Stuff YOU Should Know
Fight Fire with . . . a Bill?
You can’t stop wildfires with a law.
Or can you?
California state legislators, facing a second year of record-level wildfire destruction, are trying to do just that. One proposal is to pass laws requiring a more rigorous emergency alert system, to give more people time to evacuate. Under one newly-proposed bill, counties would be allowed to automatically sign people up for an emergency notification system. Another bill would allow the state to expand the use of its wireless emergency alert system. This is important because fewer and fewer people have landlines and instead are reliant on their cell phones for all communication. Proponents of the bill stress that it’s important to keep up with current technology.
But even an advanced warning system won’t actually make wildfires less likely. So legislators are also looking at ways to improve forest management. In other words, in the past, California has been reluctant to use controlled burns and other measures that would burn off dead foliage in a carefully-maintained way. So when a wildfire starts, it feeds off of dead brush and vegetation, which causes it to escalate and grow. If the proposed legislative changes happen, the state will increase the number of controlled burns on both public and private lands. And on the federal level, the government is considering a bipartisan bill that would allocate more emergency money for fighting wildfires, as well as controlled burns and other forest management techniques to make fires less likely to become so devastating in the future.
Dig Deeper The California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention has put together the following resource to help homeowners make their homes as fire-safe as possible. Take a moment to look over the list. Is your home fire-safe? Explain.
Hallquist Makes History
Last week, Election Central brought you the inspiring story of Rashida Tlaib, who won her primary and will likely become the first Muslim American woman elected to Congress. But Tlaib wasn’t the only surprising win this month. In Vermont, Christine Hallquist won the Democratic primary to become the first transgender person in American ever to be nominated for governor by a major party.
Women, in general, face major hurdles when running for governor. Currently, there are only six women holding this office, and there have never been more than nine female governors serving at the same time. This year, a record-breaking twelve women have been nominated for governor (the previous record was ten). The Democratic Party has also nominated Black, Latina, and Native American women for governor this year, as well as gubernatorial candidates who are gay, lesbian, bisexual–and now transgender.
Hallquist’s unexpected primary win is a huge triumph for the trans community. Her victory was even more surprising when one considers that Hallquist doesn’t have an extensive political resume. In fact, she is a former electrical engineer and energy company executive. But she still raised more money than her opponent and was extremely successful in her debates. Her hard work eventually paid off with a win.
Hallquist will face Republican incumbent Governor Phil Scott in November. Political experts say that Scott’s unpopularity within his own party will give Hallquist a real shot at victory.
Dig Deeper Use internet resources to list the six states in which a woman currently serves as governor.
Free Medical School
Medical school can be expensive, causing students to rack up debt that can stay with them for years. In fact, the average U.S. medical student graduating today is left with a bill of about $192,000. But now, New York University has instituted a new program that will help eliminate this burden. The School of Medicine at NYU announced on Thursday that it will award a full scholarship to every student admitted to the program, as well as to those who are currently enrolled. That’s no small thing: yearly tuition at the NYU School of Medicine costs $55,018.
NYU is the only top-ranked U.S. medical school to offer a free tuition program. Allowing students to attend tuition-free has many benefits. First, it will encourage potential applicants who may have had the talent to apply, but feared the cost. The school hopes that this will improve the diversity of their application pool, as well as encourage more people to apply–if things continue on their current path, the U.S. is expected to face a shortage of more than 100,000 doctors by 2030. Also, students who exit medical school debt-free don’t have to let their finances dictate their career paths. In other words, in the past, graduates may have avoided accepting jobs in lower-paying fields or in rural areas because they were strapped with student debt. This new program could help ensure that even low-income people can have access to quality doctors and medical care.
Tuition-free, however, doesn’t mean expenses-free. Even without tuition, NYU medical students will still wind up paying roughly $29,000 each year for room, board, and living expenses.
What Do You Think? Some experts argue that medical students shouldn’t receive free tuition because they will make enough money later on in their careers to easily pay back their student loan debts. Instead, more scholarships should be given to students in fields that don’t pay as much later. Do you agree or disagree with this position? Explain.
Avocado Crime Ring?
Who knew that avocados could be so controversial?
First, their farming was shown to cause a dangerous decline in the monarch butterfly population in Mexico. Now, in New Zealand, the avocado trend has led to a crime wave and black market.
New Zealand has faced two years of shortages due to a poor avocado harvest. Also, the country doesn’t import them. This is driving up prices. In May, they reached a record high: five New Zealand dollars, or $3.30, per avocado. This is up by a third from last year.
The high prices and scarcity have naturally led to an increase in crime. Robbers have been breaking into orchards to steal the popular fruit, selling it on the black market for a profit. And it’s not only orchards that are under siege. People who happen to own an avocado tree or two have had to take drastic measures, such as installing razor wire or expensive security systems, to protect them. Meanwhile, people in New Zealand who prefer to get their avocados the legal way have put their names on garden center waiting lists for avocado trees. Gardeners estimate that if you plant an avocado tree today, it will be possible to harvest good fruit from it in four or five years.
But New Zealand isn’t the only place where avocado crimes occur. In June, an estimated $300,000 worth of avocados were stolen from a farm in Ventura County, California. California exports about $25 million worth of avocados annually.