Stuff YOU Should Know
The Pink Wave
Since 2016, the number of women running for Congress has more than doubled. In fact, in 2018, there are 555 women running for 324 U.S. House, Senate, or governors’ races. For many female voters, it’s important to see a woman in office. And Trump’s continued unpopularity among American women makes them more likely to want to support female candidates at other levels of government.
Will there be more female candidates in upcoming elections? Credit: Hill Street Studios/Blend Images LLC/Glow Images
This is great news for women running for office, right? Maybe, maybe not. Many of these seats may simply be unwinnable, regardless of the candidate’s resume or ability. An overwhelming majority of the women running for office in 2018 are Democrats. But 49 percent of the seats they are running for–in the House, Senate, or governor’s office–are considered “likely” Republican wins. This means that these seats will be tough for any Democrat to win, whether male or female. Also, a study done last year found that women tend to think of female legislators as more capable and trustworthy. Among male voters, Democratic men often rate female legislators more favorably than male ones. But Republican men do not.
Also, a 2016 study found that many people doubt a female candidate’s ability to juggle political office with the demands of motherhood. Recently, two candidates for governor–Democrat Krish Vignarajah in Maryland and Democrat Kelda Roys in Wisconsin–have decided to tackle this criticism head-on, by publishing campaign ads in which they breastfeed their babies onscreen. So far, the response to these ads has been overwhelmingly positive.
What’s important to remember too is that even female candidates who don’t win still have a lot to gain by running. They will learn valuable lessons about how to campaign and fundraise, as well as bring up many issues that male candidates might not. They will also gain name recognition, which will make it easier for them to run again in the future.
What Do You Think? Would you be more or less likely to vote for a candidate because of his or her gender? Explain. Please remember to be respectful with your answer.
SamSam Hits Atlanta
Last week, the city of Atlanta, Georgia, had its data system broken into by hackers. For over a week, employees in five out of the city’s eleven departments did not have access to email or the internet. Residents couldn’t pay their bills online. Many departments, such as the jail, resorted to using paper and pencil because electronic files weren’t accessible. Authorities say that the cyberattack did not affect the city’s emergency response system, water supply, or the airport. However, wi-fi was shut down at the airport, just to be on the safe side. At the same time, one of Atlanta’s suburbs, Loganville, also experienced a similar cyberattack.
The attack was caused by a type of ransomware called SamSam. This strain is especially devastating because it doesn’t depend on people clicking on things to accidentally run the ransomware program and spread it that way. Instead, SamSam exploits vulnerabilities in the system (such as guessing weak passwords). The attackers who use this method choose targets such as local governments, hospitals, and universities, and then set a ransom low enough that many of these institutions would rather just pay the ransom and have their data systems restored, rather than deal with the hassle. In the case of the recent Atlanta attack, for example, the ransom was set at $51,000.
Nevertheless, it’s possible to defend against SamSam attacks using security best practices, such as storing segmented backups and keeping all systems patched. Cybersecurity experts are hoping that the Atlanta attack will encourage other local governments to take a look at their own practices to make sure they are as secure as possible.
Dig Deeper Hospitals and other health facilities are often considered ideal targets for these kinds of cyberattacks. Based on what you’ve read in the article, why do you think this might be so?
Kidnapped Girls Return Home
On February 19, 110 young girls were kidnapped from their Nigerian school, Dapchi Girls Science and Technical College, by militants from Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group. Since 2009, Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of men, women, and children, and killed tens of thousands more. Their name roughly translates to mean “Western education is sinful.” On March 21, 104 of the Dapchi girls were returned safely to the Nigerian government.
So what happened to the six who were not returned? Five of them passed away. Though they weren’t directly killed by the militants, they were trampled and suffocated during their kidnapping, which led to their deaths. The sixth, fifteen-year-old Leah Sharibu, remains in the custody of the terrorists. This is because she is a Christian who has refused to convert to Islam. The other children who were released are all Muslim. Several of them report having been beaten and whipped while in the custody of the terrorists.
Many people have criticized the Nigerian government for not doing enough to protect schoolchildren from these kidnappings, and for being too slow to respond when tragedies like this occur. (In fact, the Nigerian government declared in 2016 that Boko Haram had been technically defeated.) Some parents have stopped allowing their daughters to attend school, for fear that they will be taken. And even though 104 of the Dapchi students have now been returned, questions remain regarding their mental health after surviving such a terrifying ordeal.
Dig Deeper Using internet resources, research the #BringBackOurGirls movement. How was the mass kidnapping that led to this movement similar to the recent Dapchi kidnapping? How was it different?
Think Before You Drink
You’ve had a long, tiring day of school and practice. You’d love to go home and take a nap, but you have a paper due and two quizzes tomorrow. So instead of resting, you grab a soda or an energy drink to help boost your energy to get you through the long evening ahead. After all, it’s harmless, and you have a lot of stuff to do.
Sound familiar? Here’s the problem: researchers in Canada have conducted a study that shows that teenagers who consume energy drinks or other sugary beverages–such as soda, sports drinks, or pre-sweetened coffee or tea–also have a harder time falling asleep and staying asleep. Scientists studied over 9,000 Canadian students and asked them about their habits. The majority said that they had consumed an energy drink or sweetened beverage in the past seven days. And the kids who said they drank the highest number per day also reported receiving the least amount of sleep.
But disrupted sleep isn’t the only hazard associated with these beverages. Energy drinks, in particular, may raise your blood pressure and heart rate, due to high levels of caffeine. In fact, energy drinks have been linked to thousands of emergency room visits in the United States alone. They are especially dangerous when paired with alcohol. So rather than picking up an energy drink to get through that homework, experts recommend taking a short, ten- to thirty-minute “power nap,” which will restore your energy without leaving you feeling groggy.