Courtney+B

(Current Event 5): [] February 23, 2010 More then 400 fall sick on Caribbean cruise Associated Press Travel On a cruise ship from Charleston, South Carolina, to the Caribbean, there was an outbreak on board that included both passagers and staff. It seems that a gastrointestinal illness had spread to both passangers and crew, numbering out to nearly 450 sick while at sea. While at sea, 419 of the 1,838 passengers were seen to have been sick, along with 27 of the 849 crew members on board. Apparently, the number of those sick at sea had increased from 353 to 419 in only 1 day. The symptoms that were included in this illness, are upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea; those who had these symptoms and appeared to be sick on the cruise, would receive compensation because of being in isolation. Both the sickened passangers and the staff, have received over-the-counter medicine, and have been reported to be respoding well, but the source of the illness is still unclear. From Sunday to Monday, hundreds in that short time period, have reported that they were sick. Because of the increase in how many sicknesses that were reported on the boat, including the overload of patients in the cruise medical center, when the ship stopped in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, a Doctor and two nurses joined the ship on Monday until the ship would have it's scheduled dock on Friday. Because of the number of people sick on the ship, it has been an obligation now for the crew to step up the cleaning according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even though it hasn't been decided what caused the outbreak on the cruise ship, there were still ideas of what it was says the CDC that thinks that the illness "spread from contact to contact with contaminated food or drink, by touching objects infected by people who [were] already sickened, or through close contat with people who are infected"

In my opinion, I don't think that the cause of illness is that the cleaning taking place isn't being done to it's best, but probably in the food or drinks that the passengers and crew are consuming. Looking at the symptoms-upset stomach, vomitting, and diarrhea-bad food or contaminated drinks are probably what caused this outbreak because the symptoms sound like something bad was in their food or drink that upset most of the people who consumed it. The position the author probably takes is more of a factual view, just stating facts about the outbreak that occured on this cruise boat, but, by his or her repitition of how many people were affected by this outbreak, shows that he or she is surprised on how many people were affected by this illness while on board the Mercury (the cruise ship).This event will probably be important in the future, because it will show what caused the illness, or if it was a disease that spread throughout passangers and crew members of the ship.

(Current Event 4): [] February 11, 2010 Snow Records Shattered as Blizzard Buries East Associated Press Environment Many believe that the winter in the upper east always includes snow, but many didn't believe that there would be a freak blizzard that would end up burrying many states. Because of the extreme weather that dumped snow on the eastern coast, the amount of snow the region received broke records for the snowiest winter. Despite the weather that has seemed to stop for now, the conditions are still so bad that even plows were ordered to get off the roads. Though a second storm system dumped snow on the east coast, there's a third storm that could probably be brewing for next week. For many, the first storm that hit was a weekend diversion, but the blizzard that hit Wednesday, raised a serious safety concern. Some places in the east received a surprising 3 feet of snow and other places such as Maryland received up to 16 inches of snow. The snow didn't just affect the living conditions, but it also affected hundreds of flights in which airlines were canceled, and even 1.1 million school children got to reap the benefits of receiving their 3rd snow day in 6 years in New York alone. Because of the massive amount of snow on top of the eastern coast, roadways are vacant and highways are blockaded; because there are many people who can't drive their cars through the snow and can't get them off the roads, over 200 vehicles have been stranded on Wednesday alone. Against everything else, even utilities are down leaving many, many people without power.

Even though us Texans think that the after math of the snow we got here is bad, we have no idea what we're talking about because up in the east coast, they really have some bad problems due to their pile-up of overloaded snow. I think that even though the snow we got here in Texas is really unexpected, I think that those living in the east coast area, are really piled under the blizzard snow they received. Plus, if the east coast gets any more snow before what they have now melts, the region is going to be under a lot of snow and people are going to have to resort to other options in order to survive the harsh winter. The author probably feels that the weather the upper east is dealing with is pretty harsh considering that there are so many problems the snow brought along with it. This event will DEFINATELY be important in the future because it will show if some could ride out the winter long enough for the weather to subside.

(Current Event 3): [] February 4, 2010 In the Shadow of the Olympics Greg Bishop International 5 blocks from the scheduled opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics and 5 minutes from the athletes' village, sits Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia. Because of the poor side of Vancouver, which is known as the Downtown Eastside, Vancounver is trying to "redirect the international news media spotlight from this blighted neighborhood in the shadows of the picturesque North Shore Mountains." Because of all of the violence and drug use in the Downtown Eastside, many reporters of different countries such as Australia and Egypt wrote about the "homeless" and "poverty-stricken" neighborhood. Because this neighborhood has attracted quite a bit of attention, Vancouver's actions of changing the Downtown Eastside area, hasn't been that drastic because there have been objections from community groups and protesters. According to Sam Sullivan, a former mayor of Vancouver, said that some think that this particular neighborhood is the "cultural heart of the city." The current city council of Vancouver has planned for 24-hour shelters and about 3000 units of low-income housing with jobs in construction and maintenance and landscaping has been promised so far in order to turn around the current situation in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Even though there have been promises and changes in the Downtown Eastside due to the upcoming Winter Olympics, there are still even anti-Olympic posters in the neighborhood that highlight the opposition towards the Games.

