Matthew Evans 4/11/18 Period 4-5 CNN
Date of Publication: 4/11/18 Name of Article: "Tanzania takes historic step to save dwindling elephant population" Author of Article: Chris Giles This article talks about the declining elephant populations of Tanzania and how the Tanzanian government has made big steps to saving these amazing creatures. More specifically, the Selous Game Reserve is the area where the government has gone through with their plans so far. These teams have worked tirelessly to protect the elephants. The government of Tanzania, with support from the World Wildlife Fund, has gone through with a plan that will hopefully protect elephants in the Selous Game Reserve. The plan was followed through in early 2018 and will span for an entire 12 months. This plan is to tag 60 elephants with collars so it becomes easier for park rangers to track the herds and arrive much faster if the elephants are under threat. This is known as satellite collaring and it's best used in a large area, like the Selous Game Reserve. In fact, this reserve is larger than the entire country of Switzerland. Collaring one elephant takes around 30 minutes and the teams that are performing these procedures have been chosen by the government. Along with applying a collar, the teams will also take data on the health of the elephant. The goal is to hopefully protect these elephants and later start to rebuild the once big population. By increasing the population, the reserve hopes that these efforts will attract more tourism. Reserves in the north tend to receive more tourism than reserves in the south. The Selous Game Reserve is one of the southern reserves which has been financially struck because of the lack of tourism in those parts. The reason the government has come in and taken steps towards a bright future for elephants is because of their rapid decline in population. In fact, in just 40 short years, the elephant population in Tanzania has dropped from 110,000 to 15,200. Poaching is the biggest factor to this destructive decline, as hunters collect the ivory of the elephant to sell at high prices. With hunters roaming free and almost no protection, the amazing creatures are being driven to extinction. It has gotten so bad, that even elephants in reserves like the Selous Game Reserve are being killed daily. It is very difficult to quell this problem however because rangers have to cover large swaths of land along with the fact that finances limit the amount of protection on the ground. All of these reasons together make elephants very vulnerable. I myself am very happy that they are finally making steps towards improvements. I am speculating how much change it would bring though, if any at all. This does show though that the government is willing to start make changes to save elephants. All of this new technology is so helpful and hopefully will continue to be of use to the people committed to saving elephants in Tanzania. Link to article I used: www.cnn.com/2018/04/11/africa/tanzania-collaring-wwf-elephants/index.html In this picture, a team is working to safely collar an elephant in the Selous Game Reserve.
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Matthew Evans
Article from CNN Date: March 5, 2018 "Jordan Peele is first black screenwriter to win best original screenplay." Written By: Sandra Gonzalez This article is about Jordan Peele. He is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. In 2017, Peele directed the film Get Out which is critically acclaimed. He has received lots of praise for this outstanding movie. This year at the Oscars, Jordan Peele landed himself in the history books. He became the first black man to win the Oscar for best original screenplay. He was chosen as the winner during the Oscars 2018 in Los Angeles, California. This honor has never been awarded to a black screenwriter, but during the Oscars this year, Peele finally broke the cycle and revived the honor. While he was the first black screenwriter to receive the award, he wasn't the first to be nominated. Three others were nominated for this award in past ceremonies including Suzanne de Passe in 1972, Spike Lee in 1989, and John Singleton in 1991. The award was given to him through the movie he directed, Get Out. This movie is considered to be one of the best movies of 2017 and has generated a box office of over $255,000,000. In his speech, Peele wanted to thank the people who helped him raise his voice to finish this amazing movie. This win will be influential and inspirational to many young screenwriters for years to come. Jordan Peele first started writing the movie Get Out during the Obama administration. He stated that as a child, he was terrified of horror movies. That soon changed when he told an amazing scary story while camping, as he learned that he could use his creativity to make great stories. Before making the film, Peele previously worked with the comedy genre. He used this experience as inspiration when making his award winning movie. He also said that he could relate to the story on a personal level because of the race issue but that it doesn't relate to his story at all. It took years for him to finish writing the movie but lots of moments throughout his life helped him finally finish writing it. Before