation worse. Second is the press release statement to alert everyone in Flint of the issue. It took a very long time for anyone in Flint to become aware of the situation, and public officials continued to brush off the problem until a doctor stepped up. Point three is the advice to store water away from children and pets. This is...
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