Because of the high rates of homelessness and poverty in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver that is soon going to be home to the Winter Olympics for a short time, rose heads. I think that just a week before the Winter Olympics is aired world wide is the worst time to realize that the Downtown Eastside is a big problem. The author, is probably implying that he feels that the situation that the City Council of Vancouver is having to deal with, is a big handle considering that the author brings out that even though the city of Vancouver is trying to change some things in the Downtown Eastside, people are debating with the fact that the City Council wants to make some changes. This event will probably effect the Olympics in Vancouver because it might affect how the publicity will take the Downtown Eastside.

(Current Event 2): [] Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Toyota begins public, back room PR effort Associated Press Technology Because of the recall on many Toyotas, Toyota is running apologetic TV ads in order to win back customer's trust. On Tuesday, a Toyota's global recall ran all the way up to 8.5 million cars and trucks that include 444,000 of flagship Prius's and other hybrids. The company's president of Toyota has pledged that he will try to regain the confidence of his customers by even sinking to unrecoverable depths. Although Toyota is working full-speed to regain it's reputation, they won't say much publicly about their efforts to do just this. Because Toyota's problems have increased from the recall, Toyota has hired more lobbyists, lawyers, and public relations experts to come to an understanding towards a "successful recall effort." Some other headlines that were related to the Toyota recall, included for example that State Farm informed fedural regulators in 2007 that there were already "growing reports of unexpected acceleration in Toyotas." So far, Toyota has 2 hearings due to the recall of so many cars. In the hearings, the focus will be the floor mats that get caught under accelerators, sticky gas pedals, and brake problems. Because of the Toyota recall, a soft-spoken announcer has been talking on American TV commercials to ensure that Toyota has dedication to the safety of their customers. I think that Toyota is in over their head because they have made a mistake not just now, but according to State Farm, has been making gradual mistakes for over 3 years now. The efforts that Toyota is making towards the recall efforts, aren't as up to high standards as I would put it, because Toyota looks like their only trying to cover their own trail then help their own customers besides putting up commercials asking for forgiveness of their transgressions. The author who wrote this article, probably feels that Toyota posting ads and airing commercials on TV, is a good first step Toyota is making towards their customers. The Toyota recall will definately be crucial in the future, because it will show if the Toyota company will rise or fall from their mistakes.

(Current Event 1): [] January 22, 2010 Aftershocks a way of life in quake-ravaged Haiti Associated Press South America Many of us have heard about the massive earthquake that hit Haiti early last week, but there was also an aftershock that occured last Friday. Many people didn't seem to bothered of the aftershock, just curious of what else could fall. The U.S. Geological Survey said that after powerful earthquakes, aftershocks can "continue for months, if not year," which can keep damaging earthquakes as a threat. So far, the strongest aftershock that Haiti has experienced, is the aftershock that occured on Wednesday that was a magnitude of 5.9. Besides that threat of the aftershocks in Haiti, the country has seen advanced efforts on Friday, but the efforts have been slowed because all of the points of entry have delayed foor na d medical care to the people of Haiti. This delay and slow of the points has a source on the other hand when the ports are dealing with 120 to 140 flights a day coming into the runway of the Port-au-Prince airport, compared to the 25 that came in daily right after the quake hit Haiti. There were about 72,000 people died in the quake of Haiti, and now there are more than 300 aid distribution sites, rescuers looking for people, and more aid coming in from all over the country, but there are many poeple who need food and water said Danny Whu.

In this article, I think that people all around the world are doing the right thing and helping the people in Haiti, considering the fact that Haiti has gone through many aftershocks that might seem minor quakes compared to the massive quake last week. I don't think that there was much omitted from the article, considering that the article is about the aftershocks in Haiti, and how many people Haiti don't think that it is a very big quake, thinking to themselves "what else could go wrong" or "what else can fall". The position the author probably takes, is that he or she has a soft spot for the people in Haiti, angry about the slowness of the aid going to Haiti, but ecstatic that it arrived and is now helping people with their medical, food, and clothing aids. This piece of information will DEFINATELY be important in the future, because it foreshawdows that there are going to be aftershocks in Haiti, but no one knows how strong or weak these quakes will be, and if they will cause as much destrucion as the first quake in Haiti 10 days ago.