the movie released, Peele wondered about the success of the movie, talking about how white and black would feel watching the movie side by side. He was worried about how white people would feel since they were portrayed as villains in the movie and how black people would feel since they were portrayed as the victims. Even though there were worries, the movie was a hit overall. I see this event as a next step for improving the racial disparity in the entertainment industry. By Peele winning this Oscar, he can be an influence to others who might of not seen themselves represented at events like these. He really has lighted the path for others to be confident in themselves and be confident in their works. I do hope though that the racial disparity continues to shrink and that the progress that is slowly being made will create a better future for everyone. Link to the Article: www.cnn.com/2018/03/04/entertainment/jordan-peele-original-screenplay-oscar/index.html Matthew Evans 1/23/18 Period 4 Publisher of Article: CNN Date of Publication: 1/22/18 Name of Article: Kabul Hotel Siege: Journalist describes night of terror from inside Author of Article: Ehsan Popalzai and Susannah Cullinane This article is about the attack on the five-star intercontinental hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan in which 18 hotel guests were killed. Described as a night of terror, guests were forced to hide and even jump from hotel balconies as they were subjected to explosions and screams the entire night. Most rooms in the hotel were struck by grenades and people attempting to flee were shot by the assailants. A fire also broke out in the hotel which left many people to become stranded on their balconies. To escape, some guests used bed sheets as a way of moving down floors until they reached the ground. Others had no way of reaching the ground, so some resorted to jumping from the hotel balconies rather than being burned by the fast approaching flames. That act has also contributed to the death toll rise. Authorities have said that since the investigation is still underway, the death toll could be as high as 43 people. Even though the attack started at 8pm on January 20, authorities hadn't cleared the hotel of the assailants and rescued guests until 6am the next day. 153 people were saved once the attack on the hotel ended, in which all 4 assailants were killed by special forces. 12 out of the 18 victims were foreigners and 41 out of the 153 saved guests were also foreigners. Hours since the attack, the Taliban released a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. They also warned Afghan citizens to avoid foreign hot spots such as the hotel, one of the only five-star hotels in the country. While it isn't certain as to what they meant by this statement, I can infer that they don't want Afghan citizens affected by attacks which are meant to target places teeming with foreigners. The Taliban is an organization of insurgents who controlled almost all of Afghanistan from 1996-2001. During that time, most of Afghanistan was under strict Islamic law placed by the Taliban. Having so much power, they went around committing massacres and destroying towns. Their terrorizing reign led to the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians across Afghanistan. After the government of Afghanistan retook major parts of the country in 2001, the Taliban was reduced to small pockets towards the borders of the country. Even though their big force has been turned to scattered forces, they still have the manpower to cause tragedies like this, even in the capital of the country. This isn't the first time the intercontinental hotel has been attacked. The hotel was also attacked in a similar way in 2011. This attack was led out by a series of suicide bombers who blew up rooms and shot at the guests. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for this attack which killed 12 people. Security at this luxurious hotel was always in the hands of a private company, but since these two very similar attacks took place, Parliament is holding a meeting pertaining the issue. In general, Afghanistan has been constantly threatened by terrorism for more than 2 decades now and has played a big role in the war on terrorism, which began in 2001. Overall, this entire situation has been one of sadness and grief. Even the most luxurious places of a country are subjected to tragedies such as these. Hopefully the government can reach an agreement to place high security measures on the hotel and other places which are frequently attacked by insurgents such as the Taliban. There also needs to be a global enforcement on good relationships between countries because having unified manpower will be a greater ally in the long run. While the war on terror is a long and complicated struggle, the unification between countries will allow us to put a stop to these radical ideals. Here is the link to the article I used for my research on this topic: www.cnn.com/2018/01/22/asia/kabul-intercontinental-hotel-omeri/index.html In this photo, an Afghan soldier stands watch as authorities clear the hotel and investigate the tragedy. I will comment on Rachna's and Michael's blog posts.
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