Chernobyl Tourism

Ryan Stenzel

Chernobyl Power Plant Tourism Site

                I read an article about the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine that says it is going to be turned into a tourist attraction after all these years.  A large accident happened with one of the nuclear cores at Chernobyl in 1986 and killed 32 plant workers and firefighters according to Matt Smith of CNN.  He also mentioned in this article that the International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that 4,000 other people will die of cancer because of the effects of the radiation.  It has been abandoned for years except for the people that watch the nuclear reactors there.  No tourists were allowed there, but currently they take 20-30 people to Chernobyl every day during the summer for tours.  They say that the radiation levels around Chernobyl are still above normal, but animals and plants have started to inhabit the area surrounding it.  They also say that visitors will not receive any more radiation than if they “rode on a trans-Atlantic flight”, (Matt Smith CNN, Para. 9).  They mention that if you are planning a trip there, you should wear something that you would not mind leaving behind if it got dirty.
                I think that this is a horrible idea.  Chernobyl was the site of one of the worst nuclear accidents in the world and now they want to bring tourists to this place.  There could be huge lawsuits of people get cancer or something from going there.  I think Ukraine just has to be running out of money and needs another source of income and they cannot find anything people would want to see.

14 Year Old Kid-Mexican Drug Cartel

14 Year Old Drug Cartel Assassin

                I read an article about a kid with United States citizenship getting arrested in Mexico on suspicion of being a hit man for the drug cartel.  He is only fourteen years old and says he has killed four people.  He said that he was abducted by a man who he referred to as “El Negro” and forced to do work for the Cartel.  He also said that the only reason he killed these people was because he was drugged and also told that if he did not do what they told him to, they would kill him.  It is also apparent that he does not have any parents, but has two sisters that are currently being held in central Mexico.  The article also says that the Cartel recruits teens into their gang as a normal practice.  This is because they are not prosecuted as harshly as adults and are less likely to give the police any information about the gang if they are caught. 

                I think this kid could be telling the truth.  I don’t know how he would be able to come up with a lie or a story like being kidnapped when no one is there to tell him how to lie to the police.  He was being held by two cops with assault rifles, I don’t believe that is necessary because the kid is only fourteen.  They also let this kid talk to the media without any adult guardian around to approve of it.  He was answering every question without a lawyer and is going to dig himself into a giant hole if he is really innocent.  He is just making himself look guilty.  If this kid is a U.S. citizen he should not be prosecuted in Mexico in the first place.  I think that whoever is running the show in Mexico’s justice system needs to rethink their strategy.

Wangari Muta Maathai Research Paper

Ryan Stenzel

Shiela Allard

Written Communication

7 December 2010

Wangari Muta Maathai

                Wangari Muta Maathai has done so many things to preserve Africa’s natural wildlife and women’s rights.  She started the Green Belt Movement and received a Nobel Prize for her work for the environment.  She was born in Nyeri, Kenya on April 1, 1940. 

                Wangari Muta Maathai may have been born in Africa, but she attended college in the United States.  She attended Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas and received her Biological Sciences degree.  She also attended the University of Pittsburgh and received her masters degree in science.  Besides going to college in the United States, she attended the University of Nairobi in Kenya and received a Ph.D.  At this university, she was the chairwoman of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy.  She also held a position as a professor for two years.

                Maathai started the Greenbelt Movement in 1977.  This is considered to be one of the most successful environmental programs in Africa.  She was actually on the National Council of Women at the time and she wanted to intertwine the ideas of saving the environment with her passion for promoting woman’s rights.  She achieved this by gearing the focus of the Greenbelt Movement from everyone to specifically women and women’s rights groups.  The Greenbelt Movement is about women getting together and planting trees and bushes in Africa to help the environment.  It gives women a sense of pride and satisfaction to be doing something together that helps out the environment and society.  Maathai achieved what she set out to do with this movement, and this is to empower women.  She was mentioned in the magazine Earth Times as one of the top one-hundred people in the world to make a difference in the environment.  She was also part of the Global 500 Hall of Fame’s list of the top one-hundred heroines in the world.

                Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work in the environment, for women’s rights, and for starting the Greenbelt Movement.  She was actually chosen in 2001 to receive the prize, but was denied.  She argued with the board that her work promoted peace and was worthy of the prize, but she did not receive it until 2004.

                Maathai was married, but her husband got so fed up with people telling him that he could not control his wife and that his wife had more power in society than he did, that he divorced her.  He served as a member of the parliament in Kenya, as did Wangari in 2002.  She has also been ridiculed by the public in Africa for her views on politics and woman’s rights.  The president of Kenya at the time, Daniel Arap Moi, was against Maathai’s political views completely.  He harassed her and sent her to jail many times for her involvement in sit-ins, strikes, and other movements.

                Overall, Wangari Maathai has done so many things for the environment and woman’s rights.  She has had many achievements and has won many awards throughout her life.  She is a remarkable human being and deserves to hold the Nobel Peace Prize.